An open house can either make or break how quickly a home sells. An adequately prepared open house will increase the overall value and revenue a real estate sale generates. Open houses increase buyer engagement and encourage potential sellers to look at the market that their home belongs to as well.

As an agent, your hard work and planning will help create lasting relationships with future buyers and sellers in the community.

By socially interacting with the community through an inviting open house, you can quickly build a name for yourself as one of the up and coming real estate agents in the market.

It's easy to get excited about real estate, but putting together a successful open house isn't as easy as some agents claim. These projects come with a ton of hard work and attention to detail, so be prepared to work long hours in your journey to throwing together the perfect open house.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed at the thought of showing a property? Don't be. Below are some tips to ensure your open house listings are successful.

To sell your property, you'll need people to find it. How will people know where to go? How will you advertise?

The answer is simple. Clever Marketing Ideas!

So that the right prospects find your property, you'll need to make thoughtful decisions to attract them. Let's go over a few ways to bring the market to a listing you want to sell.

Given how fewer people are out in public these days, you may find it more challenging to attract foot traffic, but don't let that deter you! There are online options to help showcase your property and pre-sell your home.

Another great way to showcase your properties online is through real estate networks and directories like Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com. Agents use these sites because they provide tools you'll need, like virtual tours and easy-to-follow property information.

Their user experience has undergone extensive testing to help funnel leads right to your email or phone number!

If you are an avid real estate professional, you already know the importance of maintaining a website for your agency. If you belong to an agency, chances are, your main goal is to funnel traffic to your website, so why not write compelling posts for the properties you plan to sell?

Use this opportunity to provide another online repository for photos and media and answer questions your buyers may have.

Once you have optimized your online presence, use the tried and true marketing methods.

When you know who lives in the local community, you can improve your marketing to them. Get to know about their lifestyles. Learn where they like to congregate, how much money they have, and what they like to do for fun.

Knowing your customer avatar may provide you with crucial insights for how best to market to them. Once you cater your marketing plan to the right audience, you're bound to see your number of qualified leads grow from the local area to your business.

Now that you've got their attention, you'll want to lead them to your listing and keep them interested in buying it.

An excellent way to sell a home is to stage it properly. Doing so will inspire your prospects to imagine living their life within it. We call this process "staging." You'll use the photos and videos of your staged property to market the listing, so you'll want to get this right.

Let's go over how to stage your home next!

The outside of the property is the first area your buyers will see. Your first goal should be to improve the "curb appeal" of the property. After all, the most effective way to sell real estate is to create an incredible first impression for your properties.

Besides putting out 'feelers,' your next objective is to dominate your buyer's thoughts and give them a presentation that will resonate with them.

So how do you do it?

You can find some other great tips by watching one of the many property-flipping TV shows on HGTV. Just be sure you don't spend all day watching TV. You've got an open house to plan!

Now that you've taken care of the outside, it's time to focus on increasing the home's interior aesthetic. This point should go without saying, but a cluttered area is unattractive, so you'll want to make sure the homeowners have decluttered and organized the home before the viewing.

Clear away anything that makes the house feel cramped. Think 'minimal,' and you'll be just fine.

An attractive home interior helps potential homebuyers visualize themselves as the homeowner. One essential marketing tip is to take your buyer's attention and lead them through the home buying process without selling them.

If a guest says something crude about your staging presentation, chances are, others are thinking it. Take note of what a person says, and share this with your clients.

Next, with all the messes cleaned, your homeowner will need to focus on providing the best possible home decor aesthetic. This process includes a fresh coat of light-colored paint, matching drapes, and updated flooring.

Your job is to give your clients the best opportunity when it comes to selling their home. And while conversations about staging the property may feel uncomfortable at times, remind your clients that the best way to move the property is by showing it at its best.

An open house is like a job interview. You wouldn't go to a job interview with torn clothes and unkempt hair, right? Similarly, you shouldn't show a messy or outdated interior to potential buyers.

Since many homeowners have older, outdated furniture, it may help to hide away some of the less attractive pieces and update the look of the most staple pieces, like the sofa, for example. In this case, we recommend choosing a MiracleSofa cover for that tattered old couch to make the living room pop!

A simple change in the home's interior aesthetic can really make the difference in getting a prospect to sign papers and offer more money for the property. Remember to keep the decor simple. A flower vase here and there and open windows to brighten the room with fresh scents will work great too.

A classic trick in an open house is the freshly baked scent of cookies in the oven. This method works for all kinds of people, no matter their age. As for newer generations, studies show that Millenials and Generation Z (people born between 1997-2013) are more likely to buy a house if there is a fresh, clean lemony scent instead.

You can achieve this by using a natural lemon-scented cleaner or an oil diffuser with citrus essential oils. You will leave the house smelling fresh and clean.

As we mentioned previously, cookies work great as an inviting scent. Use this opportunity to go out of your way to be memorable to guests. If you have cookies or treats, you'll want to make sure the cookies are tasty and free of any allergens for the best effect.

Alternatively, you can give attendees free goodie bags, raffle ticket drawings, and other small prizes. We've even seen slushie machines used during the summertime.

Going above and beyond says a lot about your business and may attract more clients for you. Don't forget to leave your contact information in plenty of places around the house.

If you want the open house to go off without a hitch, then it may be best not to have the seller present at the time of the open house. A home buyer is not going to speak candidly for the open house while the owners hover around.

This attachment is common for first-time sellers, but you can lead them to make the right choices on this crucial day as an experienced real estate agent. Avoid the awkwardness by inviting the homeowners to take the day to enjoy the spa or have a staycation.

Suppose the homeowner(s) is uncomfortable with these ideas. In that case, you can set up a camera and live-stream the open house video for them to view anytime they like without interfering with the sale.

When you host an open house, home buyers want to know everything. They may ask tough questions about the property. An effective way to keep the seller involved is to keep a logbook of questions to share with them after the open house. Alternatively, you could always ask the neighbors.

On that thought, it is actually a great idea to get the neighbors involved. Invite them over during the open house to provide insights about the local neighborhood and surrounding community.

One thing to note about the neighbors is to remember that not everyone is friendly with their neighbors. It is key that you help bridge the gap between the homeowner and their neighbors so that the open house runs smoothly for you.

In the end, their goal is to sell their house. Remind them of your plans and how prepared you are to sell their home for them. Sellers love it when kept in the loop, but make sure they maintain some distance on viewing days.

Marketing and selling real estate listings is a lengthy process. You may have several open houses for the same property without any genuine leads. Don't let this deter you from improving the listing details and staging for the next attempt.


How can you make the most out of your property's first open house experience?

1. Take notes on the comments people left about the house. Can you make any improvements?

2. How did people find out about the open house? Can you integrate other marketing ideas?

3. Is this house competitive with the other real estate on the block? Is the price too high?


When you prepare for this property's next open house, use what you learned from previous attempts and optimize your marketing ideas.

As your open house approaches, we hope the ideas above have inspired you to make the most out of your real estate sales strategy.