31 Savvy Real Estate Open House Ideas and Scripts for 2021
Top Open House Scripts, Sign-in Sheets, Flyers and Checklist to Generate Leads
Real Estate Open House Ideas for Massive Lead Gen
As a real estate agent, open houses can be a great lead generation strategy to increase your real estate sales. You have the opportunity to chat with current and potential home buyers. Through your open house, if set up properly, and you invited the neighbors, you can acquire their contact information and become their future real estate agent.
What are some unique ideas to attract people to your open house? Furthermore, how do we motivate open house attendees to use the sign-in sheet and provide their contact information?
There is an age-old debate asking if open houses still work. Although selling the listing at an open house is rare, the effectiveness of holding an open house to expose the home to a wider audience plus using it as a lead generation source.
In this article, you will learn the ultimate ideas for massive real estate lead generation through open houses. Also, you can download a free guide complete with a checklist for hosting a successful open house.
Open House Checklist and Guide Download
How many open houses should I do?
If you are a new real estate agent, you should be holding at least 1 open house per week.
If you are experienced and open houses are part of your streams of business, then you should be aiming for 1 open house per week.
If open houses are not part of your business plan, it’s still recommended to host them monthly.
The number of open houses you should host as a real estate agent depends on the amount of production that you want to get from open houses.
Pro Tips: If you are trying to strategically line up open houses, do them in conjunction with a new listing or price reduction.
If you have good open house skills, you can count on selling a home every 6-8 open houses* you host. This doesn’t mean that every 6 open houses you will automatically sell a house. It could be that it takes 12-16 open houses to meet a group that both buys and sells.
(*Note, this is not the number of open houses required to sell the listing)
The important part of this math is you need to be skilled and working to help those at the open house. If you are just sitting at the kitchen table and not interacting with the guests, you won’t sell any homes.
Also, if you don’t market your open houses well, the number of open houses required to sell a home will go up dramatically.
How To Host a Virtual Open House
Given the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, hosting an open house has changed. However, you can still host a successful open house.
It’s expected that most open houses in 2021 will be virtual open houses.
The process of hosting a virtual open house shares most features with a standard open house with some distinct differences.
Avoid door-knocking during the pandemic. This will not be well received.
Use Facebook Live, Instagram Live, Zoom, or Google Hangouts. to host your open house. Most MLS boards allow for posting your open house with a URL. If so, ensure your URL to your open house is correct. My preference is Zoom or Google Hangouts. Note Zoom is free for up to 40-minutes. If your time runs out, you will need to leave the Zoom meeting and re-join (you can use the same link/URL).
Since you will not be purchasing drinks and snacks, allocate more toward your social media ads to drive sign-ups.
Seek to capture lead’s email addresses when they sign up for your virtual open house. Then send them reminders before the open house. Don’t only run ads to your website and ask them to “remember to join.” Alternatively, you can create an event on Facebook.
Send the leads a calendar invite for the open house. People forget!
Still use door hangers (if appropriate). The neighbors are still interested. Just make sure that you are careful to follow the community and MLS guidelines.
Neglect following up and lose all benefit of a virtual open house. Follow up with each person who takes the time to join.
Expect fewer guests but don’t equate this to an ineffective open house. Those that attend virtual open houses can be the strongest leads.
Record a video of the property while you are hosting the virtual open house. Repurpose this video and post on social media for additional marketing.
Once cities begin returning to normalcy, I expect people to enthusiastic about getting out of the house. And what better activity than attending your open house!
Are Open Houses a Waste of Time?
Absolutely Not! They are one of the best things you can do in real estate to get clients and it can be one of the quickest ways to a deal.
Here is why you should be doing an open house every weekend.
Meet Buyers: Obviously, this is one of the main reasons to do an open house. Most buyers start their search with open houses before selecting a REALTOR®. Don’t miss this opportunity to put yourself in front of a future buyer who will be selecting an agent soon. (Important: did you know over 80% of buyers use the first real estate agent they meet? Don’t miss this opportunity)
Meet Sellers: Some open houses I have hosted are mostly neighbors and future sellers who attend. They are coming to the open house to scope out the competition. That is why you should know the market inside. They could be a few months (or years) away from selling but this is still a great chance to provide them with information and start building a relationship with them.
Real Estate Conversations: We say that if you want to sell more homes, simply talk to more people in your day. At your open house, you should have a steady stream of people to talk to (if it is marketed properly). If you are a new real estate agent, open houses can be a great way to learn how to talk to buyers and sellers and increase your confidence (not limited to new real estate agents).
