During the managers meeting this morning, Mike Zagaris mentioned that he spoke with an agent at this mornings Brainstorming with the Boss.  The agent mentioned that they held an open house this weekend and that the house was filled with people– “wall-to-wall.” At last weeks managers meeting, Mike, Phil Levin and Paul Harmon all touched on the effectiveness of holding an open house to generate leads, and they were right!

The agent was able to connect with 3 buyers and met 6 more that were already matched with a PMZ Real Estate professional.

So try it!  It’s a great way to find buyers!

Image by Getty Images
via Daylife

Back when the market was smoking hot, sellers wanted their agents to hold open houses to bring in the buyers.

Well now the market is smoking hot again, but for different people. With the flood of foreclosures on the market, the banks are the sellers and they are looking for buyers. We may not have the pressure from them to hold open houses, but to gain prospects, open houses are a great tool.

Even if you don’t have a listing to show as an open house, ask another agent if you can hold their listing open.

You’ll have a flood of potential buyers at your fingertips that you can match with other properties and prospect.

Have a simple information card that they fill out so that you can contact them later.

Try it a few times. You’ll be surprised at how many prospects you can gain.

Everyone loves the smell of fresh baked cookies.  How about replicating that smell for each of your open houses, without having to bake any?
Place a couple of drops of vanilla extract in the oven and crank it to low. Try it out!

The weather is getting even better! It’s supposed to hit 90° here in Modesto, CA.  What a perfect time for an open house.  Denise Lones at the Realty times offers some tips for handling an open house successfully, including:

• Researching the neighborhood so when potential buyers have questions about nearby school, supermarkets, shopping centers, you will be able to provide them with confident answers
• Advertising your open house online, through your email list, in the newspaper and with street and yard signs.
• Create a good rapport with potential clients whether they be buyers or sellers in the future that remembered your dynamic personality. Answer the door, don’t “hide in the kitchen.”

I think one of the best tips she offered (all of them are great) is giving your clients a list of homes that is around the same price range of the open house they are visiting. Include pictures, driving directions and a space for notes for each listing.