Handling Open Houses from Both Sides

Do: Market your home from all angles, local and regional. Having your agent know where your target market of buyers are is a great start, but your buyer can come from anywhere. The Internet is a great source of advertising, but print is still important too. They must be used together.

Do: Use open houses as a convenient time for touring homes with your agent. I’m sometimes surprised by how many buyers write in to ask whether it’s appropriate to meet up with their agent at an open house, as though they’re concerned that it might be offensive to the listing agent or agent who is holding the home open.  Given that very few unrepresented buyers walk into an open house off the street and buy that house, I submit that using the few weekly open house hours as a regular time to meet up with your agent and tour homes that are being held open is a very efficient way to see homes you’re interested in, without having to make scattered appointments with individual sellers—and that savvy listing agents will welcome your attendance as a represented, qualified buyer and their agent at a showing.

Do: Open every door. If you’re seriously interested in a home you’re touring at a showing, make sure you open every door—even doors that look like they might just be hall closets.  I’ve had buyers come back and realize that all the closets were a couple inches deep, or that the home had multiple walk-in closets they weren’t even aware of. Once, I even had a buyer miss an entire little room, because we all thought the narrow door was just another closet. Since storage is such an elemental consideration when you’re home-buying, it’s important to know what’s behind every door.

Don’t: Open every drawer. I’m specifically talking about drawers to furniture, rather than kitchen drawers and other drawers that are built into the property itself. Why do you need to see what’s inside someone’s bureaus to decide whether or not you like the home?  You don’t—I know that some people find the voyeuristic aspect of open house hunting (i.e., seeing how others live) to be fun and compelling, but there’s certainly a line beyond which it’s rude to cross. 

Do: Offer hospitality to buyers. If you want prospective buyers to attend and enjoy your showings, it’s critical that you remove all the friction involved with attending it. It should be very clear and simple for visitors to discover that your home is being held open, then to navigate to, park at and access your home. If your home—or even your front door—is hard to find, make sure signs clearly point the way.  If your neighbors park in front of your house or you normally park your cars in the driveway, ask them to move, and move your own cars, too.

Don’t: Attend your own open house. Don't be there for showings! Buyers like to have an opportunity to warm up to the home. It is difficult to have a buyer talk about whether his or her furniture will fit in the living room with the seller sitting on the couch. Don't hang pictures of your family all over the place. It is nice to have one or two but the buyer will focus on all the nice pictures he or she sees rather than your home. Also they will be constantly reminded by the pictures that the home is yours and not theirs. NOT A GOOD IDEA.   

Do: Hire a Professional Stager. Realtors know how to sell a home but stagers get your home prepared—Staged—for the Realtor to sell it. Intensively clean and de-odorize the place.  Start way in advance, and either clean or hire someone to clean your home so that the word “immaculate” applies.  This is not the time to cut corners. And understand that at a buyer showing, people—including the most serious buyers—will open doors, drawers, cupboards, explore your garage, open the garden shed—so there’s really no place to shove and hide a messy pile of clothes or dishes. Heck, there are some who’ll scope out your dog house, if they want their own precious pooch to park there. This is your opportunity to start eliminating things you don’t need and packing things you’ll want to move that are excess to the neat-and-clean version of your home’s space you want to showcase the house.

Don’t: Overdo the sensory staging. Some people are highly sensitive, even allergic, to fragrances or scented oils—these types can run screaming from an overly “air freshened” open house. Music on low is fine, but it should be a very neutral, non-objectionable type—and you’d be surprised what some folks object to.  Also, skeptical buyers might suspect you’re trying to cover something up with aggressive air fresheners, cookies in the oven, music on the stereo and white noise playing in every room. Look to your agent and your home’s stager (if you have one) for direction here, and don’t overdo it.  Serious buyers will want to see, smell and hear what the experience of the home is actually like, without all that artifice.

Don’t:  Underdo the home prep/curb appeal, landscaping, exterior prep. I cannot tell you how many times, when I was selling homes, I would pull up to an open house with my buyer clients and see them roll their eyes, sigh or even veto the visit once they saw the state of the home’s exterior. And on the flip side, I can’t express the number of times I witnessed buyers minimize or overlook wonky rooms or funky annoyances on the inside of a home (for better or for worse) because the place had overwhelmingly charming or breathtakingly chic appeal from the curb. Before you start showing your home, it’s equally—maybe even more—imperative that you make sure your landscaping, sidewalks, front doors and exterior paint are immaculate and maxed out on their attractiveness as it is to make sure the inside is pristine. 

Do:  Make sure there are laminate flyers for buyers to take away, and basic documentation buyers will want to see. Check in with your agent in advance about what handouts will be available for prospective buyers that visit your home.  At the very least, there should be a property flyer listing out the home’s basic characteristics, offering a few color photos and providing the agent’s contact information. If you’ve had home or pest or roof inspections, or your home favorably compares to recently sold nearby properties, make sure those inspection reports and comparables are out at all showings. Please have a survey and other critical information on the home available at the buyer's fingertips. "Where is the property line?" is a question that is heard by agents quite a bit.

Do: Stress the positives of the community. Have your agent make an informative flyer just about the highlights of your neighborhood. When a buyer buys a home they are not just buying a home, they are buying a lifestyle. That is why image is key. Buyers have a mindset of what their dream home looks like. This is the exact reason why the CONDITION of your home is critical. Setting the proper image is key.

Do: Hire the best agent for the job. Sometimes homeowners make the mistake of hiring second best because they may know the agent or may be related. Always hire the best professional to sell your home. In this market sellers can't afford to hire second best. Every day in this market counts.