A resource for real estate agents, brokers, buyers, sellers, and people interested in the most up-to-date real estate information.

As a real estate agent, sometimes it feels like you always have to be on the go, always working, always available, always doing something, anything because for all you know there’s someone else out there burning the midnight oil when all you want to do is just take a breath and maybe watch TV or read a book.

What’s the worst that could happen to someone who’s always on the go? Certainly, they make a lot of money, right? They’re outperforming and outselling everyone else in the office, right? So what happens when that candle you’ve been burning at both ends finally runs out? Well, it burns out.

One of the first casualties of burnout is the passion and enjoyment for what you exhausted yourself on, real estate, in our case. Without realizing it, little by little our efforts become less and less effective. As we all know, a miserable and tired agent is one not cashing commission checks.

So how do you go about preventing a real estate burnout? Here’s a list of suggestions and see what works for you.

1. Systematize every aspect of your business. Without systems there would never be enough time to get it all done. Give yourself the ability to work more efficiently! A system that will allow you to improve communication with every segment of your business should be priority #1.

2. Reclaim a sense of balance in your life. Dedicate time to be spent with family, friends, and to enjoy a personal life. That’s what we’re working for n the first place, right? To have the ability and freedom to enjoy our lives!

3. Create a daily work schedule for yourself. For many agents, this provides some needed discipline to get tasks done and to know at what time their work day starts and also at what time it ends. Without a well-defined schedule, you may feel guilty about spending time away from work. This guilt drives many back to the office. Without a schedule, balance would be impossible for many!

4. Share your schedule with your clients. Place it on the back of your business card or on your website. This shared timetable allows your to enjoy your personal/family time without interruption and it would provide you with more energy to provide better customer service to your clients.

5. Schedule a daily workout in your daily plan. Exercise is a great source of energy and mental refreshment. Without health there could be no wealth!

6. Delegate as many of your responsibilities as you can

7. Prioritize your daily tasks. Make sure that the most important and difficult ones are completed first every day.

8. Eliminate time-wasting chores. See how much you can purge from your daily activities. Replace wasteful actions with productive tasks.

9. Make building your individual brand recognition a priority. By being the most recognized product of its type in the area, clients will seek your services and you can spend less time chasing new customers.

10. Develop a system to anticipate problems before they materialize. A problem resolved in its infancy saves hours instead of solving a much bigger crisis later on.

11. Set aside an hour a day per week to analyze and improve your business plan and systems. It might take some time to implement these changes into your business.

When they are in place, I suspect that these changes will not only allow you to enjoy your life, they will also dramatically improve your production!

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Drive thy business or it will drive thee.

- Benjamin Franklin (1706 – 1790)

CUSTOMER CONCERN: The good news is that your buyer likes the house and wants to put in an offer. The bad news is that they want to start with a low offer in hopes of leaving room to negotiate.

How do you respond?

RESPONSE: (NOTE: This response is intended to be used for private home sellers – it is not appropriate for short sales or bank owned properties) Buyers who start negotiating with a very low offering price, in the end, usually pay more for a property than a buyer who begins with a reasonable offer.

A low offer can anger the seller. An angry seller negotiates on emotion instead of reason. Once a seller is offended, they will usually be much firmer with their initial price. If you present to a seller a non-offensive, reasonable, first offer, he will be more likely to accept it.

Of course, this response assumes that the subject property is priced correctly to begin with.

Has anyone out there in activerain land had any experiences like this, or does anyone have a Customer Concern you’d like to see answered here in the future?

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The person who makes a success of living is the one who see his goal steadily and aims for it unswervingly. That is dedication.

- Cecil B. DeMille (1881 – 1959)

Not many real estate agents are building, growing, and establishing a team for their business right now. Fewer first-time home buyers, a slower buying cycle, and more difficult financing options have made it a difficult road to travel. However, a solid plan can be a game-changer… even in this economy.

