Ok, so I've been working in Real estate for 4 years part-time but now its time to go full time. I plan on working as many open houses as possible but I don't really know what to do besides greet the visitors, buy a food platter, and have a name registry.

I'm sure there's more to it. Tips are appreciated.

How did you get paid for doing that? Did you share in any resulting Commissions?

There must have been something really good to motivate you to continue for 4 Years?

I have sold 3 REO's and worked with a buyer. My mom needs to retire but has no savings. Its time to buy her a condo (under 20k). My sis has just had a baby and just graduated from college. Im returning to college in the Fall. The pressure's on...

Most of all I hate working for only $11hr when I could be making $100 an hour!

I never buy food for my open houses. Ever. That's a waste of money IMHO.

You didn't mention following up with the visitors.

When visitors come you need to be sure to follow up with them later....but before you do make sure they're not already working with another agent...or you'll be disappointed to see that some other agent sold them a house you sent them in an email....

Open Houses work best when you've had the signage up at least 2 - 4 hours ahead of time. At least!! Also sending out postcards invitations, etc...

Sometimes if a house has been on the market a while and had numerous open houses there is no point in having an open house for a while because everyone in the area has already seen it...

Bottom line if it's not priced right in the beginning all the marketing will be in vain no matter what it is.

Brokers/agents need to focus more on making them list at a great price instead of all the magic tricks trying to pull the white rabbit (offer) out of a hat.

Sellers say "Oh but we can always reduce". This is when you show them the graph of activity in the first 2 weeks and after then how it drops off like crazy.You also show new inventory will hit the market making their price reduction at that time have no to little affect.

If they don't listen you walk. Build a NO BULL reputation for being a closer. Don't tell people what they want to hear but need to hear.

Sellers always focus on marketing but there is also price and presentation and all 3 have to be going to get the highest offer possible the current market will bare.

I can tell you in Georgia for open houses you will need to have food.Especially for broker/agent opens and maybe even drawings for free gas cards,etc.

Think about it.1 buyer at an open is one buyer but one agent at an open might have 5 qualified buyers to purchase that property.

Now if you are there to find an unrepresented buyer chances are slim on that but still possible.

It also depends on the price point of the property you are selling.The junk in Atlanta at 20k is paying a very small commission relative to work output. The more expensive areas with homes in the 200k to 600k range or higher make it more worth your while.

I think baking cookies is a great idea...we do it every time. It will also mask any odd smells.

Late reply, but I'm posting anyway. :)

I do an open house every Sunday. Most of the agents in my office hate doing them and like to tell me how useless they are. As I'm still pretty new to this, it gives me an opportunity to talk to people about real estate stuff and I need the practice!

I hold opens for the agent in my office who has the most listings. She stages each vacant listing so they always look good and I always have a place to sit (which is important if you're there for 3 hours and have no traffic! Bring a chair if you need to.)

I put out as many a-boards as I can get away with. As I plan to do this for awhile, I really need to get personalized boards but right now I just use my generic office ones. I either leave the door open or I put a sign on it telling them to come on in, no need to knock. I also take the flyers out of the box and hide away any flyers or cards the LA may have in the house. (Remember to put them back out, I always forget to do that!)

I have a sign in sheet with a little check box asking if they want to get my newsletter each month and I ask everyone to sign in but usually let them know I just need a name and if they give me other info I promise not to spam their email or harass them over the phone. I have copies of my newsletter, property flyers that I make with my information and my business cards all out on a table. If it's a hot day, I may have bottles of water but I don't do food or make cookies. I usually print out a list of nearby comps and have a couple of copies to give out but don't put them on the table.

I don't lead people through the house unless we start talking about something specific. Usually I just hang out where I can see the door and try to listen to see if they have questions.

I tend to strike up conversation with 90% of the people who come through. I usually start with something like, "Are you looking specifically in this area or did you just see the sign and decided to stop and say hello?" I'm really casual during my opens. The point to me isn't to sell the home I'm at but to make contact with people who may not have an agent so my approach is friendly and laid back. I have a conversation rather than an interview. If I find out they're looking in the area I might offer them a comp list, "Oh, did you see the house at the end of the block.." kind of stuff. If they aren't working with an agent, I may ask if they'd like to give me an email address and offer to send them some listing, etc. I almost always hand them something on the way out - a flyer, newsletter or card.

