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How to…
Market yourself at an open house
Holding an open house may or may not produce a buyer for your listing. But it will put you in contact with consumers, some of whom might need the services of an agent. Come up with something to draw consumers and make them remember your name. Everyone hands out business cards or bakes cookies; you need to expend additional effort for people to notice.
Name recognition
“To get people to remember me and my open house, I give each person a departing gift,” says Donna Clement with Keller Williams in San Antonio-Blanco Market Center. She buys bulk items like smoked almonds, puts the items in small bags similar to those used for wedding favors, and ties a ribbon on each with a card attached to the ribbon. The card, which
Clement prints on her computer, has a photo
of the house, a few facts about the listing, and
her contact information.
“The visitors always appreciate this gift,” says Clement, “and it helps to start or continue a conversation. I also leave a basket of these in my listings so when other agents are showing, they and their clients have a special treat.”
Generate a buzz
It might sound counterintuitive at first, but
you can help your listings draw crowds of
buyers by limiting the duration of your open houses. “I limit my open houses to a two-hour block,” says Colin Noel Vickers, an agent
with Stout & Associates in Katy. “This is
much less intrusive for the seller, creates excitement around the listing during the
open house, and there are many more people
in the house during the short time—which makes interest in the house seem heightened.”
You might have the same number of visitors at a longer open house, but a crowded property during a shorter period makes your marketing techniques look successful, which may entice consumers to use you as their agent. After all, you were successful in generating a large turnout at this event. Having shorter open houses also leaves you free to host more open houses in a given day or attend to other clients.
Invite the nosey neighbors
Debora Flores, an agent with Coldwell Banker United in Austin, doesn’t complain when curious neighbors descend upon an open house. After all, she invited them.
“On the Thursday before a Sunday open house, I hand deliver 25-50 invitations, depending on the neighborhood,” Flores says. “I tried mailing them, but hand-delivery often gets me listings from the neighbors or contacts of friends or relatives looking for a home, because they like my professionalism.”
Your main goal when holding an open house, of course, is to sell the property. But combining those efforts with a little self-promotion ensures your time is well-spent—even if the house doesn’t sell.
Photo © Comstock.
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