Work: Look, if nobody shows up to your open house or you only have 1-2 groups, you can still spend the time working. Bring your computer and work while you are at the house. Or bring some blank cards to write handwritten notes.
Open houses should not be overlooked by anyone looking to scale their business up.
It is a free opportunity for leads to come to you.
Plus, it is a face-to-face way to generate leads. Leads you meet in person are much more likely to convert. So, don’t be lazy! Open houses are one of the best things you can do.
If you think they are a waste of time, then you are either too busy with offers and clients to fit in the open house or your open house skills need sharpening. If it is the latter, let’s learn how to host the perfect open house.
Open House Planning
If you want to achieve success through your open house, you cannot just put the open house on MLS and potentially post it on your personal Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or other social media profiles and expect a great turnout. You need to plan your open house well in advance and prepare your open house marketing campaign.
Here is your open house planning guide:
Open House will be hosted between 1 PM – 4 PM on a Saturday with 12 PM – 1 PM being neighbor time.
Monday
1. Choose a strategically located and priced property to sit the open house. (See below for more information on choosing the right open house)
2. Post about upcoming open house on your personal social media channels. The purpose is to provide good content to your network and stay top of mind to those that already know you
3. Ask your design team (or use Canva) to create your open house information flyers and 100 door hangers for the neighbors
These designs were all created using Canva
Tuesday
1. Market Intelligence Session – Spend 20 minutes getting familiar with recent sales in the area, schools, restaurants, community issues, and events
2. Proof and print your open house information flyers and door hangers
3. Put up open house sign rider (“Open 1 PM – 4 PM Saturday”)
Wednesday
1. Prepare your home FAQ sheet. (See below for more information) – You can have this professionally designed or just use a simple document. Use information from home and info gathered from your Market Intelligence Session
2. Prepare a Hook and Draw. (See below for more information)
Thursday
1. Launch Facebook and Instagram Ad to only people who are in the community/area where you will be hosting the open house. Use your Hook and Draw. (Run for 3 days)
2. Pick up printed materials and door hangers
3. Choose where you will be getting your food and drinks (if you plan on having at the open house)
Friday
1. Deliver the door hangers to the neighbors
2. Gather your open house materials
3. Post about upcoming open house on your personal social media channels
4. Print recent sales, market data (1 sheet for each)
5. Print a REALTOR information page
Saturday
1. Market Intelligence Session – Know what else is on the market in the area (be precise so you can let buyers know exactly what else is on the market)
2. Pick up food and drinks (non-alcoholic) from local shop. Local coffee shops are great!
3. Set up signs
4. Post social media video of your setup process and invite guests with the video tour. (Setup process very interesting to our network).
5. Set up signing sheets and/or open house app
6. Prepare open house scripts
7. Hold Open House!
8. After open house: follow up each person that signed in (see strategy below)
Sunday
1. Add all names into your database and set a reminder to follow up with them weekly for 1st month, bi-weekly for 2nd month, monthly for 3rd-6th months. – Use follow up script, “I just wanted to follow up to make sure I wasn’t dropping the ball” (very powerful and simple script for following up with buyers and sellers)
Open House Guide for Realtors
Open House Sign In Sheets
This should be the main point of your open house. All of your marketing efforts and time could go up in smoke if you do not have a system for getting people to sign in at your open house. Yes, it’s uncomfortable and some people will decline, but this is our job! The worst someone can say is “no,” but the next person may have a home to sell and wants to buy a place through you.
Drop the mindset that you are being a bother and know that you have value to offer everyone that comes through the open house.
We recommend 2 ways to get people to sign in at your open house:
1) Soft Approach: This approach is asking people to sign in and they will be entered for a draw at the end of the open house. This is a softer approach as some people will sign in while others may not sign in because they are not interested in the value offered in the draw for providing their email.
2) Direct Approach: This approach is simply asking people to sign in. As someone enters the house, you just say, “could you please sign in we like to track everyone at our open houses?” You are not asking them to sign in. This works quite well and most people will happily sign in when directed to.
Expert Tip: Use the word “because.” Studies show there is almost a 2x increase in compliance when you use the word “because.” Fascinating!
If you have an iPad or tablet, there are some great apps out there for open houses. I use Spacio or Open Home Pro. Both offer a technology-enabled solution. We always recommend using an app over paper. The reason being is it is more engaging and fun for people coming through the open house.