Bruce LaMaster is a HouseHunt.com exclusive agent in the Sacramento, CA area who has successfully been building and growing his real estate business for some time now. He is adding agents to his team and setting sales goals for everyone. So, how is Bruce doing it?

Bruce and his expanding team are using HouseHunt.com to establish a constant source of active and legitimate buyers from the Internet. HouseHunt keeps their pipeline full, as well as their schedules.

“I’ve closed 13 HouseHunt leads this year for about $3.1 million,” Bruce said. “I currently have one HouseHunt lead in escrow for $700K and we are listing their current house for $500K.”

They also have multiple HouseHunt leads in escrow right now.

Bruce has been a successful HouseHunt member for awhile primarily because he has a plan and works very hard at his success. He and his team provide fantastic service, consistent follow up, and view every single lead as a potential client for life. That attitude will consistently make them a winning team.

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Ever been told, “You need more inventory. Why don’t you call a few expired listings?”

Ever responded along the lines of, “I’d rather commit suicide than call an expired listing. They scare me to death.”

In other words, you’d rather expire than call one.

Without exception, regardless of market conditions, the agent with the most quality listings is in control of the marketplace. I have never seen a valid exemption to this rule. You list! You prosper!

With this thought in mind, to maximize the results of one’s daily activities, you must determine how to most effectively and quickly build your listing inventory. It is relationship building that produces, over the long haul, a steady stream of listings. Relationships build residual income and enduring success. However, building relationships is like building a home. It takes time. The results are often deferred for 12-18 months.

Most agents don’t have the financial ability to survive until the building of a loyal clientele starts paying dividends. They need to find some way to generate income during the building process. Those car and house payments don’t make themselves. They need money now! They need listings immediately!

That said, the most effective tool to quickly create a substantial listing inventory is a powerful expired listing system, especially in today’s real estate environment. Working expired listings can be an extremely efficient process. Here’s why:

• We know the “expired” homeowner (who is not dead, but may feel has had a near death experience with the last agent) has an interest in selling.
• We have a homeowner who knows an adjustment must be made to get the home sold.
• We have a homeowner who knows there is something the prior agent didn’t know – that unknown “something” is what must to be done to sell his/her home.

In other words, we have an educated homeowner who is willing to listen and learn. It doesn’t get any better than that!

Why is it then, if working expired listings is an effective and efficient way to generate income quickly, that so many agents absolutely dread it? Rejection. It is something all sane agents fear. I don’t care what any trainer says; rejection is not fun and is not a necessary part of our business. Put bluntly, rejection sucks! It is not good for you! It is not good for our industry!

99.9% of the rejection in an agent’s career is self-induced. Agents are rejected when they call expired listings because of their approach. They tell the homeowner everything he doesn’t want to hear: how wonderful the agent is, how they’re God’s gift to the real estate world, how they can sell a home in 15 seconds or less, and so on. You can bet the owner’s prior agent, the one who did not get the home sold, told the seller everything all the realtors who call are now saying. Every agent who calls the expired is #1… at least somewhere (whether they’re the #1 agent at their desk or the #1 agent in the bathroom at their office).

The homeowner has heard it all before and doesn’t believe a word of it and to no one’s surprise, they reject agent after agent. The key to success, when calling expired listings, is to be different.

The secret to getting in the door to do an “expired” presentation is to offer a solution to the homeowner’s problem: that they own a property they no longer want to own. The solution is, of course, to discover what caused the home to not sell (usually price or condition) and to then implement a strategy that eliminates the cause. Once the cause of the problem is gone, a sold sign in the front yard will follow shortly thereafter. The following script, because it answers the “why” question for the owner, does a great job of getting you in the front door of expired listings. Try it. You’ll like it!

• Good morning, Mr. / Mrs. (Smith). I apologize for calling so early. You have probably been contacted by several real estate agents. I sincerely hope it hasn’t been a problem for you.

• My name is (your name) with (your company).The reason I’m calling is that the listing on your home is showing as having expired.

• Have you re-listed your home?

If “Yes” – “Thank You! I’ll do all I can to help your agent get it sold.”

