How To Host A Successful Open House: A Guide For Real Estate Agents And Brokers
At any given time, you’re competing with hundreds of other brokerages to sell your properties. Hosting unforgettable open houses helps you attract potential buyers and close more deals.
In fact, 41% of homebuyers use the information they gain at an open house event in their property search, indicating the value of these events. This is why more than 43% of listing agents use open houses to promote their properties.
If you’re a broker or listing agent, hosting a memorable open house and making a good first impression are essential to attracting more potential buyers.
In this article, we’ll unpack what an open house is, how real estate professionals can market their events, and what you can do to ensure you make the best first impression.
What Is an Open House?
An open house is a scheduled event in the real estate market where a property, typically one for sale, is opened to prospective buyers for viewing.
It allows potential buyers to visit the property, explore its features, and get a feel for the space without making an appointment with a real estate agent for a viewing.
Either real estate agents, brokers, or the homeowner will host the open house, which usually lasts two to three hours on a specific day.
The primary purpose of open house events is to attract potential buyers and generate interest in the property. They create a low-pressure environment for people to explore the home at their own pace. Additionally, open houses allow real estate agents and brokers to meet interested buyers and answer any questions about the property or the home-buying process.
What Is a Broker’s Open House?
A broker’s open house differs slightly from an event open to the public. Instead, it’s a private showing only real estate professionals can attend. A broker’s open house might be a good idea for a seller who isn’t comfortable inviting strangers into their homes.
A seller’s agent will also use a broker’s open house to determine reactions from other agents and brokers. They can discuss the property’s asking price and marketing strategy with colleagues and ask if they have any clients who would want to view it.
How to Market Your Open Houses Effectively
During their home search, 70% of buyers attend at least one open house. If you want your event to go off without a hitch and attract more serious buyers, you need to know how to market your open house effectively. Here are some tips on how you can do this:
🏠 Leverage online real estate platforms
List your upcoming open houses on popular real estate platforms like Zillow, Realtor.com, Redfin, and your multiple listing service (MLS). These websites have high traffic from buyers actively looking for homes.
In your open house listing, emphasize the home’s unique selling points, such as its location, upgrades, and neighborhood amenities, to entice more people to attend.
🏠 Social media promotion
You can create a Facebook event page with the details of the open house and invite your connections to attend. You could even boost the event with paid ads to target people within your area who may be interested in buying.
You could also share photos and videos on Instagram showcasing the home. You should leverage popular local real estate hashtags, which you can find in our guide to real estate hashtags.
Finally, you can also post your open house even on Nextdoor, a neighborhood-based social media platform, which can help attract interest from local buyers or those familiar with the area.
🏠 Email marketing
If you have a list of leads or potential buyers, you can use email marketing to announce the open house with a compelling subject line. Include details about the property and a call to action (CTA) to RSVP or attend.
You can also email other agents who may have clients interested in similar properties and invite them to bring their buyers to the open house.
🏠 Paid advertising
You can leverage Facebook’s highly targeted paid advertising features to create ads on Facebook and Instagram based on the demographics of local buyers, including their location and interests. Use our full guide on Facebook ads to understand more about paid advertising on this platform.
🏠 Eye-catching signage
Place bright, bold directional signs leading from the main roads to the open house’s location. Ensure the signs are easy to read, and set them up several days before the event.
You can also distribute flyers or door hangers around the neighborhood a few days before your open house event. Sometimes, neighbors will know someone who is looking to move to the area.
🏠 Host a virtual tour
More than 12% of potential buyers prefer to seek out virtual open houses. For those who can’t attend your open house in person, host a virtual open house on platforms like Facebook Live, Zoom, or Instagram Live.
These platforms allow you to give people a virtual tour of the entire property from the comfort of their homes while being able to answer questions in real-time.
6 Home Staging Tips to Make the Best First Impression with Your Open House
If you really want to grab the attention of serious buyers and make them feel like your property is the one for them, you need to get your home staging right. These are our top tips:
1. Declutter the space
Try to minimize the amount of personal belongings in the home, such as family photos, personal collections, or memorabilia. Buyers need to be able to imagine themselves living in the space, and too many personal items can distract from that.
Keep kitchen and bathroom counters free of unnecessary items like appliances, toiletries, or excessive decor, as this helps the home appear more spacious and clean.
Buyers will often check closets and storage spaces, so you need to keep them organized to showcase storage potential. Avoid overfilling them, which could make them appear smaller.
2. Deep clean everything
Every surface of the home should be spotless, including floors, windows, countertops, and bathrooms. Clean homes leave a positive first impression and signal that the property is well-maintained.
Pay attention to any unpleasant odors from pets, cooking, or mildew, and eliminate them before your open house. Consider using neutral air fresheners or natural scents like fresh flowers.
3. Maximize natural light
Ensure you maximize natural light by opening all the home’s curtains and blinds, as this makes a house feel more inviting and spacious. If a room is naturally dark, add lamps or lighting to brighten it up. Warm lighting is best for creating a cozy environment.
4. Create a welcoming entrance
The front yard and entrance to the property are the first things buyers see, which is why you should mow the lawn, trim the bushes, and clean the driveway. This helps you create inviting curb appeal.
You could also consider painting the front door, adding a welcoming doormat, and including a potted plant by the entrance.
5. Highlight key rooms
Focus on showcasing the living room, kitchen, and master bedroom, as these are the most important spaces to buyers. Ensure they look spacious, functional, and attractive.
In the kitchen, clear the countertops of clutter and leave a few stylish items, like a bowl of fresh fruit or a cookbook, on display to make it feel like a place someone would want to cook in.
In the master bedroom, ensure the bed is neatly made with fresh linens and add soft touches like throw pillows and blankets to create a cozy space.
6. Use mirrors effectively
You can strategically place mirrors in smaller or darker rooms to reflect light and create the illusion of a larger, brighter space. Mirrors are especially effective in entryways or small living rooms.
Close More Deals than Ever Before with Paperless Pipeline
Now that you’ve mastered your open houses, you can expect to see more deals coming into your brokerage than before.
This means you’ll have more transactions to manage, which could quickly lead to things falling through the cracks.
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