22 creative open house ideas to drive traffic and sell listings faster

With an increase in inventory across the country and many markets experiencing a shift, it’s even more important to go above and beyond for your sellers. Open houses are a great way to showcase your listings while meeting potential new clients. Use these 22 real estate open house ideas to increase attendance, find more leads for your pipeline and sell your listings faster.

1. Price it right

Set your open house strategy up for success by pricing your listings appropriately. Look at not only what’s recently sold nearby, but also consider listings that are under contract, active, expired and cancelled. This will give you a more complete picture of the current market. Prioritize the most recent listings and the most geographically close listings that are similar styles, sizes and conditions.

It’s also critical to showcase your listings in the best light, using staging and professional photography. This step is key to driving traffic to your open houses. The more buyers who see your listing as the best value on the market, the more attendees you’ll have at your open houses.

Show off your staging and photos by creating a listing walkthrough video easily and quickly. LazyEditor helps agents upload raw photo footage and turns that into curated videos perfect for social media.

2. Host open houses that benefit you

If you’re hosting open houses for other agents (before you have your own listings), be strategic in which listings you choose to host open houses for. Make sure they’re in the geographic area and price point you desire to serve. For example, if your goal is to make a name for yourself in your own neighborhood, focus on hosting open houses in that area specifically, rather than drumming up business that’s an hour away.

3. Strategically choose the day and time

When planning your real estate open house, choose a day and time that will most likely work for the majority of buyers. I would avoid planning my open houses here in the Boston area during the Patriots football games, for instance.

I also like to limit my open houses to one hour each. That way, even if only a handful of people show up, they are likely all in the house at the same time, versus being spread out over several hours. When buyers see other buyers, their perception of the home’s value increases, and the scarcity mindset kicks in. This often results in multiple offers, assuming we’re priced correctly to start with.

4. Add open house details to MLS

Don’t forget this step! You can implement all the amazing open house ideas, but if the open house details aren’t sent out to the portal website like Zillow and Realtor.com via your local MLS, you’re seriously limiting the exposure, and attendance will suffer.

Pro Tip

Create an open house checklist to use before every open house, to make sure nothing falls through the cracks. You can use our article The ultimate open house checklist for new & experienced agents as your guide!

5. Tease your open house on social media

Most agents post about their open houses the day before or the day of. Why not start teasing the event ahead of time by posting about it on your social media platforms a week or two in advance? Use stories, reels and posts to mix up your content, and consider spending a little money to run an ad and reach an even wider audience.

Of course, this won’t be possible every single time, logistically, but when it is, use all the time you have to build excitement. Posting about your upcoming open houses also serves to demonstrate to your audience that you’re a productive, successful real estate agent.

6. Promote your open houses in local Facebook groups

Get in front of a hyperlocal audience with potential buyers by posting about your upcoming open houses in the local community Facebook groups. Even if group members aren’t actively looking for a new home for themselves, they may know someone who is.

This is an especially effective technique in areas with lower inventory and high demand. Most community or neighborhood Facebook groups will have rules around promotional posts, so check the group rules before posting.

To take it one step further, consider spending a little bit of your ad budget to run a Facebook ad and get in front of more potential buyers (and sellers). Check out Real Geeks to streamline your ad creation process. It curates Facebook, Instagram and Google ads that target leads in your area with listings synced from your MLS feed. Leads will funnel from your ads to your website, where their contact information will be captured, and you can begin your conversation.

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7. Market your open houses using email campaigns

Email is still one of the most effective ways to reach your sphere of influence and past clients. Even though many members of your own database may not be in the market for a new home, it’s still worth sharing the information with them.

Let word-of-mouth take over, and encourage your sphere to share the open house details with anyone they know who may be interested. You can also invite them to stop by and say hello if they’ll be in the area; a great way to stay in touch and stay top of mind!

8. Proactively call buyer leads in your database

An upcoming open house is a perfect low-pressure reason to call all the buyer leads in your database, even those who you haven’t heard from in a while. Invite your buyers to stop by and take a look at the property or share the open house details with their friends or colleagues who may also be in the market for a new home.

You could say:

“Hey, it’s (Your name)! I’m hosting an open house in (Town) this weekend and wanted to invite you to stop by and say hi. Would love to see you and get your thoughts on the house!”