If “No” – “Do you want to sell?”

If they don’t want to sell – “Are you going to put your home back on the market in the future?”

If they do want to sell – Continue with the following:

• Do you know why your home did not sell? (Wait for response)

• Mr. / Mrs. Smith, when a home is available to the buying public and doesn’t sell, it is always for one of 6 reasons. These reasons are: price, terms, location, condition, marketing, market conditions.

• Which of these six reasons do you think caused your home to not sell? (Wait for a response. You may have to repeat the six reasons.)

• I’m asking this question because it is critical, when there is a problem, to identify its cause. Until the cause has been identified, the problem cannot be eliminated.

• I have a the expertise to pinpoint the exact reason your home did not sell. If you allow me just 10 minutes of your time, we can quickly identify the reason your home is not sold. Once the cause of the problem is recognized, I can help you make the corrections needed to place a SOLD sign in your front yard.

• There is no cost and no obligation for this service. And, you have my word that there will be no high pressure sales tactics!

• Is there a time when we can get together?

Before you use this script, you must master it. Of course your goal when using this script is to schedule an appointment as soon as possible. Be sure to go to the meeting with a complete listing presentation package. Be prepared to present and to write. Once you are face-to-face with the homeowner, the rest of the process comes easily.

You will be competing against other agents. Be the first agent that gets an appointment and 9 times out of 10 times you will leave the house with a listing agreement. If you fail to schedule an appointment, don’t quit. Be persistent! Follow the call with a mailing and follow-up call campaign.

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How poor are they who have not patience!

- William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616)

A good thing is always worth the wait. Especially when it comes to a business investment that is sure to bring legitimate growth and profit.

A few months ago, Larry Boatman of Keller Williams Integrity Realty, made the decision to invest in his business by choosing to become a HouseHunt.com exclusive member. Right away, the customers began to roll in rather quickly, but the natural buying cycle was playing a role as well.

However, Larry knew HouseHunt was a good move in the long-term and remained patient and persistent. One week ago, Larry contacted HouseHunt with some great news.

“We did it!” Larry said. “First HouseHunt lead closed. Next one is set for August 12th.”

Of course, a sale is always something to celebrate, but Larry is also excited and optimistic because his pipeline of customers has grown significantly over the recent months as well. Larry has now placed himself in a prime position to enjoy even more success over the coming months.

His hard work and patience have created big opportunities, which will in turn create big profits, and in the process has become a prime example of patience paying off…literally!

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Hello everyone! I’m excited to share our latest press release containing some great data for the second quarter of 2010 as compiled in our most recent current market conditions survey. Hope you enjoy!

———————

Repeat Buyers & Investors With Cash Boosting Home Sales & Prices In Many Markets, New HouseHunt Survey Shows

For the first time in nearly three years, repeat buyers and investors have overtaken first-time buyers as sales leaders once again in the nation’s housing market. As a result, prices of bank-owned REOs and properties involved in short sales are being bid up by multiple offers and cash buyers in many neighborhoods, according to the latest HouseHunt quarterly current market conditions survey.

“The current ratio of 58% to 42% favors repeat buyers,” said Michael Bearden, president and CEO of HouseHunt, Inc. “This is an increase of 10 percentage points over a year ago and 24 points over six months ago. In a more balanced market of supply and demand, repeat buyers usually lead by a two-thirds ratio.”

Bearden continued: “Even though there are still problems to be solved, the results of our 2010 random survey is good news for home sellers who have been unable to sell and for lenders reluctant to lend because of price depreciation and loan defaults. Any meaningful recovery must start from the bottom.” In other survey data provided by member-agents in the second quarter of this year, 53% of respondents reported that their customers are getting more than 95% of their asking prices, on average; 60% reported multiple offers; 52% reported zero to 10% appreciation in the past year; and 77% reported that listings are taking more than 60 days to sell. The buyer-seller ratio is 53% to 34%, favoring sellers, with 13% saying the ratio is about even. Eighty-two percent reported a good supply of unsold inventory in all price ranges – up slightly from the first quarter of this year. Re-emergence of repeat buyers and competition from cash-rich investors is triggering sales activity at the grass roots level. Typical comments include:

