Holding an Open House While Selling Your Own Home
Filed Under For Sale By Owner, Selling Your Home |
It’s time. Your kids are getting older. You’ve just earned a big promotion. Maybe you’re an empty nester. Whatever the reason, it’s time for a new home.
So you place your home on the market. You have an ad in the paper and a sign in your yard (hopefully one of mine). What else can you do? Have you considered holding an open house?
If you get the word out and have a plan for when prospective buyers walk through the door, you’ll have an excellent opportunity to meet many would be buyers.
A for sale by owner open house is an excellent, low cost way to help you sell your home. Running an open house is a tremendous opportunity to create some foot traffic through your home without having to wait for buyers to call and set up a showing.
One of the largest annoyances of a Realtor-run open house is that youneed to be somewhere else while it’s being held. Being displaced from your home for a few hours on multiple weekends can get very frustrating.
But, because you’re running the open house, you’ll remain in your home during the entire process, which can lessen your stress level.
An open house sounds like a good idea. How do you get the word out?
- Tell everyone you know-friends, relatives, neighbors, coworkers. Use every tactic you can think of to let people know you’re holding an open house. Email is a very useful tool. Call everyone you know-even family. Let your neighbors know by stopping by or dropping them a quick note.
- Advertise your open house in the Buyers’ Guide, newspaper, etc. This will ‘cast your net’ further by letting every potential buyer know about your open house. It’s also important to write a killer descriptionso buyers NEED to see your home in person.
To really help get people in the door offer snacks and refreshments in your ad. Believe it or not, this is an excellent way to help convince people to attend.
Tips to help you hold a successful open house:
- To make your home look more spacious bring as much light into your home as possible. You can accomplish this by opening all of the blinds and curtains and turning on all the lights. Pay close attention to lighting your entryway, dining and living rooms.
- Allow buyers to picture themselves living in your home. Removing any personal items you may have around the house, including family pictures, children’s artwork, toys, etc.
- Create a welcoming aroma in your home. You can do this by baking cookies or bread or adding bowls of potpourri to the bathrooms and bedrooms. If you have pets, work hard to neutralize any odors, especially litter boxes, and keep pets away from any guests.
- Keep the distractions to a minimum. Arrange for your children to visit a neighbor or friend so you’re able to give your full attention to showing your home. Keep the television and radio turned off. Never apologize for anything in your home and never make negative remarks about your home. You don’t know what a buyer is looking for, so what you consider a flaw may be exactly what they’re looking for.
Before the open house starts, gather these items:
- Blank sales contracts. Having these available makes it easier for buyers to make an offer. You can print Offer to Purchase formsfrom CentralWI By Owner.
- Flyers. Have flyers ready for buyers to take with themcontaining all of your home’s highlights well as pictures of your home. Flyers can be printed directly from your online listing.
Above all, make it as easy as possible for a buyer to make an offer or to get into contact with you later. Place the ‘take away’ items by the cookies where buyers can’t miss them.
Remember: an open house is an effective low cost way to get many people into your home. Even if the person who walks through your home doesn’t make an offer, you never know who they’ll talk to about your home.
If you have any questions about holding an open house, or anything else related to selling your home please email me at [info [at] centralwibyowner.com].
Comments
Leave a Reply