To have a successful open house, you need to invest your time and effort beforehand. You also need to put in some laborious work before the event itself. If you’re not prepared, then there is no way that your open house will be successful.
As a realtor, you have to take some chances and plan out the whole event before it happens. This will take some time, but once you start planning, everything should go smoothly.
Here are 13 tips to help you launch a successful open house:
1. Plan it out
It would be best if you kept your plan-of-attack open, but at the same time, you should have a timeline. If you’re going to have an open house, then you have to have a certain amount of energy and effort put into it.
Make sure that you set up a plan beforehand. You must plan out ahead of time how much work you’re going to have to do. Otherwise, your open house will be a big mess, and you don’t want that to happen.
2. Make a guest list
Make a guest list and invite everyone in your network of family and friends for this event. Let them know who to invite as well if they think somebody else might be interested in attending or purchasing the property.
Invite other agents from the office too so that people will come from all over town, if necessary.
3. Attract the right people
As a modern real estate agent, you need to ensure that you get the most out of the open house event. But how do you achieve this? By attracting the right people.
Just like any other event, you need first to conduct profile research of the surroundings. This is vital as it will help you know the kind of people to expect in your open house event.
Your target demographic will vary depending on the type of property in question. For starters, you need to do some research on the neighborhood that the property is in.
You also have to find out who lives there and what other properties are surrounding the area. Then you work from there.
When times come for buyers to show up, you have to be prepared with proper answers for every possible question.
4. Be consistent
If you’re planning on having an open house, you have to be consistent about it. If your schedule says that the open house will happen at 1 p.m., then it should pretty much always take place at that time.
You can’t change your mind or do something else special unless there has been a last-minute emergency. But in most cases, it should be held at 1 p.m.
5. Focus on one area
You have to focus on a particular area of the house or property that you will be showing. It doesn’t matter what it is, but you should know exactly where you’re going to go to avoid being lost.
If somebody gets lost, nobody will enjoy the open house. Ensure that there is always at least one person who knows where everyone else is supposed to be.
6. Have a database
You should have a database that you can use to keep track of everyone who shows up for the event. You may not remember every single face, but you also don’t want to get yourself into trouble.
If somebody comes in and someone else leaves without telling anyone, then there is no way that anybody will know what happened. Having a database will keep things organized throughout the event.
7. Make your listing clean and tidy
Before the open house event, you should prepare your property and make sure it looks clean and tidy. Ensure all the clutter has been disposed of and that there isn’t anything out-of-place.
The next thing to do is make sure that all lights are on and there’s enough lighting. If it’s too dark, then nobody will want to come in.
It has to be bright enough where they can go in without tripping over anything or stubbing their toes.
8. Have open house signs everywhere
You should make sure that you have signs everywhere. They don’t need to be fancy, but they definitely should be noticeable.
People will only want to come if they know that something is going on there, and the best way to do this is by having open house signs everywhere. There should also be a map where people can easily see where it is.
9. Broadcast it on social media
Social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook are the best places to broadcast your open house event to a wide audience.
If people don’t know about it, they won’t come. The more people who know about it, the more successful your open house event will be.
You can have Facebook ads to ensure that you reach as many people as possible.
However, you should also take the time to see what other popular social media platforms are out there because there could be some that nobody has taken advantage of yet.
If anything, it will at least draw more people into your open house event as they may not have been aware that it was taking place otherwise.
10. Create a sign-in sheet for guests
You need to create a sign-in sheet to keep track of all the people who attend the open house event. You don’t know who will show up, and you won’t be able to remember every single face unless you have a list where everybody can sign their name down. This lets you put a face with a name later on.
You can use a clipboard with pad paper, or you can get an actual sign-in sheet.
What’s more important is that you can keep track of your attendees because if somebody comes without signing in, then the whole open house may be considered fraudulent.
11. Make a follow-up list
You should make a follow-up list after the whole open house event to track who you would like to follow up with. This helps create a sense of urgency and allows you to be more productive with your work.
You should also use this time to see if there are any other people you want to talk with. Who knows, somebody may be interested in what you’re having right now.
12. Interact with visitors
You should constantly interact with your visitors as much as possible. If you just sit back and wait for people to show up, nobody will want to deal with that.
They want somebody willing to talk, and they also don’t mind engaging in conversation either. The more friendly you are, the better it will be later on when making a business transaction or even developing a friendship.
13. Tidy up after the open house event
Finally, you need to make sure that you tidy up after the event to ensure your property isn’t damaged at all by coffee stains or dirt marks from shoes left outside.
This could potentially ruin the whole thing for everyone else because nobody wants somebody else’s crime scene at their open house event. Avoid any unnecessary mishaps by always leaving your property in pristine condition.
Conclusion
As you can see, planning out your open house event is not as easy as it may seem. You need to take it seriously and do everything necessary.
If you just sit around and wait for things to happen, then nothing will ever happen the way you want it to.
Make sure that you’re proactive with your work to know what they’re getting into when they come over for an open house event.
Put in the time beforehand to avoid hiccups later on down the road or complications during the big day.
