How to Host a Successful Open House
Open Houses have a variety of feedback from agents as to whether they find them effective use of their time or not. We believe that they are an excellent way to get in-person traffic at your listings and even if the clients do not decide on your home, you have an excellent opportunity to pick up some buyer clients. Let’s learn more about how you can host a successful open house.
Quick Facts:
According to American Home Shield, 48% of home buyers attend an open house at some point in their purchasing journey and out of that 48%, they are most likely to be shopping in the $250-$500,000 price range.
Promoting the Open House
The first thing you have to do is convince people to come to the open house. Fortunately, Zillow, Realtor, and other familiar IDX websites do an excellent job at alerting those interested in the home that an open house is occurring. Beyond them, here are some ideas that you can use to get some traffic:
Social Media Posts
Social Media Advertisements
Inviting Neighbors
Emailing other real estate agents that have similar transactions and see if they have any clients that might be interested
Signs
Prepare for your Open House
We have done all of our recruitment for the open house, now we must prepare. We recommend having 2 things to hand out to potential buyers as they come to the open house:
Quick Fact Flyers
Floor Plans
The flyers are an excellent way to give potential buyers quick facts on the home. Think of it as an opportunity to show off (visually) some of the best aspects of the home and answer FAQs. The floor plans are an excellent handout for larger listings and those that want to get some further information on the home. In addition, you should always keep copies of your disclosures and more intensive information so you can refer to them in case the answer to a particular question slips your mind.
Should you have food/drink? Over the last year and a half, there have been regulations on what you can and cannot have due to COVID-19. However, our answer for food and drink is that it is not always necessary but it is a nice touch. Food and drink is also an excellent way to encourage potential buyers to stay longer. This can be an opportunity to build rapport and learn more about themselves and their needs.
Hosting the Open House
You have promoted and prepped, now it is time to host the open house. Depending on how much traffic you are going to expect at the open house, you might want some extra agents to help walk potential buyers through the home. Yes. Walk them through the home. Remember, not only does it give you a better opportunity to point out all of the features and details of the listing, but it is also an excellent time to build rapport and learn more about them.
Learning more about your potential buyers
The ultimate goal of the potential buyers while they are in the open house is to either: have them purchase the home you are hosting the open house for, or collect their information and help them with the purchase of their home. The latter of the two is what we will focus on as that is more difficult.
Make sure while you are building your rapport that you are learning about some of the ways that you can help them. A common solution to their issues is to add them into your MLS database so they can have homes that meet their criteria emailed right to them. Maybe you have a pocket listing or more information about a home that might fit their interests, you could send them some information on that. No matter what your value-add is, make sure that you are able to provide them with some value even if the home you are hosting open is not for them. Once you have their contact information and a plan to help them - follow up and deliver! As soon as the door shuts behind them (if you don’t have to run off to another group), send them an email confirming that you are here to help and thanking them for stopping by.
The Summary:
Promote your open house via social media, connecting with other brokers, and reaching out to neighbors
Prepare print marketing materials for your open house (food + drink is a major plus)
Walk each potential buyer through the home to build rapport and point out details of the home they might otherwise miss
Provide value to the potential buyers before they leave - this is how you can obtain their contact information and turn them into buyer clients
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