Real Estate Agent Open House Guide

The Real Estate Agent Open House Guide will cover many facets to jumpstart your real estate business. Open houses have contributed to hundreds of thousands of commission dollars over the years.

Below you will find a step by step Open House Guide For Real Estate Agents.

Build Your Open House System

Get with your Broker, office manager or mentor. Brainstorm with them and get 3 – 4 potential listings they have in-house at the office that you can hold open. **They must fit into these 8 categories.

Price. The price must fit in the “bread and butter” category. We do not want to hold mid or high end homes open. We want to search that price point where the most homes are selling any given day, week, month or year. Basically we need the price category of high volume sales.
Vacant. The in-house listings you choose must be vacant. You will want the ability to be flexible with the times / days you hold them open. Also you do not want to be kicking a tenant or owner out of their home each time.
Furnished. You will want listings that are furnished or partially furnished in decent condition. When hosting an open house, it is imperative people are comfortable and stay as long as possible. You can offer them an area(s) to sit back and relax. Prime time to build rapport. Also, you will want a comfortable area for you to transact business during the downtime.
Property Asking Price. The more competitive the price, the better. What I mean is, is it priced at or below the market. I’d steer clear of overpriced listings. People are smart. When shopping for real estate they have a good grasp of the market. Unless you find this property to be in such a good, high traffic, hot area with limited other inventory.
Condition. I could go both ways on this. Many times homes in poor shape and are priced right, draw in traffic. On the other hand you still want something decent to be sitting in and working for hours on end. I think a dated clean home is alright along with an upgraded property. Just stay away from the mold infested death trap type properties.
High Traffic. If you hold this house open, will people see your signs and easily be able to find it? I am not saying find a house on a main road pushing 30k cars a day. I am saying a road like that but close by where you can place your signs strategically. Again, if people see the sign, can they get to you easily.
Sales. Are there sales in this community? Find areas where there is a lot of sales / activity and match up with DOM.
DOM. When looking at sales in the area, look at Days On Market. If the DOM is 300+ days then that might not be a good location for you. I’d say area of 90 days or less.

Downtime During The Open House

Before we get into details on exactly what to do to make your real estate business explode with open houses, we need to talk about the downtime during the open houses. This is just as important. Yes you will have hours on end where you will not see a soul. This is fine as you will have to use this valuable time to build other facets of your real estate business. I have broken this down into 3 categories.

Read. Read every article on this site and watch any / all videos. This is the opportune time to build what is in between your ears. Instead of reading a useless magazine or watching cat videos on YouTube, this is where you become a powerhouse. You are what you think about. Education is the ticket to wealth once implemented. I have many recommended books and other resources on this site to give you a really good start. All of these resources have contributed to my financial freedom and they will do the same for you. So, take a look around. Use your down time wisely. **Check back frequently as we will be adding new content and resources weekly.
Build your Sphere of Influence. Please read the article on How To Build Your Sphere Of Influence. You will want to use this time wisely building what will become your referral base. You can get to a point in your real estate career fast where you will never have to do an Open House ever again. All of your revenue comes from warm, beautiful, loyal referrals. This is the best clientele to work with.
Build Your Sales Skills. Have you ever played a sport in school? Did you have to practice weekly? What is the difference here? Nothing. The better you get at your scripts, dialogue and handling objections, the more transactions you will have and the more money you will make. Get great at your sales skills and this will become easy (and fun).

21 Day OH Challenge

Follow the Open House steps below for your first 21 days in business. Be relentless. After your first 21 days, I suggest dropping to 5-6 days of open houses with the schedules below.

If you put 21 straight days of this in, you will create a habit. The definition of a habit “a practice that is hard to give up.” This will jump start you in the business quicker than most any other real estate activity. Big Action, Comes Big Reward. So let’s begin.

The Evening Before

I highly advise against preparing in the morning. Your morning should be for you and not stressing to get everything together to abide by your schedule. A great book to read that I live by is Miracle Morning. This book is definitely life changing.

Preparing the night before frees up your precious morning and allows you to take your time. You will be clear minded, less likely to forget anything and more motivated to get the day started. Prepare with all of your items to go to work like your laptop, flyers, business cards, beverages / snacks for guests, etc. You should pack 2-3 meals with plenty of fluids, fruits, vegetables and protein to keep you going throughout the day. I know if I am not eating throughout the day, I drop off. You have to power through a long day so be prepared. Consider creating a checklist so you do not forget anything.

Prep Open House 8am-8:30

Get to the property 8am sharp. Set up your laptop and work environment for the day. Put out any beverages or snacks for guests. Turn on lights, open blinds, set music, etc. Put your personal food / beverages in the refrigerator. Smash a cup of coffee if that is your thing and get pumped!