Chris Bessette of Keller Williams Classic Realty in Orlando, FL, exclusive HouseHunt member-agent for Orlando-Metro West and Independence in Orlando. “Our market is great right now and I’m busier than I’ve ever been,” he said. “I’m working with several investors. One in particular who is buying eight to 10 homes a year. REOs and short sales are dominating our market and make up about 70-75% of our sales every month. We’re also seeing multiple offers within three days on properties under $200,000 that qualify for financing,” Bessette concluded. “I’m making good money, hiring assistants and increasing my staff because I can’t handle everything on my plate right now.”

Grace Miralle of PMZ Real Estate in Modesto, CA, exclusive HouseHunt member-agent for Turlock, CA. “We’re definitely seeing increased repeat buyer activity. Many of them own homes and are purchasing additional properties as rentals,” she said.

“Our first-time buyers are also actively competing with cash investors with 20-30-40% down payments. On average it takes 10 offers for first-time buyers to buy a home,” she continued. “Short sales are dominating our market, competing against bank-owned properties. Average home price in the Modesto area is $135,000 and $140,000 in Turlock,” she said.

David Frezza of Keller Williams Metro Realty in Rockville, MD, exclusive HouseHunt member-agent for Bethesda, MD. When asked if he is seeing increased activity from repeat buyers, he answered: “Absolutely! Probably 90% to 95% of my customers are repeat buyers. Home sales are definitely up this year and we’re starting to see multiple contracts from buyers.” Frezza continued: “My area, located just inside the Washington, D.C. beltway, offers very established neighborhoods and lots of old Cape Cods on valuable land. Average home price is $775,000. The attraction for buyers is that it is very close to downtown D.C. without actually being in the city. The schools are very, very good. Residents have established careers and high median income. Our stable work force insulates us from housing price ups and downs.”

Whitney Conn of Keller Williams Realty in Louisville, KY, exclusive HouseHunt member-agent along with partner Saunie Sparks for Crescent Hill, Indian Hill and St. Matthews in the Louisville metro area. “Yes, definitely! We are seeing the return of repeat buyers. In the past three months all of our clients have been repeat buyers,” Conn said. “The Louisville housing market was recently ranked second best in the country. We tend not to experience the housing highs and lows as dramatically as the rest of the country.” Average home price is $325,000.

Charlotte Walker of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Potomac, MD, exclusive HouseHunt member-agent for Chevy Chase, MD. “I’m seeing an increase in business from repeat buyers mostly,” she said. “My Internet website is only for buyers so I get more buyers than sellers. My marketplace is a busy, stable area because of its proximity to Washington, D.C. Average home price is $770,000 but I’ve had sales of $300,000 and some for $900,000.” Walker also thinks that extension of the federal tax credit closing deadline to September 30 will be a plus for her buyers.

(Note: On June 30, 2010, Congress passed an extension of the Homebuyer Tax Credit closing deadline, the Homebuyer Assistance and Improvement Act (HR 5623). The extension applies only to transactions that have ratified contracts in place as of April 30, 2010, that have not been closed. An estimated 180,000 home buyers who signed a contract in good faith to receive the tax credit could benefit from the extension.)

Bill McQuaid of Cashin Company Real Estate in Burlingame, CA, exclusive HouseHunt member-agent for Burlingame and Hillsborough. CA. “With average home prices of about $1.3 million in Burlingame and $2.4 million in Hillsborough, we mostly see repeat and move-up buyers. You don’t see too many first-time buyers in these price ranges,” he said. “Our business was very good earlier in the year but seems to have dropped off. Average time on the market between listing and sale is still 30 to 60 days. Our inventory of unsold housing is actually picking up and is higher than it has been.” What might improve your local housing market? “Probably more confidence in the economy. How well the stock market is doing also affects our housing market.”

