Preparing for an Open House

November 4, 2007 at 11:35 am · Filed under Real Estate Issues and tagged: open house, sellin a home

This is something for a Realtor to answer, but I have been asked to write something about this topic, so here is what I know. An open house is a marketing event meant to draw in potential customers into your home . Realtors will handle this situation, depending on their character and their knowledge of how to be successful.

The first step is having the home ready to be shown. This can be a simple cleaning, or it can be an elaborate home staging. The whole idea is to have your house look its best. Generally, the owners are asked to make plans for that day for the time of the showing. If they are in the home, they will use it as they normally do, which might ruin the effect for buyers.

The next step is setting up advertising for the open house. This could be signs along the main traffic routes, a listing in a paper, a mailer to a target area, or a posting on some site on the internet. A Realtor will know his audience, and the advertising will be directed to that audience in such a way for them to see it.

This next item is not always done, but I like homes that have an almost party type atmosphere. Your home should be inviting to buyers, and what better way to do this than create the illusion of a get together. Coffee and cookies do the trick. It should not be anything to grand. Think kaffeklatsch with cookies substituting for the cake. Oops, for those of you who have not been around Germans or German-Americans, a kaffeklatsch is where ladies get together to talk over coffee and cake. You may also want to have water available, and those little styrofoam cups are fine.

Lastly the host of the event will go over answers to the frequently asked questions. These include questions about the price, items that are included in the sale, does an appliance work, to is there enough storage. Just go through your home and think about what you would ask if you were going to buy it. You may have noticed that I wrote host instead of Realtor. I have seen a trend among some Realtors to hire people to work for them as hosts. These staff members are assistants who may do other odd jobs for the Realtor, but their main function is to be a host at an open house. This may be a good thing for you, since these hosts are very good at what they do. They really make buyers feel welcome.

Well, these are the basics of an open house. Be prepared, very prepared, and hope for an offer.

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