Open houses are the perfect opportunity to showcase your real estate skills. Face-to-face interactions allow you to connect on a personal level with potential homebuyers, which is the first step in marketing. However, the creativity that makes open houses so successful has seemingly decreased over the years. It’s time to switch things up and put the power back in the potential of this traditional real estate marketing tactic. Here are six tips for hosting the best open house to showcase personality, skill and selling tactics.
Dress the part
Over the years, the world has gotten significantly more casual. Men no longer have to wear suits to the office; women can wear flip flops anywhere. However, just because you can do these things doesn’t mean you should. As a real estate agent, you’re often working under your discretion. It is important to remain professional at all times under any working condition. A key to hosting a successful open house is to dress the part. Although you’re not in the office, you still need to dress professionally to close the deal. You’re dealing with the most important investment people will make in their lifetime, and they want a professional to handle it. Always dress the part.
Keep a pleasant attitude
Everyone has bad days. With strangers coming into the home you’re hosting, all expressing their bits of advice, it can quickly become overwhelming. As a real estate agent, tough skin is a must. Additionally, it can be quite discouraging to host an open house and only receive a couple of visitors. However, no matter how unpleasant a potential client may be or how disheartening a situation becomes, it’s imperative to always keep a pleasant attitude. As a real estate agent hosting an open house, you are part of the selling package. Be patient, kind and understanding. Don’t let tough comments get the best of you.
Prepare the property ahead of time
While it isn’t your job to clean someone’s house before an open house, you’ll be wasting time if you open the doors to a messy interior. Always select a date for the open house with the sellers to ensure they have enough time to get their property ready. However, if you arrive and some things are out of place, straighten it up. The appearance of the home is just as important to you as it is the sellers. Thus, if you have to cross your real estate career into a cleaning career for five minutes, the result will be worth it.
Make the open house obvious
With thousands of new streets popping up every week, it can be easy for potential clients to get lost on the way to the open house. Make it easy for everyone to find. Provide directions from different parts of the region, use arrowed signs on nearby streets and tie balloons outside with a large sign indicating the event.
Have your sign-in sheets and Better Homes and Gardens® magazines ready to hand out
Open houses are the perfect time to brand yourself as the go-to real estate agent in the area. As such, it’s crucial to take the opportunity sell the home and your services. Create a sign-in sheet to track who comes through the house. You can discreetly mark their level of interest and input their information into your CRM system at a later time. Additionally, you want to provide potential clients with branding. If you are affiliated with Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate, for example, this is a great place to hand out Better Homes and Gardens® magazines to all registrants with your business card to create a connection with the brand.
Making an open house enjoyable and memorable for all guests allows you to showcase your real estate services. The key to a successful open house is to sell the property while also selling your skills to potential clients. Let your next open house be the ultimate marketing strategy that takes your business to the next level of success.
