7 Musts for Homeowners and Realtors to Host the Perfect Open House

For any potential home sellers, the open house is a chance to open the doors and make someone fall head over heels for your charming property. A scheduled time when the house for sale is available for public viewing without an individual appointment, the open house is a perfect opportunity for people who browse for homes to visit and fall in love with your gorgeous property.

Real estate agents do a lot of prep in order to host a prosperous, open house. They visit other open houses in the district, check the competition out, and stage the home for the open house hours. Besides trying to sell the property, open houses give savvy agents an opportunity to seize valuable leads through an open house sign in sheet, a digital tool proven to save time and capture client’s information. When selling a house it’s important to gather the interested guest’s contact and stay connected throughout the selling process. The goal is to show-case the property in the best possible way and turn leads into home buyers. Here are seven musts for homeowners and realtors to host the perfect open house.

For most communities, Sunday is when potential home buyers attend multiple open houses. Schedule your open hours deep in the afternoon (say from 4 pm to 6 pm) to welcome buyers who drive around the neighborhood to view as many properties as they can in a single day. Even though Sunday afternoon is the golden standard for house showings, explore other dates and unconventional time slots depending on your location.

In many markets, nontraditional days and times work better. For example, if you are in a market where people tend to go away for the weekend, it might be better to schedule your open house on a weeknight. Besides, communities with a large population of retirees and swing shift workers can also benefit from untraditional showing times.

Consider embracing a virtual open house as it can take place anytime, offers flexibility, and the ability to market your home in different time zones. You can conduct the open house using any video meeting or event tools, such as Zoom or Facebook Live, to embrace your home’s live online walk-through. Market your virtual open house by email and on social media, provide links for the open house, and invite potential homebuyers to join and ask questions in real-time.

Of course, you want your house to look its absolute best while it’s on the market, and one of the best ways to groom your home for its big day is to stage it. There are numerous easy staging tricks that you can try for the day of your open house. For example, we encourage you to display a bouquet of fresh flowers in the entryway and set your dining table to make it look more inviting. Turn the outdoor sprinklers briefly before visitors arrive to make your lawn sparkle, and maybe even rent some new furniture or decor for specific rooms in your home.

A well-thought brochure of the house will give prospective buyers something tangible to refer to after the open house. Come up with a marvelous booklet and include information about the property, highlight its key features, and list your contact information. As potential buyers tend to browse homes without keeping track of essential details about each property, a well thought brochure will help them remember your property and decide about the house. If you embrace a virtual open house, don’t forget to link a PDF of the same brochure real-life visitors would have received in person.

You probably know that when your house is on the market, you need to keep it in showing shape. And not only for the open-house hours, but you also need to keep your house clean and tidy at all times. Even though you already organized and cleaned your home thoroughly for its listing photographs, there’s an extraordinary chance that clutter and dust pile up again, particularly if you have kids or pets. Organize your cabinets, closets, drawers, under the sinks, and make sure that windows, mirrors, and home appliances are fingerprint-free if you want to leave a decent impression at the open house.

You surely don’t want buyers to get a whiff of something funky and walk out of your open house. Approximately ten days prior to you hosting the open house, ask a dear friend or a neighbor to do an honest smell check of the property. If your property has the smell of your pets – clean the carpets, move the litter box, and eradicate all traces of your pets. If your basement is musty and dank, get a dehumidifier to remove air moisture and run a fan to circulate the air. If your kitchen drain smells funky, drop in a cup of baking soda and two cups of white vinegar. Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes, and run hot water to flush the odor. If you are interested in selling your home for a top dollar, make sure that your house smells lovely and fresh.

Not only does it literally brighten up your house, but light also makes rooms seem spacier and feel larger. Once the open house day arrives, open all blinds and curtains to let natural light in. Make sure you replace every single burnt-out light bulb in and outside the home, so potential buyers can see a working light every time they flip a switch.

Bonus tip: Don’t forget to dry clean the curtains and blinds a full week before the open house.

Set up a welcoming first impression by putting yourself into the shoes of a buyer. Make the house feel like home from the second people walk through the doorstep. Contemplate each of the five senses and make your property delightful to sight, smell, taste, sound, and touch.

Offering freshly baked brownies or warm cookies at an open house is one of the oldest tricks of successful realtors because buyers love being greeted with a warm beverage and a sweet treat. These little treats also give buyers a good reason to stay longer, as no one will rush off before they finish the drink.

Create a successful open house that demonstrates your property the best, and generate quality buzz for your listing. Stay open to potential buyers’ feedback and follow your realtors’ advice on how to respond if you are genuinely interested in getting premium offers and selling your property quickly and effectively.

Published in: Home advice | Author: Lynn