How to run a successful open house?

At Doral Riches, we encourage all of our clients to find new ways to promote their homes for potential buyers, and one of the best ways to do it is by hosting an open house. Many other real estate companies advise against it, but what they are actually trying to do is making themselves indispensable. At Doral Riches, we are well aware that the more help you can get, the better, and at the end of the day, we are only trying to help you sell your home; that’s why we decided to write this article and give you some pointers about how to host your own open house.

Marketing and showing your own house takes time and research, but if you already decided that you want to do it, these useful tips might help you. Open houses are usually held on non-holiday Sundays, but this doesn’t mean you can’t hold yours another day. Saturdays might work too, but Sundays usually work a little better because people tend to be less busy.

One great way to start would be by going to other open houses in your neighborhood and see what your competition is doing. Hearing real estate agents talk about the features of the home they are promoting and checking how the audience reacts to the sale pitch is a great way to learn what to say and what not to say when you hold your own open house. Another great tip is to check when other open houses are held nearby, so you can host yours the same day, that way you could get more traffic from potential buyers interested in your neighborhood.

Get your home ready! Every inch of your place should be spotless and clean, especially the kitchen and the bathroom. Make sure that some natural light gets in, everything will look much better with daylight. If anything is broken, you should definitely fix or replace it before getting anyone into your home. Also, try to reorganize your furniture to make your home seem more spacious.

Once you’ve managed to get potential buyers into your home, there are some things you should definitely do, like handing out brochures with all the details of your home. What you should include: address (of course!), asking price, square footage, photos of the interior and exterior, description of the property, number of bathrooms and bedrooms, any upgrades you’ve made, amenities in the building or neighborhood, school information, and your contact information (including the URL address to the site where your home is published). You should also prepare a sheet where your guests can write their names, phone numbers, email addresses and other means of contact.

Be a good host and offer simple snacks, like cookies, water and maybe juice of any kind. Remember not to be over your guests’ shoulders the entire time, give them space to look around and explore your home. And at Doral Riches, we will always recommend that you let one of our professional realtors help you plan and host the entire event.