The other 10% just walk through and sneak out or are obviously not approachable. I at least try to get a "thanks for stopping by" to them before they leave.

Some days I only have 3 or 4 people through and others I'll have 40. I take my laptop with me because there's usually a neighbor with an unsecured network so I can at least keep myself entertained if it's slow. If it's busy, I use to type up notes about people so I don't lose track.

If I have contact information, I send a thank you card or email the next day. If they asked me follow up or I said I would email information, I usually go back to the office and do it that evening.

I've been doing them weekly for about 4 months now and I've added a good number of people to my database and gotten a few buyers out of it.

Question, how do you all dress for an open house? I have done many open houses, and am always dressed business, but everyone who comes in have shorts, jeans, etc. Is it appropriate for me to wear shorts, jeans, etc. or should I continue dressing business?
I just wonder if I am "over dressed" for the open houses, which are usually on a Saturday, when nobody else is dressed up.

For me, it depends on what area I'm in. I usually wear jeans and a polo shirt with the company logo on it, and my name tag. This usually puts me a notch above the people coming in because they're in shorts and flip flops. If I'm doing at open at an upper end listing, I'll "dress up", which means I throw a blazer on. But, I don't ever dress up and my area is very casual.

I think baking is a nice idea but I worry with all the potential food allergies out there. Even if someone knows that they have a food allergy and takes a cookie anyway, they could come back at you if they have any reactions since you baked the cookies.

I wouldn't even recommend buying cookies. It gets too expensive over time and I literally had 0 to 1 people take them at every open house....you'll just end up with too many leftover cookies.

Just set up your business cards, the MLS print out, a sign in sheet....show them around (know the details of the house for when they ask)and follow up in a couple days.

You'll do great!!

I think it is great that you don't dress up. I like to wear jeans and a polo style golf shirt as well. i think people are sick of the overly dressed real estate agent that acts snobby and talks down to people. Even if the agent doesn't speak that way some people think it.

I actually had to think quite a bit about the image that I want to project. I'm not a dress up kind of person and when I have to do it I always feel like I'm playing dress up with my Mom's clothes! I'm not comfortable and I'm sure it would come across to potential clients. While I can't really afford to be picky about who I work with right now, I also know that someone who decided not to work with me based on what I was wearing is probably someone I wouldn't want to work with in the long run.

For a listing presentation, etc. it would be different but for open houses, I want to be casual and welcoming and I that best when I'm comfortable and not pretending to be something I"m not!

I've tried to do this before, but it was very rare that anybody would actually sign in, and rarely would a copy of my newsletter get taken.

Do you have any specific methods you use to motivate people to sign in?

I tell people the seller wants a record of who came into the house. I've never had anyone refuse to sign a name. They often omit info like phone/email/ stuff....I figure, if they don't want to leave it there is no point in trying to coerce them into doing it.

I make sure I give them my business card. Again, I've never had anyone refuse to take it.

Our State Police also like us to have an idea of who has been visiting our Listed properties. Usually, most people are just curious . . . . but others are actively casing joints for subsequent "un-escorted" visits, and while they may leave a name, it's often bogus.

Even with a name, a License Plate number is a valuable piece of data, along with the kind of car.

[quote=Kjmendy]I've tried to do this before, but it was very rare that anybody would actually sign in, and rarely would a copy of my newsletter get taken.

Do you have any specific methods you use to motivate people to sign in? [/quote]

I just ask as they wander through the area I have the signup sheet sitting in, usually the dining room or kitchen. I don't stand over the sheet bu sort of wave towards it, "If you wouldn't mind, could I get one of you to sign in for me please so I have a record for the homeowner. Oh, and I don't really need anything more than a name unless you want a copy of next months newsletter." I can count on one hand the number of people who haven't at least given me a name. If they seem hesitant, I jokingly promise not to spam their email or call them a dozen times the next day. That usually diffuses the hesitation.

