5 steps to a successful open house

When you have your house listed on the local real estate market, your real estate agent will probably employ a variety of marketing techniques to bring traffic through your house. Connect2Agent has discussed the importance of your real estate agent utilizing an online marketing strategy. Some more old-school styles of marketing may also be used to intrigue prospects to grace your door. One of these is the open house.

An open house is a time when you "open your home" to the public. Open houses are typically held on the weekend and are held for a block of time--some as few as 3 hours, some as long as all day--to allow enough opportunity for prospects to view your house. 

Here are five tips to consider when holding an open house.

1. Make yourself scarce. Just as with a showing on your house, you need to allow real estate buyers to view your home thoroughly during an open house. The way a real estate buyer will really get familiar with your house and its attributes is for you to give them breathing room and the best way to do that is by not hanging around. Plan your day accordingly when an open house is scheduled and use it to catch up on errands or do something fun. If you have children, this might be a good opportunity to take a trip to the zoo or museum.
2. Get your house in move-in-ready condition. Make sure your house is clean, paying special attention to details like windows, dusting trim and other chores you might not take care of in a weekly cleaning. Declutter your house, making sure walkways are clear and knick-knacks and papers don't take on a life of their own. Pay attention to scent. Open up some windows and let in the fresh air. Deodorize and use some scented products, like plug-ins, to keep the air crisp and clean.
3. Pay attention to the details. If you have a lot of furniture, this is a good time to store some of your belongings until your house sells. Consider hiring a stager to get your house in tip-top shape for an open house. A stager will usually work with the furniture you have and place it in the most appealing arrangement to a prospective real estate buyer. If you have snacks--like cheese and crackers or chocolates--that you can leave out to make guests feel at home, take the time to do this. It is usually the little details that make an open house successful.
4. Find out the game plan. See what your real estate agent has in mind for your open house. What kind of marketing materials will be provided on your house for buyers to take with them? Will there be a drawing or raffle to help capture prospects' names? Will there be a mortgage loan officer present to answer questions prospects have about financing options? Does your real estate agent recommend providing any incentives to attract offers?
5. Advertise the open house. Make sure your real estate agent will be advertising your open house. An ad in your local newspaper is a good start. Your open house can also be advertised on your real estate agent's website and his/her company website. A sign should be prominently displayed advertising the open house. If your real estate agent blogs, he/she can write a post about your upcoming open house. Real estate agents in the area should also be alerted that there will be an open house on your property.

An open house can still be an effective marketing tool if it is planned properly from the beginning. The name of the game is to get traffic through to your house so you can have more opportunities to turn a prospect into a real estate buyer. Use new-school tools--websites, blogs, Internet marketing flyers, real estate podcasts and real estate forums--to get the word out about your open house.

Happy Selling.

If you enjoyed this post, you might want to read:

• How to get your house ready to sell for the spring real estate market
• Send a flyer of your house to the World Wide Web
• Communicate with your real estate agent about house showings

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Posted by Rebecca D. Levinson

Comments

[Scenic City Scoop - Chattanooga Tennessee Real Estate Scoop]

Great Article with tons of important information regarding Open Houses. One of the tips I give our Sellers are to bake cookies in the morning and put them out. The smell is amazing and the cookies are usually tasty. Keep up the great blog.

David