3 Steps to Hosting the Best Open House

It's no secret that hosting an open house is one of the keys to selling a home – the more people the see it, the more exposure, and better chance that'll someone will grab it. But have you thought about how important it is for you, the Realtor, to host an open house? Not only is this a crucial chance for the younger or greener agents to get a shot at getting into the real estate game, but it's one of the best ways to start building up relationships with buyers and potential leads on the market.

Just an open house in itself can be a daunting task, let alone having to worry about capturing every lead and building a relationship with everyone who steps through the front door. Don't worry, it's a far simpler task than it may seem; it will be well worth it in the end. Don't forget, 48 percent of home purchases come about because of an open house, and agents on average get about 50 percent more business from open houses than online leads—both excellent arguments for mastering the art of the open house.

Your best open house starts here...

Ask any Realtor, the most important aspect of holding an open house is capturing leads—that is, outside of selling the home, of course. More often than not, the people that come to open houses aren't necessarily ready right then and there to write a check, and may not be for a while. So, why even pay attention to those obvious cold leads at your open house, right? Wrong!

Keep it personal

As with any sale in your pipeline, you can probably break out the visitors to your open house into the three categories of hot leads, warm leads, and cold leads.

• Hot Leads - Picture your hot leads as the just-married couple who walk into the house like they already own it. They're taking measurements and planning where to hang their favorite painting and what the best place is for their TV in the living room.
• Warm Leads - These are the folks that are ready to make a purchase. They may have recently been approved for a loan or mortgage, but they're not quite sure of what they want yet. They're coming to your open house an in effort to figure just that out.
• Cold Leads - Here's the group you may be quick to disregard, but we urge you to treat them as equals to that hot lead! The thing is, 48 percent of buyers or leads are going to open houses purely for the informational aspect. You need to maximize your engagement with them into something that'll last well beyond the open house.