4 Steps for Hosting a Successful Open House

Strangers tracking dirt, peeking through every drawer, spilling the tea on the sofa, and leaving in a mess. Is this an open house or a horror movie?

Open houses are no easy work, trust us we know… 

But they are important for those serious buyers who want to visualize themselves living in the house they are about to buy. So it’s important to get it right.

Open houses can bring the perfect buyer to your table. Sometimes, and only if you’re lucky, you can start a bidding war with them! The trick is to get the open house done right and that too the first time around. This way, you aim to sell faster and with more money. 

The team here at A&Co. are some of the top real estate professionals who have hosted hundreds of these marketing events before, and they’ve boiled it down to these essential tips to pull off a stellar open house that has buyers pouring in and making offers:

1. Choose The Best Day & Time

When you host an open house, it’s important to pick a date and time where clients can be available to come. Otherwise, you and your real estate agents will be the only ones left having those freshly baked cookies and beverages. 

Well, weekdays are when people commute to and from work, picking the kids up from school, grocery shopping, and overall just exhausted. You may do viewing with a couple but find one partner at work, and then having to wait for a decision or even a second viewing.

So the best time is ideally the weekends, Friday and Saturday. In fact, most agents have open houses on Saturdays. This way you can be sure that all members of the family attend, stress-free and ready to view your home at ease. 

But more than the day, time matters more. Especially in this bustling city of Dubai! Regardless of it being the weekend, there’s always traffic during normal rush hour. So keep in mind to host an open house at a time where people won’t be stressed about putting up with the busy roads or missing out on their evening plans on their days off.

In large metro areas where traffic can get heavy in the afternoon, early open houses are always better between 11 AM – 2 PM. When you’re in the suburbs, we suggest a time between 12 PM to 4 PM.

Always remember to be strict about your timings! The point of holding an open house is to take control of the selling process, so, potential buyers can show up when you want them to, not whenever they feel like it, so, do not let them turn up at alternative times if you can avoid it. 

Our agents at A&Co are experts in the communities they serve. They can help you determine the best time and day to host your open houses.

2. Time to Market!

Now that your date and time are set for the open house, it’s time to start advertising for it!

Start posting online

A&Co has a large pool of networks, CRM, and tools to help you! When you list with us, we promise the best in marketing your home. Let us break it down for you.

• We take killer photos of your home
• Help you declutter
• Post on our social media accounts
• Send out an email to our database
• Invite people on property finder, prop space, and all other portals.
• We send out SMS invites to people within the community and outside.

Facebook groups

A great way to get the news out is word of mouth. This is the time where our nosy friends come in handy. Speak to your friends and family and ask them to spread the word and post on their socials if they can. Take an extra step and post on your local Facebook groups and community groups regularly so people within the neighborhood are aware that a new house is up for grabs!

Use signboards and brochures

Old school marketing is indeed old but it works! Create a cool and simple leaflet of your open house. Add photos of the main features and highlight the location, date, and time. Then take a walk down your street and hand it over to your neighbors walking by. They may not be interested in buying your house, but they can refer it to someone else. 

Another great idea is to visit your local community center and ask if you could leave your brochures at the reception. For those of you who are regulars at these places, it would be a great way of generating more leads for your open house.

There’s nothing more annoying than finding a house you love on the internet only to have to drive around for hours trying to find it. Some homeowners are reluctant about it, but it’s one of the most successful ways of grabbing people’s attention! A&Co has special signboards that advertise your open houses outside your property so you can leave that to us! And we go heavy on it!

Pro tip: Always start advertising for your open house a week in advance. This gives you plenty of time to get the word out.

3. Getting Ready

Now that people know about your open house, and the day is almost near, it’s time to prep your home. Get your cleaning gloves ready, because you’re going to need them!

Clean up 

No one wants to enter a house with dirty clothes lying around and unwashed dishes. So make sure to deep clean your home. 

Declutter

Remove the unwanted clutter and try for a more minimalistic approach. It’s a great way of making your home look more spacious and bright – which every buyer loves to see. Consider renting out a storage space and keep all the extra stuff. This way when you do sell your home, you’ll find moving out a lot easier.

Bake some goods

When clients come for your open house, you’ll want them to be in a happy mood. Ready to ask questions, spice up conversations and hopefully put out an offer right there. And there is no better way to do that than with cookies! Bake some sweet desserts and offer it to customers. It adds a homey touch and paves the way for building great relationships and make

 your buyers feel at ease.

Don’t forget about natural light!

Have you got floor-to-ceiling windows? Then put them to good use! Open up the curtains and let the natural light flow through your house. You’ll be surprised how much it uplifts the overall appearance!

Finishing touchups

Did you cut your lawn? Trim your hedges? Add some plants for a relaxing ambiance? Touch upon the paint job? Made sure the AC is working well? The little things matter! So make sure you pay attention to all the little details of your house because the buyers surely will.

4. Trust Your Agent & Host Your Best Open House Yet!

When you are finished preparing your home for the “big day,” potential buyers need to feel comfortable and at ease, in the home, they’re viewing. They should be able to have an open and honest conversation about what they like about the house and, more importantly, what they don’t like. This cannot happen if you are present.

We know this is a hard one, but when the open house day is here, try to be out and about and let your real estate agent do the hard for work you. This way, the guests are put at ease and feel comfortable critiquing the house to a third party.

At A&Co, we’ve got several experiences of doing this kind of thing. Because our agents are literal experts in the communities you live in. They will be able to take the negative (if any) feedback and deal with price negotiations professionally. We’ll take the emotional sale away and give you an experience that’s both hassles free and quick 

We understand that it’s hard to relinquish control. But remember A&Co agents are here to make your life easier. You’ve put in the hard work, so let us take it from here. We’ve got your back!

If you’ve got a property you’d like to sell, get in touch with us at 800ASCOT for a free property valuation or visit our website to list with us. You can also meet our team here, and give them a ring directly 

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