So let's say you are a new agent and you have no problem door knocking/fsbo/expired callings.

In your first few months which do you think would be a better use of your time on a Saturday

1) Doing an open house for another agent where I am guessing most of the people coming through will be potential buyers, you just need to find a way to sign them

OR

2) Spend the same 4-5 hours out knocking on doors

Which would be more productive and why

Guess the question becomes how many deals do you get from standing at an open house for 4 hours vs if you knocked on doors for 4 hours where you may have chance for future listings.

That so totally depends on SO many factors.

An agent in my office had 27 visitors to her open house last weekend, and three of them are definitely interested in buying (one of them are interested in that house). I can't remember if she got any potential seller leads though...

With Open House success, so much of it depends on the timing, the location, and the signage. She was there on a busy day in the development, she had her signs up hours ahead of time, and it was a nice house.

I had an Open House in the same development on a Saturday as well, but had only one visitor - I will admit that my signs didn't go out early enough.

In this area, door knocking is next to impossible - most of the homes are in developments where you will find yourself escorted out by security very soon if you knock on the wrong person's door...they'll complain about you because they have strict rules about no soliciting.

On top of that, many of these homes are summer/vacation/weekend homes and either a) the owners are at their primary home, or b) if they ARE up, chances are they're out hiking or on the lake boating.

The success of an Open House depends largely on how well it was marketed and how long the signs were up for it....and if it's a nice house in a popular location. Are postcards being mailed out to the neighbors? How about door knocking at the neighbor's houses a couple of days in advance to give them an invitation to the Open House (neighbors can be the best source of leads!)

Some areas I suppose door knocking will make much more sense and will probably yield more prospects...

Like everything else, it's all local....

Dean, have you thought about combining the two?

Set up your open house for Sunday. Print up 100 little flyers, nothing too fancy, about the house you'll be holding open. Then go out on Friday & Saturday and knock on doors in the immediate neighborhood of your open until you've met 100 neighbors who were at least willing to take the flyer you handed them inviting them to your open house.

Inviting neighbors to an open house is a very non-threatening thing to do at a door. Most neighbors have seen the sign but have never seen inside the house. So you've peaked their curiosity. Because generally homeowners think they know the value of their own home but they like to be reassured. So you don't have to do any hard selling to get them to be interested.

This technique serves several purposes. It helps you build confidence with door knocking in a very easy manner. It tells the folks in the neighborhood that 'Dean' is a very active agent who works hard for his clients, and finally, when they do get to your open house you REALLY have the opportunity to chat them up... because now they are YOUR guest, rather than you being somebody standing on THEIR front porch during their favorite TV program.

Thanks Perky, the area I live in the houses are all right on top of each other with no restrictions. I guess what I will do when the time comes is try both and just see which works better for me

Texas, brilliant!!!! thanks

Dean, if the idea of knocking on 100 doors seems intimidating. Try knocking on just 10 before your next open. You might be surprised by the time you run out of flyers you'll wish you had printed more!

One last thought... do not be tempted to MAIL your open house announcements.

That will defeat the entire purpose of what you're trying to do. Plus it's a waste of money.

Texas, knocking on 100 doors is nothing. The career I am leaving is political campaigning, i have probably knocked on 10,000 doors over the last decade.

Sounds like you're cut out for this job!

is this another Froy thread;-)

Seeing I have sold 0 houses i would say not yet, but that is one of the reasons i was so intrigued by his story because i have no problem going to peoples houses knocking on their doors and talking to them. And part of the reason that appeals to me is i recently moved to Arizona and I really dont know more than 20 people here so my SOI around here is starting out kind of small.

Both Perky and Texas Agent bring up great points..and might I add are becoming quite informative on the Forum these days..I am learning a lot from you both..

I will be doing open houses next weekend for the first time and plan on using both strategies...

question perky.....how soon do you think you need to put out the signs before hand....is the day before too soon?...or just hours before your open...?

Tony, if you can put the sign up even 48 hours beforehand, with a rider saying "Open Sat, 12-3" or whatever, that would be best. Some township ordinances may not allow it though and the sign could be stolen (we have a lot of thieves and anti-realtor townships around here, it's almost Vermont... ) If I can, I put the signs up at least the day before.

On the day of the open house we use balloons on the signs to attract more attention.

Texas,

That was a great idea as a way to door knock and not have the homeowners feel you are "pitching" them. I will be using this myself once I am licensed.

You have to figure out what worked best for you. I do all of it. Last year Open Houses worked pretty well for me, I had lake 12 - 18 people coming to them (most of them nosy neighbors and fans of the open houses), but I got some leads and transactions from there.. This year is worst. However I am focused more on listings, so cange from open house to expired/fsbo/farming and working on my site to catch leads online. What I know, whatever you do, just do it consistently.