How to Have a Great Open House
I’m answering a question that we’ve had several sellers ask, and that is if they should have an open house, and how to make their open houses great.
1) Definitely Have an Open House
It’s especially important when it’s a new listing in the first couple weeks. Beyond that, it’s also a good idea to have one after you do a price drop. Even though buyers are increasingly finding their homes online, open houses are becoming more and more important.
90% percent of buyers first find their house online. But that’s only where they initially see it; they need to see it in person next. Open houses are a great way to check out a property before making an offer after finding it online.
2) Market Smartly and Tirelessly
One of the keys to having great open houses is to have a great online presence. Our team for instance pays tons and tons of money every month to have outstanding advertising and placement online. We’ve work tirelessly for great SEO for our websites, are premier agents on Zillow, do tons of marketing on Zillow and Trulia, and heavily utilize AdWord searches and social media ads. So our online advertising is second to none. And you wanna make sure you have that for your open house.
3) Use Lots of Signage
Your visibility through signage is also extremely important. It needs to be extremely obvious and attractive to catch people’s attention. Put directional signs at busy intersections and places where people walk by. If it’s a condo building or a house that has some type of guarded access or security box, you’ll want to make sure that you or your representative have contact information and instructions so that people aren’t stuck outside the building, and will easily know how to dial the agent and get access. You want to make it as easy as possible for people to get there.
Preparing for the Open House
Now, getting them there’s only half the battle. You need also to make the home look and feel great. So make sure that you’ve got it picked up, tidy and decluttered, with everything put away. You want all of the lights on in the house. You want to make it look as bright and open as possible. You also wanna make sure that the closets and storage spaces don’t look full. You don’t want buyers to think that, “Oh, my gosh, there’s not enough room for all of my stuff here.”
Decluttering the open spaces is important, but it’s also important to do that in storage spots.
It’s also important to make sure you’ve got a really great knowledgeable agent in there to help answer potential buyer’s questions and to sell them on the benefits of the house. You want to make sure that they’re focused on the benefits, not features, of the home.
That distinction is important. A feature is what something is – i.e. an extra room or an outdoor space. But a benefit is what it actually gives you. Like an area for your kids to play, or the ability to spend time and enjoy outdoors. Something that can help the buying feel a visceral, personal connection to the house.