Safety Week Tip: Stay Safe at Open Houses
Open houses can be a great sales tool—but hosting one also exposes you to numerous unfamiliar people for the first time. Take these steps to stay safe:
* If possible, always try to have at least one other person working with you at the open house.
* Check your cell phone’s strength and signal prior to the open house. Have emergency numbers programmed on speed dial.
* Upon entering a house for the first time, check all rooms and determine several “escape” routes. Make sure all deadbolt locks are unlocked to facilitate a faster escape.
* Make sure that if you were to escape by the back door, you could escape from the backyard. Frequently, high fences surround yards that contain swimming pools or hot tubs.
* Place one of your business cards, with the date and time written on the back, in a kitchen cabinet. Note on it if you were the first to arrive or if clients were waiting.
* Have all open house visitors sign in. Ask for full name, address, phone number, and e-mail.
* When showing the house, always walk behind the prospect. Direct them; don’t lead them. Say, for example, “The kitchen is on your left,” and gesture for them to go ahead of you.
* Avoid attics, basements, and getting trapped in small rooms.
* Notify someone in your office, your answering service, a friend, or a relative that you will be calling in every hour on the hour. And if you don’t call, they are to call you.
* Inform a neighbor that you will be showing the house and ask if he or she would keep an eye and ear open for anything out of the ordinary.
* Don’t assume that everyone has left the premises at the end of an open house. Check all of the rooms and the backyard prior to locking the doors. Be prepared to defend yourself, if necessary.
(Sources: Washington Real Estate Safety Council; City of Mesa, Arizona; Nevada County Board of REALTORS®; Georgia Real Estate Commission)
Open Houses Are Still Worth It, Practitioners Say
Despite a changing market, many real estate professionals say open houses are still a good way to showcase a home.
Open houses work just as well as they did a few years ago when the market was very competitive, says Trudy Severa, an associate with Long & Foster in Reston, Va.
“Anything you can do helps,” says Severa. “It’s a numbers game, and there is no way to know the residual effects [that an open house can have].”
Some practitioners have had success joining forces with others to produce a group tour. For instance, seven different practitioners recently held a neighborhood open house in Washington, D.C., where participants could view eight listings ranging in price from $500,000 to more than $1 million.
An open house can be an opportunity to talk to potential buyers who are interested but who might be unsure about the uncertain market, says Mario Rubio, a practitioner with Rubio Real Estate in Annandale,Va. He suggests having a loan officer/mortgage banker on hand at the event to answer questions.
Source: The Washington Times, Cary Lee Dailey (04/10/2009)
Front Gate Properties, We’re selling the BEST Real Estate in Aiken, SC