Open House Tips Part 1--Naples Real Estate School

Naples Real Estate School

Once you have selected an area to farm and you have prospected for clients, you will be ready to start selling homes. One tool for selling a client’s home is to hold an open house. The professional real estate community appears to be split on whether it’s a good idea to hold an open house or not. The successful real estate agents we have interviewed report that at least 20% of their sales were to buyers they met at an open house. An open house can be a good source of both buyer and seller leads. Some agents will hold open houses on homes listed by other agents within their firm just for the possibility of gaining leads and experience. Assuming the home is presentable, spotless from top to bottom, priced correctly, and located in a high traffic area, here are tips to improve the odds that the house will sell at an open:

1. Try different times and days.

You may find that the prospects in your farm area do not turn out to open houses on Saturday afternoons because the people in the area are really big into college football, but late Sunday mornings yield a good turnout because they don’t care about the NFL games on Sundays. This will simply take some time to figure out what works best for the area.

2. Invite neighbors and targeted prospects.

Maybe you know of a certain prospect who would have a unique interest in the house you are showing because it offers them a chance to expand their living space. And you know what this prospect is looking for because you have been keeping in touch with them. Invite them to the open house even if they live in an area outside of your farm, because this prospect with the unique interest in a property will be more likely to make the purchase.

3. Place signs at appropriate areas.

Also, remember to include your name on the sign so even if people are not interested in that open house, they can come out to more of your showings in the future.

4. Advertise online.

It’s 2014. You have no reason not to be advertising your open house online. However, be careful about spamming your Facebook friends with open house information that does not pertain to them because that is a sure way to get blocked (this applies to any social media website). Write colorful, descriptive ads and place them in web classifieds or open house directories. Using these 4 tips when holding an open house will increase the odds that the house will sell and/or you will gain more prospects in the process.

Coming soon:

Open House Tips: Part 2

For a list of prospecting and farming tips, check out our previous posts:
Prospecting tips #1
Prospecting tips #2
Farming tips #1
 Larson Educational Services
1400 Colonial Blvd. Suite 44
Fort Myers, FL 33907
info@LarsonEd.com 
239-344-7510
http://www.LarsonEd.com/realestate/licensing/naples-real-estate-school/ 
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