An Open House is a great way to expose your home to potential buyers. If your home is listed with a Realtor® then they will hold Open Houses for you. So plan something fun and get out of your Realtor’s® way so they can do their job of selling your home! A good and experienced Realtor®, like myself, knows that an Open House is not just opening your doors, there is an art to making an Open House a success. But if you are selling your home For Sale By Owner (FSBO) the art of holding an Open House may not be so obvious. So below I have compiled a list of tips and tricks that will help you make your Open House a success.

1. Make a great first impression. We have all heard the saying “You never get a second chance to make a great first impression”. This is particularly true when you are trying to sell your home. I can not underscore how important it is to make sure that potential buyers are impressed by what they see. So impress them by
   1. Making the outside of the home look amazing.
   2. Cleaning inside, and making it smell nice, especially if you have pets.
   3. De-clutter and de-personalize, give them a chance to imagine the home as their own.
2. Get the word out. There is no use in planning an amazing Open House if nobody is going to come and see it. Make sure to get the word out by
   1. Flyer the neighborhood.
   2. Circle prospect by calling everyone within a certain radius of your home and letting them know that you are having an open house.
   3. Announce your open house online.
   4. Feed those potential buyers! Make sure that people not only know about your Open House but that you will be having special treats. If you feed them, they will come.

      

3. Direct people to your home. Despite your efforts to announce your Open House, you have to be ready to get people there that just stumbled upon it while they were out driving around. Do that by
   1. Putting signs in strategic places so that they are directed toward your home.
   2. Put balloons in front of your house so it is blatantly obvious where the Open House is.
      
4. Be prepared for kids – Many time people go out looking at homes with their children. As a Mom I know that kids can make it difficult for adults to get things done. So in order to help the parents really see the home be prepared with something just for the kids. It might be access to your WiFi or a kids program on the TV in the living room. Help the parents have the opportunity to see how awesome your home is for them.
5.  Be prepared with collateral marketing materials – The serious homebuyer will have lots of questions. Be prepared with the right collateral marketing materials. Tell them everything you know about the home – the age of the roof, the AC, the plumbing, the electrical, everything. Try not to overwhelm potential buyers with too much paper though. One sheet with main points summarized is enough. If you think they might want more detail, then direct them to a link of a web page you created with additional details about the home.
6. Get contact information, get feedback and follow up – have a sign-up and feedback sheet on one page. Find out what they thought about the price, what they liked most about the home, what they liked least about the home, and ask them about any other information they might like to add that would help you sell the house. That last open-ended question can yield some seriously valuable feedback, so be sure to ask it. And once the Open House is over don’t forget to follow-up with those buyers that showed genuine interest in your home.

So here you have the art of the Open House in 6 easy steps.  If you have a Realtor® they will do it all for you. If you are a For Sale By Owner seller then do it yourself. It is not hard to hold an Open House and it is one of the best ways to expose your property to interested buyers.

If you have any unique tips or tricks you would like to share, join my  FSBO Facebook group FSBO South Florida and share it with a growing FSBO community.

Good luck and happy selling!
-Désirée Ávila

Désirée is a licensed Florida Realtor and committed to a high-level of professionalism and to helping others with their real estate endeavors through education. Désirée Ávila was an award winning teacher for 10 years and has a doctoral level education in Educational Technology.