As the real estate industry experiences upheaval due to rising mortgage rates, unprecedented low housing supply, landmark Supreme Court rulings, and more, realtors face more challenges than any period since the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis. While the COVID-19 pandemic certainly offered some unique challenges, historically low mortgage rates and remote work-induced relocations made that period an easier one for flipping properties.
However, the combination of ever-increasing mortgage rates and seller hesitancy has made selling homes significantly more challenging just a few years later. This means that realtors need to be both creative and organized when it comes to helping sellers market properties, and that’s where open house events come in. Long an essential method for helping sellers connect with the right buyers, the importance of effective open house events is especially true in periods like now with incredibly tight buyer pools. From collecting every possible lead to follow up with, to helping overcome hesitancy with sky-high housing prices for potential buyers, successful open house events are more important than ever before.
To help you design open house events that can achieve these goals and help buyers and realtors alike, we’ve put together a handy open house planning checklist that includes preparation, the event itself, and the ever-important post-event period. Use this open house planning checklist as a guide or draft, with elements that can be tailored to the unique circumstances of the market you work in.
Evaluate the Property: Perform an “inventory” of the target property. Identify easy fixes or repairs that could be made if possible, especially those most visible to buyers. Walk sellers through staging instructions and ensure there is a plan for presenting the house as clean and uncluttered.
Seller Communication: Discuss the open house plans with the seller and answer any questions or concerns they have before proceeding. Ensure some fixed times to ensure no last minute cancellations that could drive away buyer attendance.
Create Marketing Materials: Design high-quality brochures, flyers, and online listings that showcase the property’s best features.
Online Advertising: Promote the open house through various online platforms, including your agency’s website, social media, and real estate portals. Consider also finding community social media channels (neighborhood groups etc.) as alternative free options for additional marketing opportunities.
Traditional Advertising: Sometimes nothing beats the good old open house yard sign! Try to find highly trafficked corners or intersections near the property to cast a wider net.
Home Staging: 1-2 days before the event, check in with the sellers to review the staging needs and confirm that necessary steps have been taken to avoid any surprises or scrambling on the day of the open house event.
Safety Measures: Ensure sellers secure valuable items, lock away personal information, and take any needed safety measures for accessibility during the event.
Lighting and Ambiance: Create a welcoming atmosphere with well-lit rooms, pleasant scents, and soft music.
Sign-in Sheets: Prepare sign-in sheets to collect visitor information. Consider setting up a tablet or digital registration form to make it even easier and add a professional feel to the event.
Information Packets: Have detailed information packets about the property and local amenities for potential buyers.
Refreshments: Offer light refreshments, like water and snacks, to keep visitors comfortable. For higher-end properties, consider “leveling up” the amenities to make the property and open house event experience particularly memorable. This is helpful not only for this experience, but for developing potential future leads.
Arrive Early: Arrive at the property at least an hour before the scheduled start time to make final preparations.
Welcome Sign: Place a welcoming sign outside the property.
Greet Visitors: Greet visitors as they arrive and provide them with information packets.
Property Tour: Offer guided tours, highlighting the property’s unique features.
Engage with Visitors: Answer questions, build rapport, and obtain feedback from potential buyers.
Collect Visitor Information: Ensure all attendees sign in, and collect their contact details.
Follow-Up Plan: Have a follow-up plan in place to reach out to potential buyers and provide additional information.
Seller Feedback: After the open house, communicate with the seller to provide feedback and discuss the next steps.
© 2023 All Rights Reserved
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement | 1 year | Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category . |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional | 11 months | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". |
csrftoken | past | This cookie is associated with Django web development platform for python. Used to help protect the website against Cross-Site Request Forgery attacks |
elementor | never | This cookie is used by the website's WordPress theme. It allows the website owner to implement or change the website's content in real-time. |
laravel_session | 5 days | laravel uses laravel_session to identify a session instance for a user, this can be changed |
viewed_cookie_policy | 11 months | The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data. |
XSRF-TOKEN | 1 month | This cookie is set by Wix and is used for security purposes. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
__cf_bm | 30 minutes | This cookie, set by Cloudflare, is used to support Cloudflare Bot Management. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
_gat | 1 minute | This cookie is installed by Google Universal Analytics to restrain request rate and thus limit the collection of data on high traffic sites. |
_uetsid | 1 day | Bing Ads sets this cookie to engage with a user that has previously visited the website. |
_uetvid | 1 year 24 days | Bing Ads sets this cookie to engage with a user that has previously visited the website. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
_ga | 2 years | The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors. |
_ga_5XLFPG0W9S | 2 years | This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. |
_gat_gtag_UA_11703970_6 | 1 minute | Set by Google to distinguish users. |
_gat_gtag_UA_11703970_9 | 1 minute | Set by Google to distinguish users. |
_gat_UA-11703970-6 | 1 minute | A variation of the _gat cookie set by Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager to allow website owners to track visitor behaviour and measure site performance. The pattern element in the name contains the unique identity number of the account or website it relates to. |
_gcl_au | 3 months | Provided by Google Tag Manager to experiment advertisement efficiency of websites using their services. |
_gid | 1 day | Installed by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously. |
CONSENT | 2 years | YouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
_fbp | 3 months | This cookie is set by Facebook to display advertisements when either on Facebook or on a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising, after visiting the website. |
fr | 3 months | Facebook sets this cookie to show relevant advertisements to users by tracking user behaviour across the web, on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin. |
MUID | 1 year 24 days | Bing sets this cookie to recognize unique web browsers visiting Microsoft sites. This cookie is used for advertising, site analytics, and other operations. |
test_cookie | 15 minutes | The test_cookie is set by doubleclick.net and is used to determine if the user's browser supports cookies. |
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE | 5 months 27 days | A cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface. |
YSC | session | YSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages. |
yt.innertube::nextId | never | This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen. |
yt.innertube::requests | never | This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
Lf6OyVqEU0nVTJQeFIeIpSQjqWYSbIW7umu3OHBy | 1 month | No description |
MUa7b6LkjpVOL8iFskJjTasRS5pBCQiV4Zd6SxpG | 1 month | No description |
rsvpify_session | 1 month | No description |