Hosting a successful open house

We showed some Placer County homes to our clients yesterday, which included visits to three different open houses. Our clients did not spend more than 1 minute in each open house because of the trash, dirty clothes, beat up cars in the driveway and street and worse yet, the seller/tenants walking around. Yep! You read that correct, the homes were beyond dirty and the seller/tenants were home during the open house. It was a disaster to say the least.

So agents, if you are planning an open house, here are some tips directly from our clients, as well as many other potential buyers who were also at the open houses, albiet briefly. They were making comments and jokes back and forth as they were leaving each home. 

First, clean the home, stage the home and keep the dogs and humans away. Potential buyers want to snoop, they want to talk about the home, they do not want the dogs barking and they do not want the seller/tenant listening to their private conversations about the home. If you are dealing with small kids or stubborn seller/tenants, no worries, send them bowling or send them to lunch for a few hours. Second, be at the open house, or have one of your new agents there. They need to be handing out a CMA, talking about the home, the history of it, any updates, etc. Potential buyers want to know these things and when no one is there to answer their questions, they leave.

Lastly and most importantly, price the home properly. Do your research and do not price the home $25k above the highest and most recent comp just because Placer County is a sellers market right now. Two of the three open homes yesterday were priced well above market value and were absolute junk. Those homes will most likely sit for a few weeks or months, so be mindful of the area and good luck!