Have contracts and forms ready.:

You never know when a random showing might become a sale at an open house. So, every time you have a showing, you should train yourself to think and act as though you are expecting a sale to occur. When someone does make an offer to buy your home, you want to be prepared to take action. Have the forms on hand, or have a computer and a printer there so you can print the documents on demand.

THE SELLERS’ OPEN HOUSE:

There was excitement in the air on the day of Rick and Lisa’s first open house. It was a Saturday morning. The event was scheduled to begin at eleven a.m. The Sellers had a few last minute preparations to make before people started to arrive.

They had to make sure that all of their sales materials were displayed in a prominent location so that everyone could have easy access to them. Stacks of photos, brochures, and other information sheets were neatly displayed on a sideboard table that was set up against the wall in the entry hall. Fresh cut flowers were arranged in beautiful crystal vases on either end of the table. People need to have something to refer back to once they leave an open house. So, it is important to be sure to see to it that every visitor leaves with a complete information packet. As it inched closer and closer to eleven o’clock, Rick and Lisa both watched the window in eager anticipation as they waited for the first visitors to arrive. “I guess now is a good time to pop a batch of cookies in the oven,” Lisa said as she looked at her watch for the third time in two minutes.

“Yeah,” Rick said, and while you’re doing that, I’ll get all of the lights turned on and turn on some background music.”

“Good, maybe the soft music will help me to calm my nerves a little bit before people start coming in.”

“Yeah, definitely,” Rick said on his way out of the room.

Enhancing the emotional environment in your home is just as important when you are having a showing or an open house as it is to enhance the physical elements. Creating a pleasant atmosphere in your home is a great way to influence how your potential home buyers feel as they tour through your home. Since people are greatly influenced by emotion, the way your potential home buyers feel when they tour through your home has a lot to do with what they think about the things that they see. So, make sure that you appeal to the senses.

From the moment when the first visitors started to arrive, everyone felt immediately at home. Everyone admired the beautiful flowers that lined the parklike walkway to the Sellers’ front door. Once inside, people were welcomed by the warm, sweet aroma of fresh baked cookies and the soothing sounds of soft music playing in the background. It felt casual and comfortable in the Sellers’ home. That made it easy for them to relax while people toured through their home. At the same time, it put the potential home buyers in a leisurely frame of mind so that they could take as much time as they needed while touring through the Sellers’ home.

Saturday proved to be a good day for Rick and Lisa to hold their first open house. There was enough traffic to give them plenty of practice; but not so much as to overwhelm them on their first day of showings. As visitors arrived, Rick and Lisa greeted them at the door and directed them through to the back of the house. The Sellers easily fell into a laid back showing style. They hung back a few paces behind each visitor as they toured through each room in the house. They maintained enough distance to give each potential home buyer plenty of freedom to take a good look around the house without feeling like they were being followed. At the same time, the Sellers stayed close enough to be available to answer any questions that the potential home buyers might have.

Be Prepared For Questions:

Although you may have compiled a wealth of information in your written materials to present to your potential home buyers, people will always manage to catch you off guard by asking you a question or two that you have not addressed in your brochures. Some of the questions that you may be asked will honestly come from curiosity and genuine interest in your property. But, when someone might be interested in buying your property, most of the questions that they might ask you will have a definite motivation behind them. There are certain types of questions that potential home buyers will ask a seller in hopes of finding some angle by which to gain some sort of concession or price reduction.