You can also tailor the questions in the app to the property. This makes the sign-in process much more engaging.
For example, you could ask them if they are looking to buy or if they live in the area and are just interested in prices.
You then have the exact information they are looking for and you are all set to follow up after the open house (or virtual open house)
If you are doing a small gift for everyone that comes through (for example $5 gift card), you could ask them what their favorite coffee shop is and send a gift card from there. (I love this technique)
Also, if you are using a tablet, it’s recommended to get a tablet stand. These make the process look much more professional.
If you are looking for paper versions, this website has some options.
The platform or template matters less than your approach.
Make sure you directly ask people to sign in. Don’t be meek. Ensure the sign-in sheet is visible and when a guest arrives, ask them directly to sign in (use eye contact).
Most people will gladly fill out the form, but you need to be direct.
Open House Ideas That Convert
Choosing the Best Listing
Selecting the right listing to host an open house is one of the biggest determining factors to whether you will have a great turnout. Don’t just sit open houses that are available to you. That probably means seeking out new listings at your office and asking the listing agents if you can sit an open house for them. Here are the top tips for selecting the right open house.
1. Choose a new listing. Preferably one that has not been on the market for a weekend. Buyers and neighbors will be drawn to a new listing versus one that has been on the market for months. Ideally, you schedule the open house the day the listing hits the market.
2. Choose a listing that is priced just below your average price. These typically have the largest buyer pool so you will have a better chance at a large turnout. Also, the buyers that come through an open house that is priced just below the average can be first-time homebuyers which are some of the best open house leads.
3. Choose a nice and clean listing. Regardless of if you are the listing agent or not, buyers will naturally associate you with the open house; therefore, choose a house that is clean and well presented. It doesn’t need to be perfect but clean, nice photos, well cared for, will all help.
Knowing the Market Area (Market Intelligence)
One of the biggest mistakes agents make at open houses is not knowing the market. They pop the open house on MLS then wait for people to show up and they are completely ill-prepared. Buyers and neighbors coming through the open house will be asking similar questions so preparing is not that challenging. Some questions include:
What/where are the nearest schools?
What did the property across the street sell for?
Are there any other homes at this price point on the market in the area?
What are the city taxes?
What are the approximate utilities?
Trying to Sell Another Home vs. This Home
This is a big question for real estate agents hosting open houses.
Should they promote this home or try to secure the buyer by telling them about “better” properties on the market that you can show them? Watch out here, you may have neighbors, or the buyers may also be looking for a real estate agent for their house. If that is the case, what are the chances they are going to consider you for a listing if you are trying to sell them on another house?
Always be proud of the house that you are sitting and know the differentiating features. If the buyers discard the property during the open house, then feel free to provide them with more options.
Post the Open House on Personal Social Media
Leverage the open house marketing to show people you know that you are in real estate. One of the most significant issues that agents have with social media is that they don’t know what to post. Preparing, organizing, and sitting an open house has several opportunities for social media.
We recommend posting three times to your personal social media profiles and add your Hook and Draw to the posts (see below)
1st – When you secure the open house time (early in the week)
2nd – The day before your open house
3rd – Video of you setting up and doing a quick walkthrough tour
It’s true that most people will not show up through this. However, it is a top marketing opportunity for your real estate business.
Find a Hook
The hook is a feature of the home that you will use to “hook” people’s interest in your open house. This concept is used a lot as “clickbait” on the internet and it works darn well.
For example, an article headline that reads “12 Amazing Life Hacks, Number 3 will Blow your Mind.”
We recommend a similar approach (just less cheesy). In your marketing for the open house (ads, flyers, door hangers, etc.), put something unique or cool about the house that they need to see. For example,
“Open House at 123 Main St, 1 PM – 4 PM on Saturday, You need to see the ________ (stunning back yard, kitchen, basement development, etc.)”
Use a hook to capture the buyer’s and neighbor’s attention.
Use a Draw
The draw is something that will entice the buyers and neighbors to come (and sign-in) other than the house itself. Ideally, you are using a draw that is desirable enough to get people to come and provide their contact information. Here are a few of our favorites.
(Note, anytime you can send this after the open house, make sure you do it. That way, you can capture their information and send it after the fact)
- Local coffee and baked goods
- Local restaurant gift card giveaway
- Goodie bags
- Free coffee card ($5) for everyone
- BBQ and Lemonade
You can choose whatever you would like but we like to keep it relatively simple to avoid having to put in a great deal of extra time and tasteful.
