Whether you’re new to the real estate market or you’re a seasoned professional, you understand how important open houses are for new leads. The point of hosting an open house as a realtor is not necessarily to sell the home but to generate new leads for future sales, and it’s a crucial part of real estate marketing. Your open house can either work for you or against you, so here are some pointers to make sure your next open house actually gets you new leads and shows homeowners what you can deliver.
1. Plan Ahead
The worst thing you can/ do is wait until a few days before to start preparing and advertising. Give yourself at least a week to start promoting the open house on social media and face to face with the neighbors. Drop off mailbox invitations or flyers at least three days ahead of time. Two to three days before, start cold calling. Do your research on the neighborhood so that you can strategically plan when to host the open house. If you know there is another competing event, don’t schedule yours at the same time. Make your open housework for the people who will attend, and cater to their schedules and lifestyles.
2. Flag Down New Leads and Market Your Personal Brand
The day of your open house, make sure you get your signage right. If you want to stand out and market your personal brand as a realtor, get creative with your presentation, including your yard signs and invitations. Feather flags are an attractive and unique option over a boring, generic yard sign you picked up at a cheap discount store. Personalize your flag with your unique font and logo and use the same one at all of your events. The same goes for door tags, stickers, business cards, and mailbox flyers.
3. Give Your Guests an Experience
This is where you need to be a welcoming host or hostess as much as a realtor. Instead of just a walkthrough of an empty house, stage the home with a few pieces of furniture if possible, a vase of flowers, and create a homey atmosphere. If your open house is in the morning, have coffee and bagels in the kitchen. If you’re hosting in the evening, have a happy hour open house and give out a glass of wine with cheese and crackers. Have a giveaway or a raffle, and make sure to leverage it by getting names and emails.
4. Use the Power of Technology
Promote your open house on social media. Share Instagram stories throughout the event, and live stream it on facebook. This allows people to watch remotely and ask questions, and at a time when the home is full of people instead of empty, so they can get a better sense of the space even if they couldn’t attend in person.
5. Virtually Stage the Home
People have a hard time imagining what a home is really going to be like to live in without seeing the furniture inside. This doesn’t mean you need to rush out and buy actual furniture. Virtually staging the home gives you the flexibility of styling it with as many variations as you wish. Virtually styling the space with several options and then emailing these to visitors is a very cost-effective way of attracting and keeping potential home buyers.