In today's unprecedented real estate market, buyers have been closing on homes they've never seen, but you cannot emphasize the importance of open houses. This importance doesn't answer the all-important question of how to advertise an open house, though. Understanding how to target leads and spreading the word through marketing requires careful planning, and once that doorbell starts ringing, that property must be prepped and ready for scrutinization. Here are some ways agents can market and host epic open houses for qualified buyers.
Real Estate Open House Ideas
According to the experts at HubSpot, more than half of real estate buyers find their new homes online, and it's one of the best ways to boost awareness about open houses. You probably know the top ones: Zillow, Realtor.com, Trulia, Redfin, and Homes.com. Before you post anything, though, you'll want to choose a time that will get the most traffic. Many agents consider weekends to be best, and the best times are in the morning through the afternoon. Some agents host open houses during the week, but they do these in the early evening so people can stop in after work.
You should stage open houses to look desirable, so you'll want to replace any broken fixtures or lightbulbs and handle any other minor repairs like painting over scuff marks. Remove or safely store valuables, clear as much clutter as possible and bring in a staging expert if that's in the budget. You can also make the open house warm and welcoming by offering food and drink. Partner with local bakeries or cafes, and they can leave promotional materials to market their goods.
How to Advertise an Open House
Posting the open house on real estate websites and planning for great potential buyer experiences is well and good, but you'll need to spread the word beforehand if you hope to get people in the door. One of the more manageable real estate open house ideas to accomplish this is to visit some of the neighbors to let them know about the open house because they might know people who would be interested. You'll also want to devise some catchy open house headlines to use in your advertising on flyers, websites, and social media posts. Contests and raffles also motivate buyers to come out, and the prizes don't have to be huge: restaurant gift cards, kitchenware and cookbooks can all suffice.
It's vital to market the open house on Instagram and Facebook, but to reach potential buyers closer to the open house's location, you can use hyper-local websites like Nextdoor. They have affordable advertising options and no long-term contracts to worry about. In your open house social media post, examples of what makes your listing stand out from the rest are crucial, such as being in an excellent school district, having a lowered price or sporting a brand-new kitchen.
Boosting Real Estate Traffic Through Social Media
During the height of the pandemic, savvy real estate agents started hosting virtual open houses on Instagram Live, Google Hangouts, Facebook Live and Zoom. Many still use this tactic, which can work exceptionally well for buyers who are still hesitant to show up in person and those who live far away. According to Rev Real Estate School, you'll have to pay for this service (Zoom is free, but only for 40 minutes), but you can record the video and use it later and capture your leads' email addresses to use later. It's well worth the investment.
When you promote your open house on social media platforms, you should include all details and make the ads exciting and informative. You can include walk-throughs and publicize any raffles and contests. To grab their attention at the outset, Xara has some catchy open house headlines you can use or tweak. Some include "Stop Searching. Start Living," "Looking for the Perfect Escape from the City?" and "Peace and Quiet for Under a Million."