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Selling Your House With Open Houses

When you have a house on the market, sooner or later the question will arise: Should we have an Open House? Open Houses are a bit different from normal showings for a couple of reasons. First, instead of having to deal with just one buyer, there is the possibility of 5, 10, perhaps even 50 visitors, all arriving in a compressed period of time. Some may be honestly interested in your home, but others may be neighbors, people thinking of putting their house on the market, or just folks out for an afternoon drive. Regardless of the quality or type of visitors, there is the possibility of a large volume of people coming through the house in a short amount of time, which can tax you (if you are a self seller) or your Agent. It is important that you or the Agent knows how to quickly qualify the visitors in order to focus attention on the most serious buyers.

The second reason that makes an Open House different from an ordinary showing is that when a house is held open, people do expect the house to be 100% ready to view, which will take a bit more preparation. When a buyer sees a house during a normal showing, a few things out of place is not seen as a deterrent. To some degree, they expect it. It is understood that you, the seller, do still live in the house on a daily basis. In an Open House situation, though, things that aren't "just right" can be a major distraction. Extra time must be put into preparation when an Open House is scheduled.

It is okay, then, at this time to put on a bit of a "show": fresh flowers in a vase on the dining room table, soft music playing in the background, and a little potpourri (with a gentle fragrance) may all be appropriate at this time. (For "regular showings", though, this may be a little overdone. Even though it is widely recommended, buyers sometimes feel "set up" when they visit a house where the stage has been too obviously set).

When you are discussing the possibility of an Open House, some Agents will tell you "I don't believe in Open Houses. They rarely bring buyers." To some degree, this may be true. What Open Houses do, though, is frequently bring traffic to your house and traffic is good, Even though an Open House may not bring a ready, willing and able buyer, it may bring someone who knows someone that may have an interest in your home.

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Fact Sheets for Selling Your House

Sometimes called house brochures, Fact Sheets are one of the strongest marketing tools that you or your Agent can use when selling your house. They are the information sheets that you find attached to many For Sale signs and can also be found inside homes for sale. They give information on the property and will often answer buyer's questions relating to items such as square footage, room sizes, and available schools.

Why should you use a Fact Sheet? First and foremost, because an effective Fact Sheet will put your house above others in buyer's minds. After looking at five or six houses in a single day, a buyer's mind tends to become a little mushy -- after the second or third one they no longer remember which house had the beautiful deck off the kitchen and which house had the stunning master bedroom suite. With a Fact Sheet on your house in hand, they will be able to refresh their memory when they review their day and the houses they saw. In addition, Fact Sheets attached to the For Sale sign have the capability of "capturing" drive-bys. Rather than looking for paper and pen to write down your phone number and address -- and probably losing it anyhow -- prospective buyers will have a record of how to contact you as well as information about your house

What should a Fact Sheet include? At the very least, it should contain all of the most salable features of your home. In addition, it should give the total square footage, sizes of individual rooms, as well as any additional information about your house that you believe important. Indicating which schools serve your neighborhood is always a good idea. (Put a note saying that school assignments are subject to change -- please call to confirm). Always put your phone number (or your Agent's) on any Fact Sheet as well as any special instructions regarding showings (e.g., due to our young children, we must keep showings before 9 PM).

Where should they be placed? One set of sheets should be in an all weather box attached to your For Sale sign. Another set should be inside the house. The dining room table is usually a good location there.

The best Fact Sheets are those that are printed on quality paper and use a glossy photo print. It actually is usually less expensive to do it this way, since printed color copies can cost as much as $ 1.00 apiece, while a 24 exposure roll of film can often be developed for less than $ 10.00. If you have Desktop Publishing software, you can make your Fact Sheets for not much more investment than the cost of the film and processing. With a glossy photo, you give your Fact Sheet a professional appearance.

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