Open House Signs Install 8:30am-9:00am

Take your time. Be sure to bring some flyers in your car and business cards. You never know who will stop you when you are putting signs out. I recommend starting at the house placing signs and working your way out. More the better! If suggest at least 10-15. Be sure they are strategically placed on corners with good visibility. No other signs, trees or bushes should block your marketing. So observe each sign from different areas.

What REALTOR is having an open house today? Unfortunately for many agents, I still see the generic red and white open house signs all over the place. What a disservice to their business. You get to the property and there is one branded sign in the yard which is usually the real estate agent’s for sale sign. Don’t be these guy losing money. Here’s how.

You will want these ALL branded. Nothing else. MUST BE BRANDED. Your name and phone number need to be large on every sign with OPEN HOUSE. Per Florida Law and check with your state, you must have the Brokerage name but it can be small as long as it is visible. This will get Your Name Brand out there. Not your broker and not the generic open house sign. This small, cost effective approach is proven to get listings.

Seller’s love open houses. So when they see your branded signs they know that it is Steve Daria with Maxim Realtors doing yet another Open House, late in the evening sometimes I might add. That guy really hustles they are thinking…

Quick Note – Many times people are just getting off of work at 5pm and home around 5:30/6. You want to be open when they are passing by. The prospective seller in that neighborhood WILL take note. Especially if you were there BEFORE they left for work.

Door knock To Promote Your Open House. 9:00-10:00

Ok, the signs are up. This is where you really start to create your luck. This is where most agents stop. They traditionally go back, sit, wait, watch cat videos on YouTube, wait some more and then leave early. Not you…

Start back at the house, park and head back out on foot. Try to knock as many doors within this one hour time frame. If you engage with someone and let’s say they say something like, “We have talked about listing our home for sale, can you come in and give us an idea of value?” You State: “That sounds great. You’re address is 190 Miller St right? Let’s do this. How about when I finish up this open house today, I’ll come over afterwards with a complete market analysis and our aggressive plan of action on how we sell homes. How is 6:30pm or would 7:00 be better?”

Number one – They recognize you have a job to do servicing that seller by completing the open house and they will appreciate it. Number two and most importantly, you never allow someone to dictate your schedule. Another agent will say, yes let’s preview your home now and I’ll come back with my comps and presentation in an hour. Not you. Why would you? You can easily lock them into a set appointment later that day or the next day. So what’s the rush? You showed them you are aggressive enough to hit their door and promote a neighboring property. You already have them.

Also, if you abandoned the open house you had set for that day, what would you potentially have missed out on? Remember, timing is everything and luck is made when you put yourself in those positions.

Not interested in door knocking? Well you can now access Geo Area Phone Numbers with RedX. Use THIS LINK and they will knock off the $149 Initial Fee!

Preview Active Competition. 10:00-10:45 am

While you are in your open house, prepare and set preview appointments for the next day. You will want to preview at least 3 active homes in the area. If you are working the same 1-2 open houses each time, keep looking at homes working your way into neighboring communities.

Why? You have to be the expert. You have to know what is out there, not just by desktop, but by getting inside. You need to see, hear, feel, smell and walk it. When someone comes to your open house and your open house is too dated for them, you can simply direct them to a comparable house that is upgraded. “I actually know of 2 houses that may fit what you are looking for with beautiful upgraded kitchens. Would you be interested in looking at them later today around 6:00 or is 6:30 better?” **Notice you are not deflecting from your Open House Schedule.

Open House Time 11:00-6:30

Game on! Get in there. Concentrate on the work that you have to do while sitting open. When someone comes in, hopefully you have been working your scripts and have a good idea on what to say / ask. Welcome them in. Make them feel at home as if a friend was coming over to hang out. Offer them a cold water (or beer).

Now you have to be prepared to ask questions. So are you from the area? (Remember they maybe a neighbor looking to get an idea on the value of their home – Potential Seller), Where are you from? How long have you been looking? What made you move to this area? How soon do you have to buy? What kind of property makes sense for you and your family? Are you working with another agent? ** If yes, tell them to leave immediately. Just kidding.

I can tell you countless times, buyers I have met in the past that said Yes they are working with an agent. Then quickly later once we developed rapport will open up and say, well we are really not happy with that agent. This does happen. We are very ethical and will never try to “steal” a client, but if someone isn’t happy with their agent and they mentioned they no longer are going to work with them, then you should absolutely offer your services. They will go with another agent regardless.

Think about the complaints. “Our agent never calls us back. Our agent is too busy. Our agent doesn’t listen to what we are saying. Our agent showed us this when we want to see that.”

This industry is filled with bad untrained real estate agents. If they are no longer going to work with them and the opportunity presents itself, go for it. If they complain with their local board for any reason about you, I am sure the buyers will gladly write a letter of explanation for you.