Chuck and Susan Bandemer of Bandemer Realty in Granbury, TX, exclusive HouseHunt member-agents for Fort Worth Central, Fort Worth North-Alliance and Mira Vista, Mansfield and Granbury, TX. “We’re having a big influx of relocation business due to job growth in the oil and gas business, with more buyers than sellers. First-time buyers are also active,” Chuck Bandemer said. “Our sellers are getting 95% to 100% of their asking prices, on average. Financing is available to qualified buyers. Average time on the market is 60 to 90 days. Home values are pretty solid due to our job growth.” Average home prices range between $150,000 and $200,000.

HouseHunt’s Quarterly Comparison Chart For U.S.

Bold indicates most current numbers (2nd Quarter 2010).

*Total includes investors

HouseHunt, Inc., is a consumer-oriented Internet firm that provides free information and services to homeowners, home buyers and home sellers in 47 states through its member-agents and through its primary web site, HouseHunt.com.

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A real job – say what?! Most agents would be offended by the thought that they don’t have a real job. I, however, agree wholeheartedly with anyone who makes the aforementioned statement. When you pursue a career in real estate, you are not getting a job… you are opening a business!

As a Realtor, you are not an employee. You are a business owner. To prosper, you must think like a businessman or woman.

As an employee, your tasks, wages, and schedules are all dictated by someone else. You don’t make the decisions, don’t get to handle much responsibility, and you follow the instructions. In short, your ability to prosper and grow is in the hands of someone else.

As times have become tougher and real estate has been proven to be more challenging, I’m sure we’ve all heard from other agents scurrying off to the security of “a real job.”

I propose that you’re better off to think differently instead of surrendering when obstacles amass. Think as a business owner. Change the way you think so you won’t have to change your career.

As the owner of your own business, here a Top Ten list of responsibilities you owe to yourself! As a business owner, you must . . .

1. Generate a consumer need/desire for my product – Remember, The product is YOU and your services.

2. Convert leads into a profit source – What is your plan for successfully converting Internet leads? Do you have a reliable follow up system?

3. Provide an incredible level of service and customer satisfaction – Make yourself stand out from every other agent in your area.

4. Create “individual” brand recognition – Why should a potential customer choose you over the next agent?

5. Maintain the business’ existing and future, loyal clientele – Build residual income with a pipeline of future business. Stay connected to your growing pipeline!

6. Protect the business’ image/reputation – Take complete control of your presentation with professional marketing material. Are you viewed as the local real estate expert in your area? You better be.

7. Focus on profitability – Figure out what works and what doesn’t (don’t forget knowing why something doesn’t work).

8. Determine how and where to reinvest profits back into business growth – As you grow, so should your business.

9. Build security by investing net income wisely – Find ways to have your money work for you!

10. Balance business responsibilities with personal life – A happy and confident realtor is going to impress those qualities upon their customers!

Prioritize and attack the chores on this list one at a time. The first order of business is to create a consumer need for your product. That product, of course, is you and the services you are capable of providing. You must sell yourself before you can sell houses (By bringing customers to you, HouseHunt alleviates much of the work involved in this task).

Move on to the next order of responsibility once your lead flow is consistent and systematized. Attack this “Top Ten” list in an organized and manageable way. You cannot do every task at the same time. Create, implement and perfect a system for each area of responsibility before moving on to the next task.

The key is to manage your business as a stand-alone, individually owned enterprise. If you think as a business you won’t be in the business of thinking about another line of work!

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Once in awhile, we like to use space here on the blog to highlight some of the great things our agents at HouseHunt are accomplishing in the current market. With so much bad news regarding the market out there it sometimes feels like all you hear is doom and gloom. I think it’s important to remind agents that, everyday, agents are out there working hard and creating success for themselves.

And if they can do it, so can you!

Now, I’m not sharing these stories just to brag; there’s a method to my madness here. There’s a lesson to be learned from the following three stories and that lesson is that the high-end buyers are out there and they are absolutely using the Internet to find homes. As such they are also finding the realtors to service their needs. Are they finding you?

