Selling Soulfully with Jennifer Allan

If you haven't been following this series, the following blog may seem kind silly, just FYI!

• Reason One: It will make your seller happy
• Reason Two: You'll gather feedback from the public
• Reason Three: You'll become more familiar with your listing

And Reason Number Four... You might sell the house.

Yeah, I know, fat chance, right? But it really shouldn't be discounted as a valid reason to hold the darn thing open for a few hours one Sunday. And, imagine, you might even double-end the sale if you get lucky enough to attract an unrepresented buyer who falls in love with your fabulous listing!

Tomorrow (or maybe Monday)... Thoughts for Rookies about holding open houses for others

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Earlier this week, I started this little series on Why You Should Do at least One Open House (on your own listings) even if you think they're a "waste of time."

Why? Because...

It will make your seller happy

You'll gather feedback from the public

And... today's topic:

You'll Become More Familiar with Your Listing

How much do you really know about your listing? Chances are that you took a little tour with your seller on the day of your listing presentation and probably another one when you took your photos and measured the rooms. But you've probably never spent much quality time in the home by yourself, just absorbing the features or even the challenges the property offers.

When I do an open house, I tend to check everything out - admittedly, often out of boredom. Yeah, I open doors & drawers, wander in and out of bathrooms, flip switches to see what they do. And in the process, I discover things I hadn't noticed before, especially if I've always been accompanied by my seller on previous visits.

Okay, so this probably isn't a gi-normous deal, but I do find that by spending some quality time in my listing without the distraction of rapport-building or just chattering with my seller, I'm a better listing agent.

One more reason to open house... tomorrow!

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Yesterday, I promised to chat some more about why an agent should hold his or her listings open, at least once. Something I didn't mention was that I'm only talking about YOUR own listings - not listings of other agents, although that's fine to do if you like (and I will talk more about this in a few days). No, I think you owe it to your seller to do it, yourself even, regardless of whether or not you think the open house will result in a sale.

Why You Should Do Open Houses Reason #2 (of 4):

You can gather feedback from the public to share with your seller.

I did my first open house in three years this past Sunday. It was a fairly active open house - we had maybe 20 visitors in a three hour period. It was a beautiful spring day, people seemed cheerful and chatty and the feedback was flowing. At the end of the day, I had a page and a half of scribbled down comments for my seller. Most of them were positive; a few mildly critical, but how long would it have taken me to get that much feedback from showing agents? Uh, like forever?

While my seller certainly appreciated the mass-feedback, as the listing agent, it is also incredibly helpful to me to see firsthand what features really jumped out at the visitors. Every single one of them commented on the "great light and all the windows," and almost everyone complimented the oversize kitchen. Do you think this might help me in my marketing efforts?

I think spending three hours getting a concentrated dose of feedback from the general public is a great use of my time and a valuable service for my seller.

Tomorrow - Reason #3 to Go Ahead and Hold that House Open!

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Do you think Open Houses are a waste of time? The verdict is divided on this - some agents swear by them, others refuse to even consider doing them.

Well, I'm going to do my best to encourage you to do an Open House for each and every one of your listings - at least once.

So... here we go:

Why You Should Do Open Houses Reason #1 (of 4):

It makes your seller happy.

Don't discount the power of a happy seller. And don't let the Old Fogies tell you it's possible to convince a seller that Open Houses are a waste of time. If you don't do at least one Open House for your seller, he WILL doubt your commitment to the sale of his home. Oh, sure, he may agree with you to your face that Open Houses aren't necessary and that they only benefit the agent, blah blah blah, but when his house hasn't sold and he's getting nervous, he WILL remember that YOU haven't done an Open House yet.

If I had a house on the market and my agent hadn't done an open house, he better not come asking me for a price reduction unless/until he does! Why? Because I'm pretty sure I'd feel he hadn't yet done HIS part to sell the house. Reasonable? Maybe, maybe not, but if I, as an experienced real estate agent feel this way, you better believe your sellers do, too.

Did you catch that? I think it would take some nerve to ask your seller to reduce his price if YOU haven't done the most visible, most expected form of real estate marketing there is - the Open House.  If your seller feels you're shirking Open House duty, he might not be nearly as open to your suggestions as to what HE needs to do to help get the house sold.

A happy seller is a cooperative seller. And an uncooperative seller is a nightmare. You pick.

Tomorrow - Reason #2 to Hold Your Listings Open

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"The Only Reason Agents Hold Open Houses is to Prospect For Buyers"

Yes, this may very well be true. That doesn't always make it right.

One of the first prospecting techniques new agents learn is how to "pick up buyers" at open houses. Agents are urged to be on high alert for open house visitors who don't already have a buyer representative. Pushing sign-in sheets and personal brochures, agents strive to make their open house "productive" by walking away with a fistful of names and numbers of potential buyers who dropped by. The more contacts an agent makes at an open house, the more successful it was.

But aren't we forgetting something? Or someone? Your seller client, perhaps?

Remember that you are in that home to sell that home. That is your first obligation. Put yourself in the seller's shoes - he or she is excited about your open house and is imagining that you are enthusiastically marketing all the special features of the home - not hungrily trying to build your business. Imagine that the seller is watching you with a hidden video camera (who knows...?) . Don't do anything the seller wouldn't approve of.

Once I showed up at an open house with color printouts from the MLS of other comparable homes for sale. Of course, I was planning to share these printouts with interested visitors to demonstrate my expertise in the market, as well as my willingness to show and sell other homes besides the one I was holding open. The seller saw my printouts and was horrified. It had never occurred to her that I wasn't there solely for her benefit, and frankly, it hadn't occurred to me that this might bother her. But of course it did. Right or wrong, sellers put a lot of stock in your open house and they truly expect the offers to be rolling in by 4:05 pm.

So don't make the rookie mistake of trying to talk to visitors about other homes while they're still taking in the details of this one. Any attempt you make to lead potential buyers away from the home you're holding open would certainly be interpreted with displeasure from your sellers, should they happen to overhear you. If a visitor truly is not interested in the home you're holding open and seems open to hearing about other properties in the area, by all means, offer to help. But not at the expense of other visitors who might be interested in finding out more about your open house.

Something that might help keep you honest (besides the possibility of a hidden camera!) is to remember that some of your visitors may be observing your behavior to evaluate you as a potential listing agent for their home, should they decide to sell. If they see you aggressively marketing yourself and not the home you're holding open, they may decide you are not the right person to sell their home.

Another area of confusion and conflict when holding open houses is when a visitor announces that she already has a buyer agent. This is especially disconcerting to the agent who is not the listing agent of the home, but is simply holding it open FOR the listing agent. Yes, you still need to graciously market the home to this represented buyer. Show her around, politely answer her questions and, if you sense real interest, please don't fuss that you're "wasting your time" on someone who isn't going to become your client. Every once in a while, you might even get to write an offer for a represented buyer, if the buyer is anxious and can't wait for her agent to come back from vacation.

Open houses can certainly be a source of business for you and if handled respectfully, no one will object to your prospecting efforts. Just remember to always put your client first, and everyone wins.

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copyright Jennifer Allan 2007