Track Your Numbers From The Open House

You need to keep track of all your numbers. This is essential to the growth for your business. How do you know how many properties you will sell each month based on your actions if you do not track your numbers? Consider this. Let’s say you knock 120 doors a day prior to your open house. 6 days a week. Let’s track this example –

You knock 120 doors and leave material on everyone door for those who do not answer.
For every 120 doors, you should speak with at least 12 people (10%)
You figure for every 24 people you speak with, you create one prospective buyer or seller.
Out of 120 doors with material left, it draws an additional 1.2 people to your open house (10%)
From your open house it takes 18 people to get one prospective buyer or seller.
On average from signs, marketing and door knocking, your open houses brings in 6 people.

In summary based on these numbers above over 6 days:

3 leads from door knocking
2 leads from open house walk ins

So essentially in your first week of the 21 day challenge, you should be able to procure 5 solid leads based on these numbers. These numbers will vary depending on your open house specs mentioned above as well as your sales skill set.

If you get 1 of these prospects in contract each week say over 40 work weeks (discounting sick days, vacation, holidays) = 40 sales a year. Not a bad career if you are selling $200,000 properties. $6k per x 40 = $240,000 a year.

Sales Is Life

The agent who consistently works on their sales skills will consistently out produce others. As a new real estate agent, it is fine in the beginning to feel insecure, uncomfortable and fumble your words. This is all part of your growth. So as long as you do not get disgruntled and quit, you will prosper. Rejection and getting out of your comfort zone is imperative to your business and sales in general.

“Sales is a Series of Questions to get you to a Desired Result.” As you practice your scripts, it will get easier and easier. You will notice a transition. Conversations will become easier and flow better. You will become more at ease and will make others feel the same. You will help direct people more easily and ultimately set more appointments. This is the process.

One of the best sales coach out there I believe is Grant Cardone. He is not necessarily a real estate sales coach. He is the sales coach. He trains salespeople not only on the fundamentals and scripts of sales but really how to explode your business. You can check out many of the tools and seminars he has to offer here.

I will also write an article on real estate agent coaching. The difference between 3-4 top coaching organizations in the world and their pros and cons. I have been coached by two of the top real estate coaching organizations (Mike Ferry and Tim Harris @ Harris Real Estate University). However, I would always encourage you to do your homework.

Over the years I’ve found other coaching companies outside of the “real estate world” to be more beneficial to my business like Grant Cardone’s training’s. There is something to be said about being a well rounded real estate agent as opposed to just knowing how to sell real estate.

Adjust The Open House Schedule

If you are doing this open house 5-6 days a week you will have to adjust as you will simply not have the time to sit open like you have been over your first 90 days. You should get to a point where your efforts are paying off. You will have to service listings, show other property and assist those referrals from your Sphere Of Influence.

However, remember this is the action that got you where you are at. It is your main income producing activity. Do not neglect it and keep it in your schedule. So if you get really busy you can reduce to 4 days of open houses. I do not think you should go less than 4 open houses a week even if you have to cut them short and end of 3pm. You can set showing and listing appointments those days from 4-6pm.

Hire An Open House Assistant

Let’s say 5 months down the road things are paying off. Checks are being cash, you are making good money, keeping your personal overhead low and now looking to reinvest back into this business. Then you should consider hiring a part time Open House Assistant. You can train them on the processes above using all of your branded signs and materials. This is the start of building your team.

Just do the math. Let’s say that assistant brought you an extra 6 sales a year. Your commission on average is $6,000 x 6 = $36,000. You pay the assistant their first year $12 an hour. $240 a week. $960 a month. ($11,520 a year). Net $24,480 to you. Is it worth it?

This assistant can also alleviate more time for you by helping while down time in the open house with all the other admin work, setting showing appointments, contract to close and other tasks broken down in our article on How To Build A Real Estate Team in 12 Months. Indirectly you create even more sales than the 6 above because you have more time to aggressively follow up with prospects, set more appointments, knock more doors, close more deals and leverage your team.

The average agent does not hire anyone because of their lack of confidence. Bottom line. If you do the steps above. You will not have to worry about where the next check comes from. You tracked your numbers and know exactly where it will come from.

Having A Tough Time?

Lastly, this can be a lonely business. It can also be an extremely complacent business. You can wake up one day and say I’m not feeling like doing an open house today. If you are this kind of person, consider bringing on a 50/50 partner.

Write a contract between you. Maybe have your broker review and make suggestions. This can be a great scenario to keep you both motivated and accountable toward each other. I’d rather give 50% commission on $240,000 a year, then keep 100% of a slack ass $60,000. Make sense?

As always, thank you for reading this material. It does mean a lot. If you want more free content in video, don’t forget to subscribe to SteveInvests!