Gerri-Lynn Fives of Keller Williams Realty is an exclusive HouseHunt member agent representing several of our  communities in the San Diego, CA area. Fives recently reported to us a huge closing as a result of customer that found her through HouseHunt.com.

How huge, you ask? The final sales price on the home was $5.025 million! You do the math on that commission.

For the record, this recent sale was only Fives’ first closing that came directly as a result of HouseHunt. This is the just the beginning for her!

On the other side of the country, Heather Davenport of Long and Foster  Real Estate, Inc., who represents several communities in the D.C. area has been closing big deal with HouseHunt customers for two years.

“Just went under contract on another million dollar deal from a HouseHunt lead,” Heather said.

This isn’t the first million dollar deal from HouseHunt, and I suspect it won’t be her last. In fact, Heather shared with us that while she was closing the above transaction, she was also prepping to meet with a relocation buyer from HouseHunt this week who is shopping in the… wait for it… million dollar plus price range!

Staying on the East Coast, Broker associate Brenda Schofield of Heritage House Sotheby’s International Realty is a HouseHunt.com member agent representing multiple communities in New Jersey.

Like Gerri-Lynn and Heather, Brenda is also excited to be working with multiple buyers who are in the million dollar plus range.

“We closed the million and a half sale in Colts Neck in February,” Brenda said. “We are now working with five customers we recently received from our HouseHunt websites,” she said. “Their price range is between $400,000 and $20 million dollars.”

Of course, I want to wrap this up with a reminder that it’s not just our agents with million dollar customers who are doing well. HouseHunt.com has an entire nationwide roster of agents specializing in all price ranges who are putting in the hard work and, they too, are closing many, many deals.

Be sure to “like” HouseHunt.com on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

PROBLEM:

You’re working with a customer who wants to sell their home as quickly as possible and for the highest possible price. Sound familiar so far? You inform your customer that you think there is worth, let’s say for sake of argument, approximately $390,000.

Initially, your client is fine with your assessment… until another agent, and we’ll call him Joe (no offense to any Joes reading this) from ABC Realtors who confidently informs your customer that he can get them $450,000 for their home.

What do you do?

SOLUTION:

[NOTE: First of all, let’s be clear on something, you got off on the wrong foot right from the start. It’s our philosophy that you never quote price. Instead, you’re better off to thoroughly educate the seller regarding the comparables. Then you can help the seller arrive at a price. Do your best to let them arrive at a number while you’re guiding them in the right direction. Really try avoid saying, “Your home is worth $XXX,XXX.” It can often be the kiss of death at a listing presentation.]

With that said, assuming the error was made, you can respond by telling your customer that ultimately, it’s their home and the asking price should be decided upon ultimately by them and not by you or any other agent. Explain to them agents like Joe who tells people whatever they think they want to hear just to get the listing… especially if another agent already involved. Those agents, like Joe, are more interested in getting another listing than your well-being as a customer

Remind them that before deciding on a final asking price to please give some thought to the consequences of over pricing their home.

The consequences of that homes initially priced over market value is that it will often sell for under market value in the end. When a home is overpriced, it will not attract buyers and will develop a reputation for being overpriced. Once a home has a bad reputation, the seller often has to reduce the price to under market value to build new excitement and to attract buyers. Overpriced homes, more often than not, sell for much less than homes priced correctly.

Go over the comparables again with them let them determine the correct value of their home based on what buyers have been willing to pay for comparable properties.

Ultimately, you’ll show that you care about them and that you want them to receive the absolute best possible price for their house without having to have any price reductions.

Joe, on the other hand, obviously cares more about getting the listing than he cares about a customer’s well-being.

“Is Joe from ABC Realtors what you really want in an agent?” you will triumphantly ask them, while sending Joe and his poor customer service on down the road.

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“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” – Milton Berle

If you want to close more sales, you need more customers.

To get more customers, you must introduce your product, yourself, to more people.

