Open House Weekend

A Great Marketing Tool if Used Correctly

Open House Weekend covers the planning, when to have, why have them at all, and how to conduct the open house for the best results when selling for sale by owner.

I Highly recommend that you have some weekend open houses when you are for sale by owner.

We'll start with 2 important reasons why, when you say you want to "sell my house".

Why? Two Good reasons are:

• Eliminate Buyer Fear
• Springboard Effect

One reason to have an open house weekend is to eliminate “buyer fear”.

When a potential buyer of your home has to call you and set up a private viewing there are some who will hesitate. They may even talk themselves out of viewing your property.

The weekend viewings eliminates this problem. Now the buyer can view your house and property in comfort and ease.

There is no pressure. Think about it. You opened the home up for viewing. They feel no obligation to you.

The very buyer you are looking for might just show up at your weekend open house because they didn't have to make that private viewing call.

Many real estate agents do an open house weekend. The day and time varies depending mostly on where you live. Some do more Saturdays, some Sundays or both.

You make the choice depending on your competition. This is the time you follow what the real estate agents do.

If the real estate agents are out there on the weekends from 2:00-4:00 follow suit.

When a real estate agent is doing an open, the buyers they are working with are on their own. Many of these buyers will take advantage and scout out homes that might be of interest to them.

They will circle weekend open house ads that are of interest to them and go out for a look.

What happens if they find your property the perfect match? They may just buy direct from you, or go back to their agent and tell them about the home they found.If there is a real estate agent doing an open house in your neighborhood so much the better.

Make sure you put your directional signs so when a buyer sees the real estate agent's sign, they also see yours. If there is an open house on your street even better!

This is what I call the springboard effect. You take advantage of the real estate agents doing a weekend open house to lead those same buyers to your property.

Think about what you would do. You are looking at homes in a certain area and you see a directional sign in the same neighborhood pointing to another home.

I know my wife and I could not resist the temptation to go have a peek!

Here are some ideas on exposure

• The Local Newspaper
• Your Web-Site
• At your place of work
• Bulletin Boards at the local supermarket with permission
• On your yard sign for the full week before the big event. (Open House This Saturday and Sunday 2:00-4:00) for example
• Print up flyers and distribute in your neighborhood or in a “target” neighborhood.

You should have your Directional Signs in place to guide people from main street arteries to your home.

In most cities and towns that I'm familiar with, putting a directional sign on city property for a couple hours for an open house weekend, is OK. Make sure you remove them all when completed.

Place a sign in front of your property that is clearly visible from all directions.

With an open house weekend, you will have the curious neighbors, the real estate agents, and the decor idea seeking folks. You will also have genuine buyers seeking a new home to live in.

I'd like to make a confession here. Every time any of our neighbors in our general area puts their property up for sale, my wife and I go for a look when they do their first open house. :-)

Remember your ad for a weekend open house follows the same rule as every ad you place. Always include the price, the address and your phone number. I have actually seen open house ads without the address!

While we are on the subject, the price should also be on the sign so you don't have buyers coming through your home that can't afford to buy your home.

Keep in mind that you need one qualified buyer. ONE. That's all! Don't worry about people going in and out the door without showing interest. Relax. Keep a smile and watch and listen. Separate the lookers and the potential buyers.

Don't try to "sell my house" to everyone on an open house weekend. It's a numbers game and it's all about exposure, exposure exposure. Pure and simple.

Here is an Open House Weekend Checklist, you might find useful.

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