Five Tips For Holding An Open House

From:  Sussex County Association of Realtors - Friday Blog Post - 3/18/16

In today’s real estate marketplace, millions of prospective homebuyers are searching for properties online.  All are using new technology to view homes, research neighborhoods, investigate local crime rates and so much more.

Which raises a question that many are now asking:

Are open houses still an effective method of marketing residential properties?

They can be, if you do your homework and prepare properly in advance. That leads us to the subject of this blog post – “Five Tips For Holding An Open House.”

Here are a few things to keep in mind when planning your open house:

• Safety First. At SCAOR, the safety of our members is always our foremost concern. If you’re hosting an open house, we highly recommend you doing so on the “buddy system.” Always have at least one other person – agent or otherwise – in the home with you to avoid any kind of safety issues.

• Proper Staging. You’ve undoubtedly heard this one before, but staging a home prior to viewing is as important today as it was in years past. In some cases, it can make all the difference. For more on staging, read this article from NAR.

• Collect Information. Be sure that everyone who attends your open house leaves his or her contact information. This way, even if they don’t end up buying the home you currently have on display, you can easily contact them in the future if similar properties become available.

• Use Social Media. Yes, you can still get the word out via the local newspaper, but a much more effective method of advertising your open house nowadays is via social media. So promote it onFacebook, Tweet it several times over and throw some photos on Instagram or Pinterest.

• Hide the Valuables. Unfortunately, open houses do attract people who have no interest in actually purchasing the home. Lock up the valuables, make sure the owners have removed all the prescription drugs from the home and, generally, just be safe and cautious throughout the event.

To stay informed on this and other issues related to Sussex County’s real estate market, be sure to check back regularly on this blog page. All entries will be archived for later retrieval, whenever the need arises.