Getting ready for your next open house? You’re just in luck! We know these open houses can be critical in helping sell a home, so we’ve come up with the best ways to make sure your next open house is killer. Here’s what you need to do.
Milk technology to promote, promote, promote.
In this day and age everything thing is digital, so much so that even open houses have become virtual. Take advantage of the technology to really mainstream your advertising. List your open houses on popular real estate sites like:
- Zillow.com
- Trulia.com
- Realtor.com
- StreetEasy.com (New York City Apartments for Sale and Rent)
These sites allow you to get the details out and ring the prospects in.
Hit the social media hard with targeted Facebook ads that send your open house video to local neighborhoods. Create a “story” on Instagram parading the excitement you’re building. Make it fun!
Open house, open party.
Speaking of fun, throw a party! Crank up the mood from your average boring open house to one that engages and livens up your visitors’ spirits.
Set up fresh flowers, get the music playing, and even set out some baked-cookies. The more delicious the snacks, the better.
Hire a food truck to feed the crowds, create a contest with an appealing prize, and send those invitations out. Make it hard for them to forget about their visit!
Set the stage.
Buyers are looking for their next place to live, breathe, and settle down. If you want to leave a lasting impression, it’s your job to create that for them.
Make sure there is as much natural light as possible and draw back those curtains. All of them. Keep the lights on just enough so that the rooms are lit up.
Consider having different types of music playing softly throughout the house. Music and light are two sensory experiences that can subconsciously impact a buyer’s feelings about a home.
Remove all personal photos keeping in mind that people have different backgrounds. The space should not feel like it belongs to one certain group.
Group colors together and limit them to three per room. Place larger items lower on shelves around the home and use white towels to simulate a luxurious spa escape feel. Create a homey-feel they’ll never want to leave.
Engage your visitors.
Engagement is a crucial part of the open house process that if executed correctly, will get you results better than that of your average open house.
Constantly engage with whoever comes through the front door. Greet them at the door as if it were your own house and thank them for visiting. Keep a smile on your face, your eyes up, and arm yourself with facts about the home you want to sell.
It’s important to know your market before hosting the home. Make sure to study competing listings, so that you are able to speak intelligently on the competition and recent sales. This proves you to be the trust worthy expert visitors feel they can rely on.
Sign-in Strategy
Design a strategy that best captures in-coming visitor’s information. This is how you are going to follow up and seal the deal. Visitors should be contacted after their visit, so make sure to have a sign-in log ready when they enter.
Signing in via a tablet might be the most convenient method for tracking visitors. There are digital open house tools such as Open Home Pro that help keep track of everyone that signs in and gets their contact information.
Entice people to leave their information with fun contests like “Select the Price,” and explain how you will contact the winner of the prize. Following up is a must.
Have fun with it.
Finally, just have fun with it. Be happy and enjoy what you’ve put together. Visitors will pick up on your good vibes and you’ll end up with less stress in the long run. Just make sure you’re prepared to answer questions and that every guest leaves with the information they need. At the end of the day, you and your attitude are what will make the difference.
