10 Tips For The Ideal Open House

10 Tips For The Ideal Open House

Whether you are holding your own open house or hosting for another realtor, you want to present yourself in a memorable way to homebuyers resulting in new clients and referrals.

We’ve put together a list of simple and affordable ways you can make a lasting impression to open house attendees. Follow these ten easy practices for the most successful open house ever:

1. KNOW THE DISCLOSURES

The most important tip and best way to maintain a professional appearance is to be knowledgeable about your listings.

Nothing is more off putting to a potential buyer than a realtor holding an open house who can’t answer questions about it.

If you put the work in to know the disclosures backwards and forwards, you’ll set a precedent in buyers’ minds that you will work equally as hard for them.

2. BE ON TIME AND STAY LATE

Many buyers dedicate their Sunday afternoons to looking at open homes, meaning they plan to get to the first one right when the majority of open houses in the area are scheduled to begin.

If they decide to come to yours first and you are not there, then you could lose a client, a sale, and the chance at establishing yourself as a reputable realtor.

Likewise, you could miss out on last minute stragglers if you’re too eager to leave early. Stay an extra 5-10 minutes just in case.

3. STAGING

Studies have shown that houses sell faster when open homes are staged rather than owner occupied.

Additionally, keep in mind the likely buyer demographics of the home you’re selling.

Staging in a way that mirrors their lifestyle will help them better envision themselves living there, and increase the probability of purchase.

As a final option, offer to pay for a portion of the staging. This will increase repeat business from the seller, and give you an extra perk you can brag about in your personal brand advertisements.

4. SCENTS

You’ve probably heard that scent is the strongest sense tied to memory and big corporations have put a lot of money into scent marketing to exploit that fact. Studies have shown scents that tend to be more closely linked with happy and/or relaxing memories result in more spending among browsers.

Common smells utilized are baked goods, chocolate, vanilla, and coffee. If you lack the culinary skills, you may want to just stick to coffee or invest in an artificial aroma generator, (don’t worry, non-commercial aroma generators are cheap!)

5. UNIQUE IN-HOUSE MARKETING

Invest some time into researching companies that can help you market yourself and your open home in memorable ways.

For example, you could place a retractable pull up banner displaying a personal branding ad, (so it can be reused), or a video drone tour of the property playing on a loop in the living room.

This is an opportunity for you to get creative, and the marketing you employ should reflect you and the home you’re selling.

Feel free to contact us if you’d like our recommendations to accurately reflect your unique brand.

6. PITCH WALKTHROUGHS

In addition to staging, another good way to imprint a sense of ownership among walkthroughs is to pitch them with details and possibilities specific to their lifestyle or hobbies.

If they have a baby, talk about where cribs would look good in the home. If they are sporty, talk about nearby fitness clubs, storage possibilities, or any positive contributions to their lifestyle the home could make.

It’s as easy as striking up a genuine conversation with buyers and learning about who they are, then conflating features of the home with their responses.

7. DRESS CODE

This is another issue that should be left to the discretion of the agent depending on the expected demographic of people viewing the home.

You want to portray a sense of professionalism and cleanliness regardless, but a suit and tie might not necessarily be ideal.

If it’s a younger demographic in a newly gentrified region, realtors might be better off dressing down a bit to instill comradery amongst home browsers.

Knowing the clientele and what they’re likely to respond well to is more important than dressing to the nines in all business settings.

Use your best judgement and try to depict yourself as both someone your target demographic is likely to connect with and deliver a prompt, professional experience.

8. DIGITAL ADVERTISING

Most realtors already take advantage of advertising opportunities offered on social media and consumer facing listing platforms, but there is a lot more to be done in this scope to increase both reach and strength of personal brand in terms of both the type of digital advertisement and how to present them.

Look into alternative digital advertisement sources that remain largely untapped within the industry, such as advertising on mobile gaming platforms or utilizing virtual tour platforms.

Also pay attention to the quality of ad.

Professional photographers might seem costly considering photos can be easily taken and uploaded from your phone, but they’re unlikely to attract new clients when compared with the quality a professional brings.

9. SOUND

As is the case with scents, sounds that induce happy and relaxing memories in buyers are strongly correlated with greater purchase volume.

You can create a soft playlist to quilt the interior of your open home to help buyers achieve this relaxing mentality, or you can simply rely on the scientifically backed playlist featuring, “the most relaxing songs in the world.”

Whichever route you choose, keep in mind this technique is meant to be supplementary to every other tactic you employ, not the star of the show, so don’t turn the volume up too loud.

10. REMOVE CLUTTER

Lastly, to quote John Wesley, “cleanliness is close to godliness.”

Take the time to hire cleaners to remove infringing stains and odors, make sure the yard is well kempt and free of clutter, and remove any semblance of a previous owner occupancy.

If you provide home buyers with a blank template, they can fill it with visions of their own life, and allow them to imagine living there more easily.

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For any specific questions or concerns you have about an open house you’re holding in the near future, please email us and we will get back to you promptly with solutions unique to your situation.

Incorporate these techniques into your open house holding actions. Action becomes habit becomes character.

And in the case of realtors, character becomes new clients and repeat business.

Written by:
Tommy Wolf
California Licensed Realtor
tommyw@realestatebackops.com
DRE # 02044169