When they come back by me on their way towards the door, I'll have a property flyer or newsletter to hand them. They won't take it off the table but they won't give it back if I hand it to them.

re: clothing: I always dress "business casual" and usually wear my name badge. Sometimes I wear "company colors." Sometimes I may wear a dress/skirt but even that is "casual"....NOTHING about me is EVER fancy. I do not believe in trying to portray myself as something I am not. Once in a blue moon I'll wear jeans with a dressy blouse.

The only jewelry I ever wear is my simple wedding band...one realtor around here wears so much jewelry she looks like a walking pawn shop. Blech!

Ugh. I don't wear jewelry ever really but if I did, well.. I wouldn't want to out bling the house I'm trying to show!

LOL "out bling the house" I like that.

I'm just a simple country girl. Never want to be anything else.

Must be a characteristic of the local market that "buyers" don't want to leave their names.

It's a characteristic of a public that has been inundated with unwanted phone calls, mail, and email spam...and doesn't want it any more. If they don't leave their real name, then you can't pester them.

Or at least, you can't pester them as a direct result of their visiting an open house. They may be serious buyers but they want to look at homes on their terms, not some real estate agent's.

I know my style is very different from many other agents, to the point that some of the people in my office are probably horrified at the way I sell real estate. :)

Kjmendy, and everyone else, what is your approach when people come in? What do you say to them and how do you handle the sign in part?

The way I get them to leave their names and contact info it I don't have them sign a sign in page with everyone else's name. Then all it takes is one person to scribble or only write their name and no contact info, they all follow suit. I print out, 3 up on heavy stock, a form with the company logo at top, and a form to fill out with their info, and are they working with another agent. At the bottom it asks for their opinion of the house. After they look through the house I ask them to fill out an opinion card. 9 out of 10 times they do write their full contact info, including email. Then I pick it up and if I can't read it, I ask them "this email address, is it blah blah blah.com?" Some very few people walk IN the door with an attitude and say, "I'm not filling out anything, I know I don't have to" and if they do, I tell them I'm sorry, they can't come in unless they do, because the owner would like to have a record of who came in their home. I heard that some agents in the Hamptons ask to see a drivers license. I always put a sign on the door "If door is locked, please knock. Agents may be escorting other visitors." I want people to think there is more than one agent in the house, and I don't want to leave the door unlocked all the time so just anyone can sneak in on me.

Three hours of open house today, in the middle of our heat wave (y'all don't laugh but it was in the upper 80's and that makes us miserable up here in the PNW). I had a total of 8 people through so I had a lot of time to think!

I've gone back and forth about whether to ad a check box on my sign in sheet asking if they are working with an agent. I think I've finally decided that I don't want to because I like talking to people and that gives me one more thing to talk about.

I like that idea Paceryder!

It's funny I have 8 different e-mail accounts.I always put in the junker accounts and not my main for these promotions and info gathering things.

Usually I will remember to check my junk e-mails every few months.On a phone I put a random number I think up! LOL

When I first started I had a nice book laid out for sign-ins, along with some newletters etc right beside the feature sheet. It was implied that I wanted people to sign in, however I rarely asked people do. I try to spend my time talking with people in the house and don't stop those conversations to ask people to sign in.

Very quickly I realized that the sign-in book was a waste of effort, so now I'm like 90% of the other open houses in my market with no sign in sheet.

However I do like the idea of a feedback form.

I simply, and very nicely, ask people to sign in. Does not need to be on a fancy dancy peice of papers or book or anything. Just need 3 peices on info - name, number and email.

Make up 2 or 3 names/contact info at the top so that people coming in will follow suit.

[quote=super realtor]It's funny I have 8 different e-mail accounts.I always put in the junker accounts and not my main for these promotions and info gathering things.

Usually I will remember to check my junk e-mails every few months.On a phone I put a random number I think up! LOL [/quote]
And that's precisely why I only ask for a name/email/phone # from anyone who seems genuinely interested. The number of leads I get from open houses is pretty much the same compared to asking everyone to sign a registry. Most emails/phone numbers are bogus. I don't tour other agents' open houses, but I do exactly the same thing when I'm touring model homes at new subdivisions!

On the other hand, a full guest book helps the sellers feel as though it was worthwhile for you to boot them out of their own house for an afternoon.