6 Steps for Making an Open
House Successful
Most agents when they get
ready to hold an open house
think of how many telephone
numbers they can store in their
cellphone. But this immediate
mindset of quickly turning home
browsers into homebuyers can be
counterproductive.
Instead of getting ready to close,
you should consider open houses
as an effective way to soft sell
yourself, the property and as a
tool for building a base of new
potential clients. That’s because
there is nothing that will send a
potential client running for the
door faster than an aggressive real
estate agent that insists on closing
a prospect who may be in the very
beginning of his or her buying
process. If a visitor really likes the
property and is interested in buying
it now, don’t worry, she will give
you some strong buying signals
12
to which you will immediately
respond.
2. Prep the House to Show
Well
But for now, let’s look at an open
house as an incubator for future
clients and another marketing tool
in your marketing bag.
Long before the date of the open
house you should meet with the
home sellers and ask them to
unclutter the house, add a touch of
paint where needed, cut the grass
and trim the shrubs. Make sure the
house is cleansed of any uninviting
odors and of course instruct the
home sellers that the chance of
them selling their house quickly
increases in direct proportion to
how hard they scrub each sink,
appliance, table top and floor in
their home.
Here are six steps you can take to
ensure your open houses generate
more potential clients and sales:
1. Select Your Open Houses
Carefully
Don’t choose a house just because
you’re being pressured by a fellow
real estate agent, or a homeowner
who thinks open houses are a
magic potion. It’s true that newer
listings tend to get more traffic as
do houses that are located off a
main thoroughfare – or are priced
to sell.
3. Be At the Front Door to
Greet Visitors
Now, you might say this is contrary
to the advice we gave you at the
beginning of this article, but it
really isn’t. We suggested not