Open House - Be The Best
If you are a For Sale By Owner or if you have your home listed with a real estate agent you will probably want to conduct several open houses so people can view your home. You only get one shot at every potential buyer that views your home so you want to do it right the first time.
We all know the best time to have an open house is Saturday and/or Sunday from 1:00pm to 4:00pm. Be sure you have advertised the open house in all the local papers and that you have plenty of open house signs and flags set up through out the neighborhood. You may need permission to put up some of your signs so do your homework before the day of the event. Sign placement is very important.
Today is the day. Turn on the lights in all the rooms and open blinds and/or curtains to let in as much light as possible. Have soft background music playing in as many rooms as you can. Crank up the fireplace if you have one. Park all those cars away from your house. Get them out of the garage too. Water the lawn front and back just prior to the open house starting. If you only have concrete water it. Just dirt, forget it! Keep pets secure and out of sight. Better yet, take them to your sister's home for the day. Bake a batch of cookies or something that smells homey during your open house but don't make a mess.
Get yourself a guest register and set it in the entry. Have every potential buyer and/or warm body that comes through the door fill it out. You need this information. It is a great idea to call each one later to get feed back, inquire about their intentions, or incase you later change the terms of your sale. Don't be afraid, just do it.
After your guests sign the register you should at that time give them the flyers for your home. This is critical. You must have two (2) flyers. One great flyer about your lovely home and it should have some pictures to jog their memory when they get home. The other flyer should contain financing options. You can actually have both on one sheet by using the front and back. You must have both and here is why.
Your home flyer is important because when people shop for a home by viewing open houses on a Saturday or by traveling with a real estate agent, after the third home, they get the details confused between the homes they have viewed. It is a fact. That is why you need a quality home flyer and it should have pictures of both the inside and outside.
Your Financing flyer is equally important. Folks wanting to buy a home are mainly interested in two things; how much their payments will be, and how much cash they need to put down. If you are a FSBO you probably don't have a clue and if you have a real estate agent I guarantee they don't know squat about financing. You can get free help from a mortgage broker. Most Brokers have free FSBO programs and will actually create both flyers for you.
There is just one more thing you should be aware of. It doesn't happen often but it does happen. Be aware of thieves. Put your valuables away and keep them out of sight. Even better, keep them at a friend or family member's home.
Having an open house can be scary and it is a lot of work. But, it can be productive so just roll up your sleeves and do it. Do it right and enjoy.
Article Source: http://www.search-raven.com
About the Author
Connie Sanders understands that if you are selling your home yourself even small things can be a challenge. That is why she owns a For Sale By Owner web site that is free for the seller. Connie also offers free consultation so get with her on the site. http://www.fsbobasics.com
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by: ConnieSanders
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