What Is An Open House?

Open house or open doors  is a marketing technique that was invented in the United States to show a home to potential buyers.

But you might be wondering where the novelty of the “issue” is, right? In Spain, France, and Italy we have been selling real estate for decades simply by showing it to the potential buyer, but if you look closely you will see that the key to these traditional sales visits is very different from the central key of the North American open house:

• In traditional visits: The potential buyer makes an appointment with the seller of the property to visit it on a certain day and time.
• In open house visits or open days: The buyer does not have to make any kind of prior appointment or reservation to visit the home. The house is open to the public for a whole day, the event is publicized and the open house agency is in charge of showing the property to the public throughout the day and making sure that the property does not suffer any type of damage or deterioration.

But a real estate agent knows very well that the strategy is not as simple as it seems and not all owners know what an open house is, in enough detail to be successful.

How To Make And Organize An Open House Event?

Almost everyone knows how to do it, but hardly anyone knows how to organize an open house in such a way that it achieves the expected results in the short term. To do it successfully, you have to follow a series of steps and strategic phases that are well organized and coordinated by a professional.

The Most Important General Phases That You Have To Remember Would Be The Following:

• The conditioning of the house:

 The first step – and the fundamental one – that we have to take before opening the doors of our home to any visitor is to condition it so that it looks its best. This basic conditioning does not only consist of thoroughly cleaning the furniture, floors, walls, doors, etc.

It may also be necessary to redistribute the furniture, place some lamps in strategic places, replace old curtains with modern blinds, etc.

The work team of an open house real estate agency with extensive experience in this type of sales strategy gives us that touch of makeup to our property.

• Sensory marketing:

 Once the house that we are going to put up for sale has been cleaned and conditioned, it is time to go one step further: prepare the different sensory marketing actions that we will put into practice during the open day.

In many and varied more or less subtle ways: preparing bread in the oven or coffee in the coffee machine and letting the aroma filter throughout the house, serving refreshing drinks if it is very hot that day, placing soft rugs in the corridors of the home, scenting the garden with freshly cut grass air fresheners, setting the living room with soft and relaxing music, etc.

The perfect day:

 To find out how to hold a successful open house, choose the day to hold the open house well. Within your possibilities, remember to choose a day that is Saturday, a holiday, or a work day within a traditional Bridge. And of course, whenever possible, without forecasting rain, storms, snow, etc.

Customer service:

 For your day to be successful, you have to make the people who visit feel, cared for and informed. That a visitor gets a good impression, does not mean that he will buy, but it does mean that he will speak very well.