Open House: what it is, what it is for, and how to organize it

The technique known as real estate open houses is becoming increasingly popular thanks to its undeniable advantages. The goal of this strategy, which originated in the United States, is to achieve the best results with maximum efficiency.

Let's learn how to organize a successful open house that will increase your chances of closing a sale and leave a lasting positive impression on your clients. After this, you will have excellent tools to create an effective display that will bring you great returns.

Defining open house

In the world of real estate, an open house is a showing of a house to a group of potential buyers on a specific day and at a specific time. They attend and also participate in related activities planned by the agent.

The main advantage is that guests can enter the property for sale, which will be at their disposal, and tour it at their leisure. Groups listen attentively to the agent's presentation as they tour the different areas of the house.

This technique means that more time is spent on negotiation than on the sale itself. This way, the sales process lasts for an optimal amount of time, which also optimizes time, allowing the agent to spend more time on negotiations, which in the long run could translate into a good deal.

The strategy aims to create a sense of urgency among potential buyers, who, upon seeing many more people, realize that the home is in high demand, so they will negotiate aggressively in search of a reasonable price. It's simple: show the house to more people in less time.

How to do it

To ensure a successful open house, you must develop a good strategy and have the necessary team in place. In addition to:

• Set the date. It is best to schedule viewings on weekends to ensure that interested parties attend and cannot use work schedules as an excuse.
• Send out the invitations. Call all your potential customers and invite as many as you can.
• Promote the exhibition. It is extremely important to give the event as much visibility and promotion as possible. Use social media, call everyone who might be interested, send emails, and make posters for shop windows.
• Design posters. Create them and display them both at the real estate agency and at businesses near the property.
• Be aggressive. Prepare an attractive offer for that day. It could be: "If you book today, you'll save $3,000 on the sale price."
• Don't forget the details. Clean the house thoroughly. If you want to go the extra mile, you could furnish the rooms and decorate with elements that enhance the appeal of the house. It only takes 8 seconds for the customer to form their first impression and decide whether to buy or walk away.
• Make it a fun gathering. Offer some appetizers and snacks.

Try to ensure that the owner of the property is not present, and never forget to provide your contact details.

How long should it last?

The open house should be held on the day with the greatest potential for sales, taking advantage of the opportunity to show the property to large groups in a single visit. Ideally, it should be held on a Saturday or Sunday, when people have more free time.

In this regard, you should set a time slot for the demonstration, which could be from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. It is a good idea to schedule more than one open house on the same day to weed out those who are not interested.

It is also important to set a purchase deadline, which will create a sense of urgency for the customer to submit their offer and enter into negotiations.

Open house – Advantages and disadvantages

When you open the doors of a property for guests to view it, without prior appointment, and consider buying it, you are laying the foundations for a productive event. It is a technique that has historically been used in Spain for public buildings, but which has recently become very popular.

Advantages

• You save time. The salesperson avoids long journeys and countless visits. Here, you only need to make one sample.
• Demand increases. The fact that many people are viewing the house at the same time indicates that there is great interest in the property, which in turn creates urgency in the potential buyer.
• You avoid 'no-shows'. There is a possibility that some people will not attend the open house, but with a large turnout, this will not be noticeable.

Disadvantages

Despite being very attractive and effective, open houses have one disadvantage: they must be organized well in advance. If you want it to be a successful event, take the time to take care of all the details.

Another disadvantage could be the lack of personal attention to the customer, but you can minimize this by following up after the event.

Tips for a successful open house

Applying the open house technique requires certain strategies that have proven to be very effective and have resulted in successful sales and satisfied customers. Here are some valuable tips.

Draw up a schedule

If you want your meeting to be profitable and productive, you should avoid improvisation. Start by surrounding yourself with a team of people who will be your right-hand men and women, and design an action plan.

Create a schedule with all the steps you need to take. This way, you will avoid the potential mistakes that always happen and you will be able to reach your target audience.

Every event must be announced, so start your advertising campaign 15 days in advance. Use traditional and digital media: articles in the press, other real estate websites, social media, brochures, email lists, and databases.

Prepare the site

Decorate the rooms of the property with a festive atmosphere, order catering, and have marketing materials ready. Try to create a homely atmosphere that visitors can connect with, an atmosphere of a house that is ready to move into.

Put the media on your side

You cannot have a successful event if you do not advertise it in the available media. Use posters to indicate the location of the house; send invitations to customers; have a group of collaborators hand out flyers; give out corporate gifts.

Surround yourself with a team

Your agency team must be trained to clarify and answer all questions from potential clients, always capturing and maintaining their interest in the property.

Take advantage

One difference between an open house and a scheduled appointment is that you get more visits in a short period of time. Think of it this way: if you get three visits to the house in a month, with an open house you could get more than 20 visits.

It may not translate into instant sales, but it increases interest, which can result in a sale the following week. In addition, your colleagues in the industry can also go see the house and offer it. This increases the chances.

Offer an attractive product

Offer a house at a price that is affordable and stands out in the market. There is no point in refurbishing a property and launching a whole advertising campaign if the price is not in line with the market.

Take action to change mindsets

The open house technique involves a reset in the mindset of both buyers and sales agents. Since it is not very common, customers view it favorably because they perceive that work is being done for them. For their part, agents must be trained to transform visits into fruitful negotiations that end in a sale.

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Conclusion

Open houses have become the leading technique in Spain due to their effectiveness and high conversion rate into sales. They offer a significant advantage because they reduce visit times and have maximum reach. By bringing together as many people as possible in a single visit, efficiency is increased, as are the chances of closing the sale.

Designing a good plan to avoid improvisation, using the available resources for an effective advertising campaign, and surrounding yourself with a skilled team are ingredients that ensure effective sales and satisfied customers.