An important note about the draw is it needs to be large enough for an exchange of contact information. For example, if you are drawing for a pen and note pad, I probably would not sign in, but if you are drawing for a $75 gift card at a local restaurant, you bet I would sign in! That’s not to say you will have the budget for this large of a gift off the start, but make sure it is high enough value that the guest will exchange their info.
Use the draw in your marketing campaigns to motivate people to attend the open house for reasons outside of the listing.
Facebook and Instagram Ads
You need to be running Facebook and Instagram Ads before your open house. These should be focused only on the location where you will be hosting the open house. You can also use a Custom Audience Campaign to your database if you would like, but ideally, you focus your marketing dollars on getting neighbors to show up.
We recommend including the Hook and Draw in your advertisements and you can add a 1-hour window that is specifically for neighbors. This works well as most neighbors feel a little strange about attending an open house if they are not looking to buy or sell. By having a “Neighbors Only” time frame, you increase the chances of them showing up.
Additionally, you can set up a Facebook Event (also applies to virtual open houses) for the day of the open house and promote the event to people in the geographic area. These ads tend to be less costly and can result in a great turnout!
Home FAQ Document for Buyers
Preparing a home frequently asked questions can really differentiate your open house from others that are out there. This is just a simple document that you create before the open house with some additional information. You can grab the listing highlights from the MLS sheet but you should also add additional information. This can include the year the roof was replaced, the model of the appliances, the approximate utility costs, distance to local schools, top restaurants in the area.
If you have neighbors visiting your open house, they will be impressed with the additional amount of work that you put in and buyers will be impressed with your extensive knowledge of the community and house.
This simple document will put you in a different category compared to traditional agents.
Inviting the Neighbors
This is a must for every open house you host. Yes, you want to see if you can lock down a few buyers from an open house but you also want to gather listing leads or contact information for those that live in the area.
Spending a few hours the night before your open house inviting 100 neighbors will be a practice that will pay off and, again, you will be setting yourself apart from the competition. If one of those neighbors has thoughts of selling, there is a good chance they will consider you when they see the additional work you are doing for your open houses.
The question becomes do you send out postcards, door knock, or use door hangers? We recommend not just sending out postcards because this is forgettable.
It is the easiest approach, so it is better than nothing if you are running short on time, but it has the lowest impact. Also, you need to depend on the postal service to deliver the unaddressed mail in time. Nothing worse than your postcards going out the week after your open house!
Door hangers are our preferred method of inviting the neighbors. They stick out in the community and rarely do homeowners through these out before reading them. They take more time as you need to deliver them to homes in the area but they have a larger impact on guests showing up than postcards.
Expert Tip: jump on Craigslist, TaskRabbit and hire someone for a few hours to deliver the door hangers if you are tight on time.
Door knocking and inviting the neighbors is the best way to invite neighbors but you don’t want to be too pushy at the front door. (Rember that this is not advised during the pandemic)
Our approach to door knocking is a low pressure conversation. When inviting a neighbor, you should print off jumbo postcards, knock on the door and “invite” them to the open house. Just saying there will be an open house is an announcement, you want to make sure the neighbors feel invited. If you want to go one step further, ask them if they will be able to attend. People do not like going back on their word so by asking, “will you be able to make it?” You will increase the number of neighbors at your open house.
Notes: For all invites to neighbors, you should include your “Hook” and “Draw.” Also, use the first hour of your open house for dedicated neighbor viewings. This makes the neighbors feel less awkward about showing up to a house they are not interested in buying.
Circle Prospect Neighbors
If you want to go the extra mile when it comes to inviting the neighbors, you can circle prospect around the home and let the neighbors know about the open house. This approach is very similar to the door knocking approach as you don’t want to be pushy; you simply want to invite them to your event and let them know that there is a one hour window where the open house is open only to neighbors for viewings.
An additional tip is you can use a service list Slybroadcast to send a voicemail directly to their phone. This bypasses the conversation and allows you to leverage your time.
Open House Signs
When putting up your open house signs, you need to be strategic. We recommend using 12 signs minimum and ideally 20. Yes, you could go with 100 signs but this can be a little overkill. We recommend using ideally around 20 signs and having a flag on the lawn.