A successful real estate career is that simple.

You don’t have to be an Einstein to thrive in our industry. If your career isn’t turning out as well as you would like, product introduction is most likely the source of the problem.

In today’s real estate environment, there is an incredible reliance on electronic methods. For example, there are literally millions of websites available to the consumer; so many in fact, the effectiveness of any one site has become diluted unless an agent is involved with a service like HouseHunt, where there is a level of exclusivity, a complete dependence on the Internet for one’s success is not likely to succeed at all.

While it’s become necessary to adapt your business to the Internet, it’s just as important not to forget some of the more traditional methods of meeting people.

Open houses, for example, are a very efficient way to get your product in front of potential customers (keep in mind the product is you). I know what you are thinking: I too have attended seminars where the presenter says to not hold open houses and that they are a waste of time. Is it possible that these speakers teach what they teach because they simply don’t know how to do an effective open house?

If you are just going to stick a sign in the front yard and wait for people to trample through the house, you are wasting your time. Don’t bother! If you are going to present an open house, do it effectively… unless you aren’t interested in maximizing results!

So how can you present an effective open house? Try the following:

Prior to the event:

1. Determine the type of Open House: Exclusive vs. General Public vs. Unique (An exclusive Open House is for neighborhood residents only.)
2. Choose the house carefully. Take into consideration items such as traffic flow, visibility, signage considerations, targeted audience/area, image created by the property, pets and pests, parking, etc.
3. Will there be a unique theme/event? Make sure to adapt your preparation to compliment the theme.
4. Mail/e-mail. Deliver 100 – 250+ invitations to neighboring owners or potential move up buyers.
5. Door knock. Aim for at least 50 invitations within the immediate neighborhood.
6. Advertise in local & online sources.
7. Plan and place signs. Make sure to ask permission first.
8. Prepare “handout” packets and refreshments. Your refreshments should be weather appropriate.
9. Have the homeowner clean and organize the home.
10. Prep homeowner to vacate the home. Get creative. Help them plan a great day away from home.
11. Make sure the homeowner secures valuables.
12. Prepare a payment schedule handout.
13. Prepare a photo brochure with Home Tour handout.
14. Have a Guest Directory. You want to make sure to get email addresses and phone numbers.
15. Prepare music. Just remember that you’re not a nightclub DJ and keep the music appropriate.
16. Practice and master your script prior to the event.

During the event:

1. Complete first line of Guest Directory & place.
2. Turn on all interior lights. Assure correct temperature. Implement “smell” technique.
3. Organize and place handouts.
4. Prepare “unique activity” items if appropriate.
5. Place refreshments. Check to assure no valuables are accessible. Play appropriate music.
6. Use your practiced script effectively.

After the event:

1. Ensure that the home is left in the condition you found it. This includes shutting off all the lights, readjusting the thermostat, smells, etc.
2. Secure the home.
3. Immediately remove all signs. Send thank you letters if appropriate to homeowners who permitted you to place a sign.
4. Send a “Thank you” letter to all visitors.
5. Call all visitors the following evening. “Thank you for having visited. May I help you with your real estate needs? Are there additional questions I may answer?”
6. Place every visitor goes into your client bank. Immediately create a unique repetitive contact/drip system.
7. If given the opportunity to provide service, dazzle the client. Never forget, your reputation is your most valuable asset!

Think of all the product introduction opportunities you will create when you complete the aforementioned list of activities before, during, and after an open house.

You will have been face-to-face with at least 50 neighboring residents.

Your invitations have placed your name in front of a minimum of 100 homeowners.

Your pre-event Internet and traditional marketing activities have placed your product in front of potentially 1,000’s of individuals.

Your sign placement has exposed your name to hundreds of drivers.

The event itself most likely created many very interesting opportunities. Never forget; product introduction creates recognition, and recognition produces sales!

Like Milton Berle said, if opportunity isn’t knocking, build a door. When you get your product (yourself) in front of consumers, it’s nearly impossible to fail in our industry!

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