Realty Executives Midwest
The run-up to an open house is as important as the event itself. Preparing yourself and others for the event is crucial to not only showcasing a property, but also building relationships with neighbors, future buyers, and people who may just provide that essential referral. One of the best ways to ensure success every time? Make a checklist of what must be done, and set up alerts on your calendar to remind you to do the tasks on your checklist.
Below is a sample checklist of a successful open house plan:
1 week before: Create flyers with date, time, and contact info for the open house, and home/mortgage info on the house. Create a Facebook Event and invite friends, fans, and prospects.
6 days before: Call all your buyers to let them know about the open house. Hang 25 flyers and 25 door-knockers around the neighborhood.
5 days before: Check on the status of the flyers. If you run into people in the neighborhood while you’re there, introduce yourself and let them know about the open house.
2 days before: Be sure you’ve memorized the house and its details, and know its floor plan well enough to give effective tours that showcase the property. Create an attractive sign-in sheet, featuring your photo and contact info, and offering a line for their own contact info (including email address!) and space for them to share where they heard about the open house.
30 minutes before: Make sure the house is clean, and smells clean (many home sprays are clean and pleasant; avoid overtly floral or scented scents, as many people are allergic or sensitive to strong scents). Place 4 directional signs, each with eye-catching accessories, such as balloons to grab people’s attention and pull traffic from main intersections.
10 minutes before: Open house and front door. Put at least two signs and 4 attention-getters out front, and an “Open” rider on the sign. Play background music, preferably something instrumental and subtle, at low volume.
Within 24-hours after: Follow up with all contacts by phone or email.
From open house to open house, you’ll refine your plan. Take notes. Write down what seemed to work, and what bombed. Over time, you’ll have a custom checklist which will help you efficiently and effectively prepare for blockbuster open houses. Need someone to help you with your open house? Get in touch!
Realty Executives Midwest
1310 Plainfield Rd. Ste 2 | Darien, IL 60561
Office: 630-969-8880
E-Mail: experts@realtyexecutives.com
Staging your home not only assists you on a faster sale but also getting TOP dollar for your home.
“REALTORS® know how important it is for buyers to be able to picture themselves living in a home, and staging a home makes that process much easier for potential buyers,” says NAR President William E. Brown. “While all real estate is local and many factors play into what a home is worth and how much buyers are willing to pay for it, staging can be the extra step sellers take to help sell their home more quickly and for a higher dollar value.”
Thirty-one percent of respondents to NAR's survey say staging increased the dollar value of a home they sold by 1 percent to 5 percent; 13 percent of respondents say it increased a home’s dollar value by 6 percent to 10 percent. Agents on both the buying and selling side agree that the living room is the most important part of a home to stage, followed by the master bedroom, kitchen, and outdoor space.
Thirty-eight percent of listing agents say they stage every one of their sellers’ homes before listing them. Fourteen percent say they will only stage homes that are difficult to sell, while 7 percent say they only stage homes in higher price brackets. However, 37 percent of listing agents say they do not stage homes at all before listing them. Instead, they say they make recommendations to sellers to declutter their homes and fix any issues.
Agents who stage say the seller pays for the staging 25 percent of the time, according to the survey. Twenty-one percent say they have provided funds to stage a home. Fourteen percent of agents say they offer home staging services to sellers.
The 15 page study done by the by National Association of Realtors can be found here.
Source: Daily Real Estate News(2017)
Realty Executives Midwest
1310 Plainfield Rd. Ste 2 | Darien, IL 60561
Office: 630-969-8880
E-Mail: experts@realtyexecutives.com
Want to know the secret to an easy move? Move less stuff.
It’s obvious, but it’s true. You can save time, money, and the anxiety of finding the right place for extra stuff if you simply take the time before your big day to declutter. While you may have stuff that’s destined for the dump, the odds are you have a lot more stuff which could find a better home with someone else. So how do you quickly and easily declutter your home before the move?
Don’t let extra clutter drag down your move. Set aside time before the big day to send your stuff into the world (and maybe even put a few bucks back in your pocket)! It might just buy pizza on your first night in your new place.
Realty Executives Midwest
1310 Plainfield Rd. Ste 2 | Darien, IL 60561
Office: 630-969-8880
E-Mail: experts@realtyexecutives.com
Realty Executives Midwest
1310 Plainfield Rd. Ste 2 | Darien, IL 60561
Office: 630-969-8880
E-Mail: experts@realtyexecutives.com
It’s quite common to hear the phrase “your trusted advisor” in real estate. But what does it mean to be a trusted advisor? What are the driving philosophies behind providing clients with the highest level of service? We believe there’s more to becoming a trusted advisor than meeting basic ethical and professional obligations.
If someone were to ask us “How do we become trusted advisors?” We'd offer these five suggestions as a start:
If you could use some real estate guidance, we would love to show you how we practice these concepts with every client we serve:
Realty Executives Midwest
1310 Plainfield Rd. Ste 2 | Darien, IL 60561
Office: 630-969-8880
E-Mail: experts@realtyexecutives.com
Realty Executives agents are real estate experts. They have the education and expertise you need to navigate through the process of buying or selling a home. From listing at the right price to making the best offer, our Executives have witnessed the best - and most regrettable - decisions homeowners and homebuyers can make. Every day, they are immersed in every aspect of real estate that includes comparable home price analysis, property surveys, credit reports, open houses, HOA agreements, lenders, title companies, homeowners’ insurance, walk-throughs, terms of sale or purchase, repairs, concessions and closing documents. Let our accomplished Executives help navigate you through the process of buying or selling a home.