Be strategic with where you place the signs. Occupy space (multiple signs) on busy roads. Ideally, your open house signs are slightly larger than the standard open house signs as well.
We recommend not overcomplicating the sign placement or number. Just make sure they are visible, clean, and direct the traffic to your awesome open house!
Open House Script
When preparing your open house script, keep it simple and relaxed. Prospects coming through the door will have the guard up and most have an image in their mind of the REALTOR being pushy. As a modern real estate agent, you need to combat this approach and just be friendly.
When entering the open house, welcome the guest and simply ask them one of the following:
Welcome! How are you doing today?.... What brought you in today? We find that most people are just browsing or live in the neighborhood.
Welcome! How are you doing today?.... Did you see the open house on MLS or do you live in the neighborhood and noticed the signs or invite?
These open house scripts are simple and purposeful. You want to know what brings the person to the open house and if they are a potential buyer or seller.
From there, you want to move them right into signing in. Starting with the sign in is important because once they have seen the house, there is less motivation to sign in.
Just before you get started on your tour, could you please sign in here on the iPad? Everyone who comes receives a $5 coffee card (or whatever your “Draw” is) so we will just shoot it to via email following the open house. In the meantime, I’ll grab you some info on the house.
Now we want them to walk through the home undisturbed. Don’t hover over the prospects as this can be uncomfortable.
As the guests start to finish their look, we always want to ask them their thoughts and follow up with a soft close.
What do you think about the property? Is there anything you like/don’t like?
[Don’t Like] Thank you so much for the feedback, have you seen 123 Main St that was just listed today? … Let me shoot you the details on that one for interest sake, what is the best email address?
[Like] Awesome! Thanks so much for the feedback. Would you be interested in a pricing report on this property? … Let me shoot that over to you, what is the best email address?
If the gest was a neighbor you can follow this script.
Thanks for dropping by, how do you like living in the neighborhood? … Awesome! Well if you would like, I can keep you posted on the sale price of this home. We find most neighbors are interested in knowing what properties in the community are going for? Would that be of interest? Great, what is the best email address?
As a rule of thumb, try to stay friendly yet professional. Make sure to use small talk that is not focused on the property. This helps lower their guard.
Relax at the Open House
One of the most important parts of interacting with guests at the open house is just to maintain a relaxed demeanor. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to be perfect in every conversation. Learn from each discussion you have with guests and keep the conversation friendly.
Have three talking points on what is happening locally and don’t just focus on talking about the house. Mentally, prepare yourself by picturing everyone that comes through the door as your best friend (works like magic). When you do this, your attitude will change from a salesperson to a genuine friend. You will find the conversations much more natural.
Just relax and treat every open house as a learning experience!
Leave the Seller a Gift
Part of having a listing is to maintain the relationship with the seller. Leaving the seller a small gift like a bag of coffee, some flowers or even a card will go a long way. Sellers will come home and immediately be grateful for this small act. Most agents just lock up and leave, but few will go thank them for allowing you to host the open house.
Even if the listing is with another agent at your office, leaving a small gift with your card is a very nice gesture and maybe the seller has a friend or family member looking for an agent at they put your name in as a referral because they remember this act.
Even if you just leave a handwritten card, always leave something for the seller.
Following Up
Following up after the open house is key! If you completed the sign-in process, then you will have some following up to do. We recommend following up ASAP after the open house. This shows dedication to your business. The first follow up should be short and sweet with the purpose of thanking them for attending the open house.
Ideally, you do this through video with a service like BombBomb or Loom (Free). You simply thank them for coming and let them know the “Draw” (see above) will be sent out the next day.
When asking them if they need anything from you, it’s best to first comment on something you chatted about. For example, if you chatted about an upcoming community, make a point of mentioning this in the email and ask them, “is there anything I can help you with?” This simple follow up goes a long way and lets the lead move the conversation in the direction they would like.
If the lead is unresponsive, follow up with them 1x/week for month 1, every 2nd week for month 2, and then monthly moving forward. Make sure they are added to your email list. If you are struggling with a script when following up, we recommend,
“I just wanted to follow up to make sure I wasn’t dropping the ball”
This is a very powerful script and leads will usually respond to this as they don’t want you to feel like you are dropping the ball with them.
Bonus: 7 Ways To Double Your Open House Income
Double Your Price Point: If you are having some success with open houses and you want to double your income, simply double the price point of the open houses that you are hosting. As you change your price point, you will also be dealing in a different market, so you need to research the heck out of your new market to be set up to provide the most amount of help to buyers at that price point.
