OPEN HOUSE PROTOCOL

When I started in the wonderful world of Real Estate, there were two things I had to focus on. Since I was new to the business and had no sphere of influence, I needed to build one to get clients. And fast. So I jumped on two things. Cold Calling and Open Houses. Cold Calls were really tough and also something I really didn’t feel comfortable with. For good reason. I always put myself in their shoes. How would I feel about someone calling out of the blue asking if I wanted to list my home. Ummmm no. Now, Open Houses were an entirely different animal. The people you meet there are either out looking because they are genuinely going to make a move, or they are people just filling in time and looking for something to do on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. I would stage these religiously every weekend. What better way to meet possible new clients and just interact with people about this great business. Many agents bristle at the thought of doing Open Houses. They say that it’s a waste of time and you’ll never sell the home that way. A few of my credos include “expect the unexpected” and “never pre-judge a situation”. If you keep an open mind, almost anything can and sometimes will happen. Over the first ten years at least 30% of my business came from staging open houses. I would make sure they were properly advertised and had my signs out well in advance of the event. I did one unadvertised Open House on a Saturday afternoon (usually Sunday was the best day) and fully expected a small turn out. I was disappointed because I didn’t have time to get the ad in. But in true unexpected fashion one person and his brother showed up. Turns out he was just driving around and saw the signs. He wanted to move out this way from Oakville to be closer to his brothers. He bought the place. I also got his listing for a home in old Oakville. In both cases I double-ended the deals, so what started out to be a possible waste of time turned out to be most beneficial indeed. I would do Open Houses for other agent’s listings because they couldn’t be bothered. And on a few occasions I ended up finding new buyers. Like the song says One Thing Leads To Another and in these cases it certainly did. I don’t bug people when they come in. I greet them at the door and hand them a business card a gift for visiting. I explain a little about the home and ask if they have any questions. Then I let them go on tour with the proviso that if they have any questions, just ask. Nobody wants an over-eager agent hovering over their shoulder. I learned early on from one of the other agents not to do that. She would glom onto the people at the front door and fire questions at them non-stop. That was definitely a no-no. Since the pandemic, doing Open Houses have become a lost art but you still see them from time to time. All I can add, is the agents still doing them will be surprised at the outcome. Feel free to check out this story and more on my blog site at: https://slackie14.wixsite.com/buy-sell-and-more