Six Open House Ideas That’ll Keep People Talking.
When you’re selling a home, your goal is to generate as much attention to the house as possible, create an environment of competitiveness amongst buyers, and receive the best possible offer for your client. This does not happen by itself. This happens when you combine both traditional and creative marketing strategies to showcase the home’s strengths and get people talking.
One of the best ways to do this is to host an open house. You could schedule an open house, post about it on social media, bake some cookies, and wait for people to show up. Then you could tell them some necessary information about the home, leave them alone so they can tour, answer any question they have, and repeat. Or, you could get creative and implement one of these six open house ideas that will make you, and the property, stand out.
Partner with local businesses to offer unique treats
Instead of baking cookies (and potentially burning them 10 minutes before guests arrive) partner with a community business to offer incoming guests treats or gifts that are unique to the area. Maybe there is a cool smoothie place down the street that would be willing to make smoothies for guests as they tour the home, or provide samples of their favorite recipes. Reach out to a local jewelry store, artist, or clothing boutique and offer to host a pop-up shop in your open house. They get exposure (and maybe sales), and you attract more people to your open house and increase the chances that they’ll stay in the home longer. This also allows you to share your expertise about the local area and solidify your role as a neighborhood expert.
Hold a contest
People like a little bit of competition, so try holding a raffle or contest at your next open house. A raffle can be as easy as encouraging people to fill in the sign-up sheet when they walk into the home. By leaving their name, email, and phone number, they are entered to win a gift, and you expand your contact list. Make the prize something that relates to the home. If the house has an impressive kitchen, offer a cookbook or a free in-home chef experience as the prize. If the house has a pool, entice guests with a luxury pool toy package or a set of margarita glasses that are perfect for poolside cocktail parties. Let everyone know that you’ll announce the winner of the raffle after the open house.
Invite special guests
Some of the biggest questions potential buyers have about buying a home are related to the neighborhood.
- Are their families like theirs?
- What is traffic like in the area on weekends?
- How strict is the HOA?
- What are the neighbors like?
While you could give them the necessary information about what you know, why not bring in the experts? Ask the neighbors to come by and answer questions potential buyers may have. This unique perspective will not only make your open house stand out, but it could also facilitate relationships between the right buyer and their future neighbors. They can offer a unique perspective about the neighborhood and hopefully make the buyer feel more confident about their decision.
Go Live
If people can’t come to your open house, you can bring the open house to them. By using Instagram stories and Facebook Live, you can showcase all of the home’s best features and create a dialogue with online followers at the same time. If you are experiencing a great turnout, a virtual tour via Facebook Life or Instagram can help you show other people what they’re missing. This creates a sense of urgency that other buyers are very interested in this property, and they should be too. You could also use a slower open house, or a lull in visitors, to offer a “sneak peak” of the property to online viewers. To create an open house that gets people talking, you have to think outside of the box.
Make it a party
Open houses and parties have a lot in common. You get the house ready, you invite people
(and hope they invite people.) There’s food and drinks and you do your best to mingle, get to know people, and connect. What would happen if you turned your open house up a notch and created an event that the community would want to be a part of?
What if you hired a DJ, or a live band?
What if you got a few friends to bring their BBQ grills and hosted a cookout in the backyard?
Is your target buyer a family with kids? Two words: Bounce House.
It doesn’t take much more work to turn an open house into a party, and it might be just what you need to attract the right buyers and get the community buzzing about your property.
Make it exclusive
While an “open to the public” open house party can be a fun idea to bring people together, sometimes you need to take a more exclusive approach. Host an agents-only open house, so other agents in the area can be the first to know about the property and bring the info back to their clients. Not only does this make the agents feel like a priority (and maybe they’ll return the favor one day), but it also gives you a chance to network. An invite-only open house for agents also increases the chances that serious and motivated buyers see your property.
Realtors have a love/hate relationship with open houses. They know a well thought out open house can help them grow their personal brand, analyze the current market, and help the seller get a quick and profitable sale. They know it is a smart marketing strategy and can even generate future leads, but they take time, and effort, and money to host and aren’t always successful.
While RealtyBloc can’t help you throw the open house of the year, we can help with creating a dynamic and relevant personal branding strategy that will help you make a name for yourself in the industry. Just like a fun and memorable open house, a professionally designed website, and a custom real estate branding strategy will get people talking about you. And that is what you want as a top Realtor.
Contact us today to discuss how to take the first step toward establishing yourself as an expert in the real estate industry.