6 Easy Ways to Have a Successful Open House

Before the advent of the internet, homebuyers and sellers relied on fliers, signs, and newspaper advertising to best move real estate.

Today those methods are outmoded. When it comes to home sales, most home searches today begin online, where buyers fall in love with photos of open floor concepts, attractive architectural detailing, and luxurious outdoor living spaces.

Even so, no single photo of a home, especially homes with amped-up amenities such as Port Washington real estate on Long Island, can honestly do it justice.

Beyond online photo albums, real estate agents kick the sales process into overdrive with open houses.

Even sellers of luxury homes on Long Island’s Port Washington (Forbes magazine in 2017 ranked the city within the top 500 wealthiest communities in the nation) can benefit from an open house. Open houses are more intimate than internet viewings. They acquaint buyers with the property’s most alluring luxuries, such as sandy beachfront, pools, offices, libraries, and myriad bedrooms for potential guests.

What are the easiest ways to guarantee a successful open house? Read on for expert opinions on how to make your open house an unbeatable and profitable event.

Decades ago — and more recently, in an episode of Modern Family when Phil Dunphy tried this trick — baking cookies was considered a legitimate way to give a house a homey ambiance potential buyers would love.

These days, however, experts differ on whether baking can increase an open house's success.

According to a story on real estate expert Bob Vila’s website, baking cookies is perceived as a sales ploy that alerts intrepid buyers to the possibility of hidden problems.

HGTV suggests leaving a plate of cookies or brownies out as a low-key bribe, along with hot cocoa when New York temperatures are in the single digits or lemonade and water during summer.

For your Port Washington real estate, you may consider more high-end treats, such as charcuterie from a local catering business or high-end bakery items. Done right, snacks will entice attendees to linger and maybe fall in love with your home.

Potential buyers want to enter a home and see it as their own, and many won’t be able to look past your décor.

Staging — as simple as removing personal items or as complex as switching out furniture for a more neutral look — is an essential part of any open house.

Clearing clutter (items on kitchen and bathroom countertops especially) can also be part of the staging process since it will give your Port Washington property for sale a more open feel. Excess clutter can make potential buyers feel claustrophobic, which is never a good sales tactic.

Depending on your home’s location, successful staging might include adding simple, understated nautical elements to enhance the resort appeal a waterfront home possesses.

Experts say that staging, which can also include significant upgrades and repairs, tends to boost a home’s selling price by at least 10 percent above the asking price.

Even in a seller’s market (where there are fewer houses available than buyers, putting those available homes in high demand), the home must be ready for a showing. Port Washington property for sale requires special attention for the wealthy clientele who make up your buyer pool.

Potential buyers won’t see your Port Washington real estate the same way if the owner is hovering during an open house. You can’t be watching a game or prepping dinner during a showing.

It is much more difficult for a buyer to envision possessing someone else’s house if the owner is sitting at the kitchen table. Any experienced real estate agent will realize that it is much easier for a deal to be made if the homeowners are nowhere in sight.

Experts in marketing suggest offering open house visitors a leaflet of information about the house. The information should go beyond the traditional spec sheet. An enticing booklet keeps the property front and center for buyers touring multiple homes.

You should include information like great photos, details about the neighborhood (including the proximity of shopping, schools, spas, and gyms), colorful descriptions of the home’s most unique features, a summary of completed upgrades and improvements, and a list of property included in the sale (such as the Victory appliances that highlight the kitchen).

Take advantage of social media to let the right people know about the open house.

While word of mouth can go far, placing notices on social and real estate sites can bring out many serious homebuyers (a few curious neighbors are likely to stop by, too).

The more people who know about the open house, the larger your group of potential buyers, making it possible that your home won’t stay on the market long at all.

Suppose you’re looking to buy a house while selling your previous house. In that case, your open house (and your selling process generally) is only successful once you land the new home of your dreams.

After you’ve found a home that meets your needs, line up the necessary funding and choose an agent to represent you at the open house.

If you want the best house, you want to move fast, so having all your paperwork in order is the best way to make that happen. Remember: the best way to buy and sell two houses simultaneously is to work with the same agent for both.

Maybe you’re in the market for a Port Washington property for sale, or perhaps you have a home on the North Shore you’re ready to sell. Trust an experienced real estate agent like Maggie Keats. The top producer in Long Island, she knows this area extremely well, so reach out today and find out what it’s like to work with the best.