An Open House Sale is a Great Way to Sell Your Property
Common sense says it's a good idea to expose your home to the largest number of buyers as possible, and though getting buyers inside to preview your home can seem like a huge hurdle to jump, it can be very rewarding.
A large amount of people all looking at your property together on the same day suggests it is in high demand and give buyers the urge to offer if they like it. If you get more than one offer people may bid against each other pushing up your sale price.
Speak to your agent about the possibility of organising an Open House Sale.If your agent is happy to hold an open house sale then that’s great it would be good for you to ask them to start the ball rolling.
Some Agents Don't Hold Open House Sales and here are a few reasons why some houses just aren't suited for an open house sale or why your agent may not do them.
Home doesn't show well, messy, smelly, cramped or in bad repair.
You have a very average property on a street where the properties are all much the same. You need to make your property that little bit special and above average for your estate agent to consider your home warranting an open house sale.
Too many properties on their books, Agents may feel they don’t have the time to organise such an event so they may be reluctant.
Property is off the beaten path of traffic. This can make it difficult to draw in a passing crowd.
A lazy estate agent.
Some important things to remember before you consider an Open House Sale.
Your property has to be realistically priced. It could be a big a waste of time if the price is too high, as you may well get no offers. (Alternatively if the price is realistic you may well find that people bid against each other which in turn will push up your profit margin.)
Your property must look its absolute best to attract and ‘wow’ the prospective purchasers into putting in an offer
The more offers you get the better as people may start bidding against each other therefore pushing up the sale price.
Hosting a Successful Open House.
Assuming your home is presentable, spotless from top to bottom, priced correctly and located in a good passing traffic area, here are a few tips to improve the chances of your home selling during an open house sale: Your agent should do most of the advertising and initial organisation but you can help the whole process buy preparing the following:
Attach strings of balloons to each open house sign to draw attention to your signs.
Find the busiest junctions closest to your home and put Open House Sale signs at those corners make sure the arrows point buyers in the right direction.
Place a sign every few blocks until you end up at your house.
Clear all vehicles from the driveway. Ask your neighbors to help out by not parking in front of your house.
Open all the curtains and blinds and let in all the light you can.
Turn on every overhead light and lamp in the house, except lights that produce noise such as bathroom fans without separate on/off switches.
Put a bowl of water containing a vanilla pod and cinnamon stick inside the oven to simmer at least half an hour before people start to arrive.
Make sure you offer small cakes, biscuits or nibbles as the delicious aromas from the oven may make people feel a little peckish
Do not, under any circumstances, use an aerosol air freshener because many people are allergic to synthetic odors or simply don’t like them.
Play soft music in the background (not too loudly) to help set the mood classical or jazz are best as they are calming and inoffensive to most people.
Have available a good few of the property details drawn up by the estate agent to hand out to the viewers to keep
Serve light refreshments and snacks. A little wine could be a nice relaxant but do bear in mind people have probably driven there so they may well not be able to drink too much.
Set out neatly all the documents pertaining to the house, you can use the dinning room table, hall console or even the kitchen worktop: •HIP report•Major repairs & warranties •Blueprints for extensions or future possible improvements •A local information sheet is always a nice touch ( include closest transport, shopping centers, post office, hospitals, doctors surgery, schools, nursery’s, parks, restaurants and entertainment, any other useful info to the area. Estate agents property details
Be positive, optimistic and greet each purchaser who enters your home. Show people around and let them know if last year you put a new boiler in etc. open doors for them and allow them to enter the room fully, open cupboards and show them how much space you have inside, let them know all the genuine good points you can think of but be careful not to do over sell as this can be off putting and seem false.
Find out what the buyers are looking for and, if possible, show them why your home fits those requirements.
And finally, ask for feedback. Ask each buyer to honestly say what they thought of your home and would they consider buying it.
Ask if there was anything they didn’t like about it. This may seem like an odd question to ask, however if you know what people do not like, you may well be able to overcome some of their issues and turn their views around. If you don’t ask you definitely won’t know why they haven’t bought and you may miss out on very valuable feedback.
Agents and sellers are hesitant to ask for a buyer's opinion, so just grit your teeth and ask. It's the only way you're going to get a direct answer, and the answer just might astonish you. They might decide to sit at the kitchen table and write an offer there and then. It happens more often than you might think!
