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The basics are done, the house is clean, the staging is set
and you are ready for the Open House. Columnist
Dana Dratch of Bankrate.com offers these 8
Tips to have a Successful Open House.
 1. Use Technology: Advertise your Open House on all the real
estate sites, such as Realtor.com, Trulia, Zillow and Yahoo and Google says Joan Pratt with RE/Max Professionals in Castle Pines.
2.
Stay True
Green: Forget about those huge
paper wasting brochures. Put all the
data online so it can be reviewed later. (It might be necessary to have a few
printed brochures for those without internet access.)
3.
Signs,
signs, signs: A week before,
advertise the Open House in front so anyone driving by will see it.
4.
Welcome
the Neighbors: "The
neighborhood people are the most important sales people for the house,"
Combs says. "So I want them to come in. They're the people who want their
friends to come move into the neighborhood. They're my scouts." says Pat
Vredevoogd Combs, past-president of the National Association of Realtors.
5.
Clean
for Company: Get rid of anything
controversial (like that deer's head on the wall) and most agents sweep the
place clean of any personal items. And that goes for Fluffy's food bowls and
litter boxes too!
6.
Ask
the Seller's to Take a Hike: Pun intended. "Very rarely does it work out for the
buyers and sellers to meet in advance," Pratt says. And from a practical
standpoint, "when buyers are walking through an open house, they want some
anonymity. And with the homeowners there, they can't speak freely. And they
can't speak to each other." Says Pratt.
7.
Be Security
Conscious: Consider setting a
few ground rules. Patirica Szot, president of the MetroTex Association of
Realtors has everyone sign in and show a driver's license.
Also hide valuables, medicines and always
make sure the guests have a chaperone.
Working as a team is a good idea.
8.
Choose
a Good Time: Szot suggests
holding your Open House at a different time than the others to have less competition
and to be able to accommodate buyers who are trying to see several houses in
one day. She suggests holding it from
3pm to 5pm while most are held from 1-3pm or 2-4pm.
Making your Open House a success takes careful
planning. Use these 8 simple tips to avoid any problems.
Read the full article at BankRate.com
Posted on May 16, 2011 13:24:23 by  Scott.Shields
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