Our guest at Agent First Summit this week was Andy Tse, an open house expert with over 20 years of real estate experience in California. Andy is a big believer in using an open house to sell a home and prove your skill as a salesperson.
Andy is the founder of the Tse Group and has personally sold over 430 homes with over $935 million in sales volume in 2021 alone. His group is currently ranked #6 nationwide and #3 in volume in California. Andy has also been featured by Real Trends in the Wall Street Journal.
Our Agent First Summits happen every Tuesday morning! It’s a perk for all our real estate team members and any of their guests who want to grow their real estate business. To get an invitation, RSVP here: Save Your Seat!
Today, Andy is going to share with us how to do open houses the right way to get more business and more sales.
How To Get Started With Open Houses
You can find open houses in a variety of ways:
- Homes that are For Sale By Owner (FSBO).
- Homes from an agent from farther away who has a home for sale in your area.
- Homes from another agent who is busy and will let you do an open house on their listing.
Once you’ve found a house, your job is to start marketing the open house! A great way to improve your strategy is to look into how other agents are doing their work. Find a top agent in a market outside of your own and see how they are doing their open houses to get great traffic.
Then use some of their practices while working on building your own marketing tactics that will increase traffic, such as baking cookies or even planning a scavenger hunt. These tactics will attract people to the open house and also show sellers that you know how to market well and can help them with their home as well.
Five Key Tips for Great Open Houses
There are five main things that you should keep in mind when using open houses as a prospecting tool. If you can follow these steps, you’ll have a much higher chance of success as an open house agent.
1. Work 80 to 120 Hours a Week
If open houses are your main prospecting tool, spend 80 to 120 hours a week at an open house. Spend multiple hours there for several days a week—just do your work like cold calling and emailing from the house while waiting for prospects to visit.
2. Put Up 30 to 40 Signs
Put open houses out on major highways and intersections. Put a sign on any straightway you travel for more than 20 or 30 seconds. Put two signs on the corners of the street near the home. Make sure you include the days and hours you’ll be there on the sign so people don’t think you just forgot to take it down after the weekend.
3. Set ONE Rock Solid Appointment
Your goal at every single open house is to set at least one appointment. If you can get more than that, great! But start with the goal of at least one appointment with a buyer or seller after every open house.
4. Talk To One Person at a Time
Keep your eyes on one individual at a time and don’t get distracted by other clients. Focus on winning over each individual and helping them as much as possible before they head off to look more closely at the house.
If you can build a strong relationship, they’ll be more likely to come back to you with questions afterward and you can set up time for future appointments if they want to keep looking or need help selling their home.
5. Know the Area
Become an expert in the marketplace. Know the neighborhood, the parks, the dry cleaning, the stores, the schools, the restaurants, etc. Know everything you possibly can so that people know that they’re working with the local expert.
What To Say at Open Houses
When you’re hosting an open house, you need to make sure that you speak to win any prospect who needs help selling their home or finding a different one if this house doesn’t fit their needs.
First things first, ask prospects what they’re doing in the market. Ask if they’re out shopping for homes and if they’re ready to buy today. Make sure you focus on people who are ready to buy and sell today instead of clients who still need a few weeks or months to prepare. Remember, your goal is to set an appointment as soon as possible!
After you find out what they’re looking for, no matter what they say, ask “Do you need to sell a house in order to buy?” This question will help you determine if you can help them sell their home and possibly set an appointment with them for the days or weeks ahead.
Next, ask them to tell you EXACTLY what they’re looking for in a home. Ask for as many details as possible—start with big questions like how many bedrooms and bathrooms, then find out WHY they need these features so you understand how to help them find the perfect spot.
NEVER ask if they have an agent. Your prospects will let you know if they have an agent. If you don’t find out in the first meeting, you can ask later, but at the open house, simply assume that you’re their agent.
Once you’ve shown them the home, continue the conversation. If you’ve provided enough value by sharing market expertise and mentioning other listings that might meet their house-buying goals, they’ll be much more interested in working with you.
After you have set an appointment, carry on with these types of conversations with other clients. Don’t allow yourself to get overwhelmed with new appointments, though. Again, your goal should be one appointment, but if you need more, you can always keep going. You can also work to get appointments for other agents on your team.
Conclusion
Open houses aren’t hard to run. Focus on following these five top tips that can help you win appointments after every open house:
- Spend 80-120 hours a week on open houses.
- Use 30-40 signs for marketing.
- Set at least one rock solid appointment.
- Talk to one person at a time.
- Become the local expert.
If you can do these few things, you’ll find great success using open houses as your main and most effective prospecting strategy.
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