When it comes to selling your home, what are the best marketing techniques? What are the things that you should do to give your home the best chance of selling quickly? OK. Those are really broad questions. Let’s try narrowing it down just a little. Let’s talk about open houses specifically. Should you have an open house? Why or why not? When? If you have an open house, what do you need to know? How can you prepare for it? People have lots of opinions and advice about how to sell a home, and we want to help you find and focus on the information that is relevant to your particular home and personal circumstances.
So when it comes to the topic of open house, here’s what we think you’ll want to know about:
- It’s unusual for an open house to directly sell a home. That’s the simple truth. It’s highly unusual for a potential buyer to come to an open house and just make an offer. But…
- Open houses create interest in your home and sometimes yield indirect sales. Word of mouth is one of the best ways to market a home, and people who come to an open house are quite likely to talk with family, friends, or coworkers about your home and encourage them to schedule a showing. That’s a win.
- Having an open house gives you a chance to get feedback from potential buyers, so you can present your home more effectively. It’s helpful to have a brief survey available for open house guests to fill out when they leave. This allows you as the seller to know what buyers are seeing as the pros and cons of your home and gives you early opportunity to address concerns that could leave your house sitting on the market for a long time.
- Prepping for an open house makes you get ready to show the home! Basically, an open house is like a mass showing, so all the work you will do to declutter, make repairs, and clean your home in preparation for the open house will help you be ready for showings.
If you’re leaning towards having an open house, here’s a little more food for thought:
- Open houses are typically most effective for properties that are close to main roads or in high-demand areas. When you put out signs to direct people to the open house, the rule of thumb is that they should only need 2, or at most, 3 directional signs in order to get to your house. Basically, your house needs to be easy to find, because otherwise, people will give up looking for it.
- Weekends—especially Sunday afternoons—are typically the best times to host an open house. It’s better if the time frame isn’t close to a major holiday or a popular event like the Super Bowl (unless, of course, you want to host a Super Bowl party at the house: walk-ins welcome)!
- Think through what you can do to make the home welcoming. You can’t go wrong with fresh-baked cookies. Make sure the lawn and landscaping are in good condition. If you have pets, arrange for them to be somewhere else during the open house (and minimize evidence of pets).
That’s it! Those are the basic open house guidelines. We hope you’ve found this post useful, and we’d also love to talk with you about the specifics of your situation. Every home and every seller is unique, and we are committed to helping you find the right strategy for marketing your home! Give us a call!