The Importance Of Advertising An Open House

The Importance Of Advertising An Open House
05-27-08

Whether you are selling your home by yourself or with an agent, you should have an open house. Sometimes you may want to have more than one, depending on the interest of the buyers. Either way, you must understand the importance of advertising an open house.

A trained real estate professional should know how important it is to get the word out about a new listing. Usually they will have a tour of the home with other agents in their office. Then they will schedule an open house. When the agent, or you, schedules the open house, you will want to know where it is going to be advertised. This is crucial to how successful the open house will be.

I have seen new agents think that by putting up a sign on Sunday the buyers will come flooding in to snatch the property right off it's foundations. Although we would like to think this is going to happen, it is usually the other way around. The agent sits and does nothing because no one showed up. You can ensure this will not happen by properly advertising the open house.

One of the first things you must do is make sure there is an ad in the previous Sunday paper and one the day of the open house. It has been proven that Sundays are always best because the whole family is together and can tour the home. The paper is the first thing a buyer will look at when trying to find a home. When they see an advertisement for your open house, if it fits their needs, they will drive by before hand. A buyer who likes what he sees will be back to take the tour. Advertising it again on the same Sunday will catch the ones who did not see it the first time or who may have forgotten about it.

You must also put up signs through out the neighborhood to alert anyone interested who may be driving by. One on every street corner may be a bit too much, but one on the busiest corners is perfect. You should put these signs up a week before the open house so buyers can make plans to visit. Check them periodically through out the week to make sure the signs have not been torn down or fallen over. Also make sure there is a sign in the front lawn beside the "For Sale" sign.

The day of the open house, you will want to add something to make your house stand out. The first thing you can do is add balloons to the signs. This will get them noticed again. After a week people become numb to the new things. It is just so much clutter again. By adding the balloons, it will bring the signs to their attention once again. Make sure you add them to the front lawn sign as well. I have seen real estate agents line an entire walkway with helium balloons which were anchored down. People stopped just because it looked like everyone was having fun.

Many sales have been generated because the atmosphere of the open house was fun and festive. This can be accomplished by asking all your neighbors to come over during the time of the open house. You know they are not interested in buying. However they may know someone who is. Besides adding a welcoming committee to the mix, any potential buyers can also meet the new neighbors. People who may be on the fence about buying might actually be convinced to make an offer when they see how nice of a neighborhood it actually is. All you need to do is make some simple snacks and show the house. Every thing else will fall into place. If you choose not to advertise, you may be eating those snacks for quite some time.

Mark E. Moebius
Miljonair Homes
Custom home builder St. Louis
3451 St. Albans Rd.
St. Albans, MO 63073
636.300.9000