How to prepare, stage, and host open houses

How to prepare and host open houses

When getting started in real estate investing or flipping houses, no one thinks about the sale or the process required to host open houses. Everyone just thinks “I’m gonna make this house absolutely beautiful and people are going to come pouring in from around the world to see it, might even get my own HGTV show.” Well maybe! But if you host open houses that are both marketed well and visually appealing this will get you a serious leg up on competition and help you sell houses faster (hint: you do).

Cleaning and Staging the House Beforehand –

Before you host open houses, they should be cleaned and staged to maximize the first impression of visitors. A clean house that is well staged helps a buyer see the house in its best condition and vision the house with their personal items in the house. Generally you can pay a company to do this, it can cost any where from 1-3k but its worth the money as these professionals bring in nice furniture/decor and set things up beautifully.

Mailing and Inviting Neighbors –

Sending a letter to neighbors in the immediate area of the property are great ways to increasing attendance when you host open houses. These neighbors sometimes know people looking to buy homes in their neighborhoods and they could bring the right buyer to your open house. Not to mention it increases the appearance of scarcity as potential buyers will see a large number of attendees at your open house and think “wow there’s a lot of people here if I want this house I need to put my best offer in ASAP.”

Visible Street Signage –

Good visible street signs are great ways to encourage people driving around to stop into your open house. You never know, that unaware person driving down the street may be the one to give you that offer above asking price.

Good Property Information and Disclosure Specific Handout items –

When you host open houses you should have property listing sheets on the different amenities that are being offered by the house for sale. Any items that need to be disclosed to prospective buyers should also be on hand and shared with potential buyers to make them feel at ease about a potential challenge with the property. Disclosing these items as early as possible will defuse the issue and make it less of an issue by being upfront and honest.

Feedback and Follow Up –

Feedback and follow up are critical for current and future open houses. This information helps identify items that might have been overlooked which can be addressed for potential future prospects looking at the house. The key is each open house is an opportunity for honest feedback from potential buyers and this information needs to be leveraged to sell the house as quickly as possible. You can also take this feedback and apply it to your future flips, to rectify unknown shortcomings as well as play to what you’ve done well. So don’t take criticism negatively, use it to your advantage and keep flippin’!

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