Double Your Time at Open Houses: It’s like our other training. If you want to increase your production: just talk to more people. Chances are the longer you are at the open house, the more conversations you will have. It’s not linear (for example if you have 5 groups in 2 hours, you may not have 10 groups in 4 hours), but your conversations will still increase.
Double The Number of Open Houses: Are you doing 1 open house per week? Double it to 2. If you are doing 2, see if you can do 3 or 4 (2x per day). I love this technique because it improves the chances of me talking to most people. This will require more work as you want to know all the properties that you are sitting and know the market, but it can be the best way to drive more income from open houses.
Know The Market: Over half the visitors could be future sellers and neighbors. Yes, they are interested in the house, but they are much more interested in the market. Open house agents usually study the property well but they gloss over the market conditions and comparables. Bring detailed info on what is happening in the market. Pro Tip: Only bring one copy of the market stats and comparables so you can offer to email it to them following the open house.
Door Knock or Door Hangers the Night Before: Putting an open house on the MLS and hoping people will show up is not doing your best to market the property for a successful open house. If you are serious about increasing your income, you should door knock 100 homes or drop off 100 door hangers.
Talk to People: Have real conversations at the open house. Don’t just sit there. Interact with your guest and ask them questions about the house and what stage they are at. Some of my favorite icebreakers are: How did you find out about the open house, driving by or MLS? (Let’s me know if they are neighbors or buyers searching) What stage are you at in the home search? (Let’s me know if they are just browsing or potentially near buying) What did you like/not like about this house? (Just gets them talking)
Close Them: One of my favorite open house lines comes from real estate trainer Jared James. His line is asking the buyer if “there is anyone sending them great deals on the market”. This is a powerful question because it is less intrusive than the classic “are you working with an agent”. It also uses pattern interrupt. Even if they are working with an agent, it will give them pause to consider if their agent is doing everything they can for them.
Open House Checklist for REALTORS
Open House Checklist For Realtors
Podcast Transcript: Double Your Open House Income
[00:00:00] Hello and welcome to Rev Real Estate School. The show with quick tips and actionable advice to help you sell more real estate in today's world. And now your host Michael Montgomery.
[00:00:11] Welcome to another episode of Rev Real Estate School. My name is Michael Montgomery. Do you want to double your income from open houses today? We are going to learn how you can do just that.
[00:00:26] Now first off there's this age-old debate of “do open houses still work?” Let's clear the air pretty quickly here. Yes, they definitely do still work. If you are not having success with your open houses that's fine that just means that there is some room for improvement in how you're executing driving people to the open house and then how you're interacting at the open house and following up.
[00:00:52] In this episode we are going to talk about how you can in fact double your income from open houses. What is the main point of the open house? Yes, you are getting more eyes on the property and helping sell the property but it's also there to help you pick up buyers. We all know this. And oftentimes buyers will start by looking at open houses before they're going out there and contacting realtors. So this can be an awesome spot to pick up buyers. I don't have to go into too much detail about that.
[00:01:22] Picking up sellers is another huge element of open houses that oftentimes is overlooked. I've had open houses where everyone that came was either a future seller or a neighbor. So if I was not prepared for that open house with say market statistics and comparables for the area and pricing trends then I would have not looked that good at the open house. So keep that in mind when you are preparing for your open houses that you are also trying to appeal to sellers neighbors and others that you can then put into your database.
[00:01:57] Another thing is if you are a new agent this is a spot where you can start having conversations about real estate. The more conversations you have about real estate the better you will do in real estate. Also, it will help increase your confidence because you are having more of these so you're getting more comfortable with a conversation about somebody coming up to you and saying Well how's the market. Well, what that one down the street go for? You're just becoming more comfortable within your career. There are amazing four new agents for that reason. And now let's say that you had the open house but zero people came. Well if nothing else you can bring your computer and you can get some work done. So do open houses still work. They definitely do. Are they worth your time? One hundred percent. You can get buyers you can get sellers. You can have conversations with neighbors and increase your confidence in real estate. And if nothing else you can get some work done. Now let's jump into some numbers.
[00:02:54] Six to eight open houses will typically lead to a closed transaction. Now you have to be marketing your properties in the right way and you have to be doing your open houses well. You have to know your market. You have to know your area. You have to know your comparables. But if you do you can get a transaction out of six to eight open houses. The other thing is you're not just going to do six open houses and then boom you're going to get a sale. You may do 12 open houses and then get a buyer that is also going to sell through you. So that's just the math of it. And if you want to double your income through open houses here's how to do it.
