The changing real estate face

There's more to an open house than setting up a few directional signs, opening the house up, the smell of home-baked cookies and having a simple flyer to hand out. In this day and age, open houses have taken on a whole new angle. If you've been sticking to the old ways of throwing an open house, you're missing out on opportunities to really catch more interest from prospects.

Online/Virtual Open House - Harness the power of the internet to reach more people! Many people have little time to "shop around" and stop in physically at open houses. And some just can't get there. Perhaps the homes they want are in a different state. Perhaps they can't get off work. But with the internet, you can make both time and distance immediately irrelevant!

Many buyers use the internet to search for their next home, a vacation condo or investment property. An open house where prospects can look at photos and videos of the home is great. But you can make it even more intriguing by having the open house streaming live on the internet. With an audio podcast or a webinar where you are presenting the home and fielding questions from prospects live, you allow for real-time interaction. You can even walk through the home with the video camera and provide a live walk-thru of the property as prospects watch.

No worries about being busy with one set of buyers while another set walks through the door. All of your prospects are on the other end of a computer, watching and listening to the whole experience. They become your captive audience and you can point out the smallest of details on your listing.

The "School's in Session" Educational Open House - Buyers like to be up on the latest in terms of what is going on with the market, any changes to the transaction process and more. Turn your open house into a seminar on financing or some other real estate related topic. Team up with a loan officer or other professional and hand out flyers and provide a short presentation on a computer or some poster board. Provide informational handouts to your prospects. Use the home as your prime example when you explain the financing process or what to expect with working with a title agency.

Everyone Likes a Party Open House - Just like it sounds, make your open house fun and create a theme. Use the upcoming holidays to help with a theme. For example, have a "Fall in Love All Over Again" open house on Valentine's Day. Use that holiday theme to create handouts that tie the theme in with the features of the home. Provide chocolates and champagne (or sparkling cider). Or use the weather to determine your theme. In the dead of winter perhaps a beach theme would really catch a lot of prospects' interests.

The Commuter or Twilight Open House - Ditch the weekend open house schedule. Most prospects drive by your listing on their way home from work. Take advantage of that traffic and encourage them to stop and enjoy themselves at your open house. Set up some drinks and appetizers (you don't want hunger to be an excuse to leave early) and show those prospects why this house should be their home...the cut in commute time being the first of many reasons!