Marketing a property is sort of like fishing. One line in the water is good, but ten is even better. You increase the probability of success by the number and quality of ways that the public and their agents can encounter the property. A huge part is Internet exposure on multiple websites so people can find them with search engines. But also good ‘ol direct mail to areas where a likely move-up prospect resides now, or getting the word out to fellow agents within the company and other companies can work. Just the sign in the front yard or the brochure box there can sometimes lure in a prospect. Another facet of marketing is Open Houses. It’s not one of the most important parts, but it definitely can increase exposure which is always a good thing. Some homes lend themselves better to Open Houses than others. For instance, in a VERY expensive neighborhood, you might not get a lot of of real prospects there, just people who want to look at the cool house. Something not too much lower or too much higher than the average price in our market probably works the best, i.e. the deepest water if you are fishing. But that doesn’t mean it won’t work for other price points. For homes off the beaten path with very little drive-by exposure, the probability is lower for attendance. The best would be a home in a neighborhood with higher than average demand and sales activity historically. One with good drive-by exposure for your main Open House sign on a well-traveled street. A home that’s easy to navigate to from a main road is best vs. one all the way at the back of a subdivision with eight turns and eight signs to follow in order to find it. I always advertise the Open House up to a week in advance on our public website for people searching for Open Houses. More people are finding them that way than before, but still, the Open House sign is by far the most common way that people find it. I enjoy hosting open houses. It’s fun to talk to people, and you never know for sure what will happen unless you try.
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