5 tips for open house success

Posted by admin - April 8th, 2008

I don’t know about your Broomfield neighborhood, but mine was replete with Open House events, especially on Sunday, last weekend. If you are selling your own home, or if your house is on the market and you just want to conduct your own Open House, here are 5 tips on conducting the best Open House event possible.

1. Advertise! Advertise! Advertise! Post it in any way possible. DON’T leave out Craigslist whatever you do! I personally get all sorts of traffic from Craigslist. It’s pretty easy to add your own listing, it’s free and you can upload pictures from your house if you’d like. If you know a little HTML you can make a pretty ad but it’s not necessary. Craigslist is so successful sometimes I get calls MONTHS later about a listing. It’s a little annoying, but in this market that’s okay.

Also list your event on Zillow and Trulia.

In fact, email me at beth@bethskinner.com and I’ll post your Open House on this blog!

Make up a nice invitation advertising the Open House and deliver one to all your neighbors. (C’mon, it’s great exercise!) I know a lot of folks look down their nose at what they think are looky loo neighbors. Let me tell you something about looky loo neighbors: they buy houses too! And they have friends and relatives who are interested in your neighborhood. I have lost count of the number of times someone has come to an Open House clutching an invitation saying, “A guy I work with brought me a flyer…” or “My sister lives up the street…”

A word of caution with flyers: do NOT paper someone’s parking lot. I had a “rogue” seller do this once (actually he sent his kids out) - did I get a really fired up store owner calling me! Yikes! And I had no idea the seller was going to do this. Not only did I get yelled at, I think it’s a waste of paper and time. You want to target folks in your neighborhood! ALSO, use caution when leaving flyers on a “no soliciting” door. I have been yelled at by these folks too.

Put out tons of signs advertising your Open House. I am told that rule of thumb dictates that if buyers have to make more than 4 turns to get to your house it won’t be a successful event. I kind of have to agree with this. My best Open House events are in homes that are easily found off a main road.

2. Feed people! I always have food at an Open House. And I don’t mean some icky generic Oreo cookies on a paper plate. Do it like you mean it! I have had excellent luck with the cinnamon rolls from Costco and I always make coffee or iced tea. I also provide small bottles of water. On Independence Day last year I had a decorated cake. You know where else I get the good stuff? From the bakery clearance racks at the grocery store! You can get some really fancy looking things for low prices! And put it on a pretty platter while you’re at it!

3. Clean and clean and clean! EVERYTHING should be spotless. It should be spotless anyway since your home is on the market but let’s get it even more spotless for the Open House.

4. Even though this ended up at number 4, safety should be your first concern. Have someone there with you. I frequently ask the sellers to stick around if they want (despite popular theory, the potential buyers tend to appreciate that because they like to question them, I just ask the sellers to kind of hang out quietly in the background, plus the sellers like the fact they don’t have to go anywhere), and sometimes I have a mortgage broker there to do on-site financing. Also, anything of serious value that can be easily pocketed should be locked away in a home safe or in a safety deposit box or with a trusted relative.

5. Pay attention to what the potential buyers are trying to tell you. I can usually tell early on in the visit whether or not someone is truly interested. I know that some will tell you just to leave the buyers alone, but I frequently have buyers who expect me to follow them around the house and answer their questions. Use your own judgment.

Good luck to you!

photo credit: jmenard48