Not all homeowners approve of the idea of open houses, which literally means: so many strangers taking a look around your home.
But then there are those who do see value in hosting open houses.
If you belong to the second category (and are about to sell your home) you’re going to need to read this article.
Because, first of all, visitors coming during an open house are not casual guests.
And, secondly, they are definitely not there to meet up with you!
So, you may be awesome at entertaining the Christmas or birthday party guests, but honestly, that skill won’t count much here.
To make sure you’re on your game on an open day consider the below SIX expert tips.
Alright, let’s get started!
1) Get Your Home Ready for a Showing
Before you organize an open house the most important thing to do is to get the home show-ready.
And, listen to this… getting the home ready for a sale showing is almost poles apart from getting it ready for an occasional get-together or guests.
Because when guests arrive you want them to see and appreciate how ‘personalized’ your home is.
But with prospective buyers, you’d want to depersonalize as much as possible.
So that the buyer can be able to visualize themselves in your house.
Aside from all, one common aspect between both genres of showing, however, is de-cluttering or cleaning.
So, to get the buyer to have a crush on your property tidy up the home to the hilt!
2) Let Your Agent Deal With the Visitors
Exactly!
On the open house day, you’ll want your agent to be with you to handle the visitors.
If he (or she) is busy on the showing day it’s best you postpone the event to a date when they’ll be available.
Sometimes, the agent may plan and schedule an open house tour for your home but vanish on the big day, leaving you alone with potential buyers.
Make sure that doesn’t happen to you.
Also, it’s best to not get into discussions with the visitors and let the agent take the lead in talking.
Agents are sharp and tactful – let them professionally handle offers, questions, queries, remarks coming from the visitors.
3) Give Unrestricted Access to the Property
When you go open house that really means opening ‘up’ your house to potential buyers so that they can not only just look at but inspect it.
So, if you want to get the best out of an open house, allow visitors open access to the entire property.
Now, many may feel insecure about that decision (you just flinched at it, didn’t you?), there are ways you can turn up the security.
For example, you may choose a one-buyer-at-a-time policy so there’s very little risk of any sort.
You may (and you must) put away all valuables so there’s no chance of theft.
You may ask the agent to keep watch on visitors in a way that they don’t feel pressured.
All in all, not letting open access is a bad idea and will reduce the effectiveness of an open house many times.
So, it’s best to work on eliminating the risks rather than limiting access for the visitor!
4) Allow Visitors Privacy to Judge Freely
That’s pretty important.
Since the visitor is not interested in you BUT in your property, it’s best to leave them alone (or with the agent) and not latch onto them.
Allowing potential buyers to freely check out your home will have better results in the end.
Because if your house is in good shape and can appeal to buyers your presence will only distract them from actually looking at the house.
So, no matter how hard your urge to stalk them to every nook and cranny, rein back and allow visitors privacy.
5) Present Drinks and Snacks
Be on top of your manners when you receive prospective buyers.
As they enter the house present them with some juice or a cup of coffee and if possible with a sort of snack like some canapé, maybe?
That’s to lighten them up and get them into a positive mode.
When the buyer gets such a warm reception he or she will automatically start liking your home for some reason.
So, that’s just a little investment but may end up with a solid reward for you.
*The tip is for serious buyers! Inquisitive peeking neighbors may make do with your tight-lipped fake smiles only.
6) Request Feedback from the Visitors!
And, last but not the least, the whole purpose of an open house is to know what random buyers think about your house and how they value it.
So, before they leave ask them for feedback.
Usually, the agent will be aware they need to get feedback from the visitors but reminding them of it may be necessary.
Sometimes, the house may click with a buyer instantly and they’ll make an offer on spot.
Basically, that’s what every open house host wishes for.
And, that, precisely, is what you have to aim at achieving by unlocking your home to so many random outsiders.
One bid could consequently spark a bidding war on your house.
And, if that happens, many congrats! The initiative paid off!
7) Listing on the right platform
The key to getting the most visitors to your open house is listing your home on the right platform.
AQRE Home makes listing and finding a buyer simple, with:
- affordable marketing – market now, pay after you sell
- support from experts
- easy offers on your home with the click of a button
- communicate with buyers and promote your open house – all inside AQRE Home
- zero listing fees!
So, what’s holding you back from selling your property?
List your home today, on AQRE Home.