[00:03:35] The first one is you can just double the price point of the homes that you are doing. So if you're doing homes that are three hundred thousand then start setting open houses that are six hundred thousand. Naturally, if that price goes up then so does your commission. So if you want to increase the amount that you are making from open houses is set open houses that are at double the cost. Now when you're doing open houses that are at a different price point then you still have to know that price point very well. And if it's in a different community than you're familiar with. You need to know that community next if you want to double your income double the time that you spend at the open house. So the longer that you're going to spend it that open house the higher likelihood that more people will come through the higher likelihood that you will double your income the next one is double how many open houses that you do. So if you're used to doing one a weekend do two if you're used to doing two a weekend see if you can do for or if you can do three you can do one in the morning on a Saturday and then one in the afternoon and same thing on a Sunday. So if you want to get good at open houses and you do want to get income from open houses you can do these things. You can double your price point double the time you spend at the open house. Double the number of open houses that you do. And then there are a few other things that you can do. Number one and we've already alluded to this is knowing your market with sellers coming through and neighbors coming through. They are interested in the home because they want to know pricing because they want to know the market. They want to know what their place is worth. If they're a seller or a neighbor they have less of a concern about this property and the features of the property what they're concerned about is what their property is worth. So know the market. Another strategy is doorknock the neighborhood the night before drew up some postcard invites go doorknocked 50 homes in the area and invite them to the open house. Simply bring them. It's similar to our doorknocking strategy actually you just doorknock and you hand them the postcard and say you're invited to an open house. I'd love to see you tomorrow. We're listed just down the street for X amount.
[00:05:54] A pro tip here is you can have a neighborhood open house that the home is open for a period of time before it's actually open to the public so you can do a neighbors open house between say twelve and twelve-thirty and then at twelve-thirty the open house begins. This can be a great way to drive a lot of neighbors to the property and they'll come because they will probably cross paths with other neighbors that they know. The other strategy during the open house. Talk to people and this one seems pretty obvious but oftentimes we can just get caught in letting people look around and then not engaging in a conversation and wondering where they're at and what stage they're at. Start conversations with the people that are coming through the open house. No not every single person that comes through is going to want to chitchat and that's fine. You have to meet everybody where they are at in the process.
[00:06:53] If somebody is coming through though have a conversation with them especially if they're engaging in a conversation with you and then focus on them. So if you have lots of people coming into the open house and you're having a conversation with somebody focuses on that one person that you're talking to that one person can turn into the appointment or turn into the closed transaction or two or three or four. This is very similar to the tips that we give on networking when you are having a conversation with somebody focus only on that person is tempting to look around and let your eyes roam and say hi to the next person that's coming through and saying hi is one thing but actually stopping the conversation to engage in another conversation. It could end up biting you down the road because that conversation that you're having is important and it could lead to a transaction moving right along.
[00:07:42] This comes from Jared James the real estate trainer. He says don't ask them if they are working with an agent because it's just too easy for them to say no. His recommendation is this ask Is there anyone sending you good deals that are currently on the market. It's just a different way of framing the same question but it sparks a little bit more of an interest in them because now they're thinking OK there is maybe I am working with a realtor but are they sending you good deals. They start to question that. So this is a really genius way and actually a low-risk way of asking. Are you currently working with a realtor? Because the answer to that is so easy for them to say yes. I'm currently working with a realtor. When you ask Is there anyone sending you good deals that are currently on the market or coming onto the market then it stops them and they have to think about that answer. And even if they are working with a realtor they might think about it and wonder or they might just say no in which case they're not working with a realtor. And then you can engage them in a further conversation about what it is that they are looking for.
[00:08:47] So if you are doing open houses use some of these tactics in order to double your income through open houses. If you are not doing open houses or you don't think that they work then definitely implement some of these strategies so that you are ready to go and you are ready to start making money through open houses. Thank you very much for listening to this episode.
[00:09:07] And we will catch you in the next lesson this episode of Rev Real Estate School has come to a close. Thank you for tuning in. We'll see you back here for the next lesson.
Conclusion:
Open houses can be a top source of business for real estate agents. Don’t miss this great way to start generating leads quickly.
Sources: The Close, Hubspot, FitSmallBusiness, Tom Ferry
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