9. Use direct mail to spread the word

Direct mail is a fantastic tool for inviting new leads to your upcoming open house. This is one of my favorite ideas for open houses, as it’s very scalable. You could invite the entire neighborhood or every buyer in your database who you have a mailing address for. Include at least one photo of the house, the address, the price and the date and time of the open house.

Sending postcards can also be highly leveraged if you use a tool like Wise Pelican to automate your mailing process. Wise Pelican allows you to send full-color postcards that are totally customizable, without having to do any of the printing or addressing yourself.

10. Invite your seller leads

This may seem a bit unconventional, but why not invite your other seller prospects to come check out how you market and run an open house for your listings? Hosting open houses is an ideal opportunity to show off your marketing skills and deepen your relationships with your seller leads. While they may not all show up, the invitation alone will set you apart from your competition and may just help you win more listings.

This strategy also shows that you’re a productive, successful agent in that local market, building trust with your seller leads. When they see a busy open house, they’ll know you’re a great listing agent!

11. Host an exclusive neighbors-only preview

Another unique real estate open house idea is hosting an exclusive preview open house, just for the neighbors. Make the neighbors feel special and get some face time with them before the public open house begins. It’s usually recommended to host these one hour before. It’s also a smart way to give them permission to be “nosy neighbors.” You can even acknowledge this in your invitation by saying something like, “You’re invited to come check out your neighbor’s home before anyone else sees it; we know you’re curious!”

Invite the neighbors by using direct mail, door knocking and/or calling them, if you have phone numbers (be sure not to call anyone on the Do Not Call list, of course).

12. Use signage and balloons to direct attendees

Depending on the area and the type of property, you’ll need to customize your approach. The goal is to make it as easy as possible for all open house attendees to know where to go. I find that balloons are an inexpensive way to make a big visual impact. Use multiple directional signs to guide attendees in from the main road to the house, if it’s tucked away in a neighborhood.

If you’re hosting an open house in a high-rise building, tape a sign to the front door with instructions on how to enter, or bring a colleague with you to help direct traffic and open the main building door for people.

13. Set up your welcome area

Usually in the kitchen, your welcome area is where you’ll place your brochures, sign-in sheet, QR code signage, swag, water bottles or anything else you’re giving to your open house attendees. A few open house set-up ideas:

• Use a QR code to direct attendees to sign in using their phones. This prevents people from scribbling down incoherent email addresses and phone numbers.
• Bring any branded swag that people would keep and use, such as sunglasses or mini tape measures.
• Avoid providing messy food and stick to water bottles, if you’re going to provide any refreshments at all. This alleviates any potential liability with food allergies, plus keeps the house free of any crumbs.

14. Greet every guest with a warm welcome

A buyer’s first impression of a house has an impact on how they feel about it, so it’s important to make sure every open house guest feels welcomed and has a positive experience during your open house. If you’re not sure what to say, practice your opening greeting until you feel comfortable with it. Keep it simple: “Hi! Welcome. Thank you for coming. My name is Ashley, and I’m the listing agent. Please sign in here and let me know if you have any questions at all.”

During quieter open houses, offer to give each attendee a personal tour of the home, but this can be tough to do when it gets busy. Be sure to treat each open house attendee the same way and make sure everyone feels welcome.

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15. Collect contact information

Not only is collecting every attendee’s information important for your lead follow-up, it’s a vital part of running a safe and secure open house. Some agents even take photos of attendees’ driver’s licenses, but at a minimum, have each person sign in either on a paper sign-in sheet or electronically by scanning a QR code.

Always find out whether they are already working with a buyer’s agent, as well, and get their agent’s contact information. This will help you segment your attendees later on and do the appropriate type of follow-up.

Check out Curb Hero to make your open house sign-in process easy. It’s a powerful tool to capture open house attendees’ information and automatically send the info to your CRM, saving you a time-consuming step. Just set up your tablet with the Curb Hero sign-in sheet and place it where your open house guests can access it. You won’t have to worry about bad handwriting, that’s for sure!

16. Consider doing a giveaway

A fun way to collect contact information is by doing a giveaway or a contest. When people are entering to win a prize, they’re much more likely to happily give away their contact info. A few of the best open house gift ideas are: a gift card to a local restaurant or a gift basket filled with local goodies. Giving away something local shows that you support small businesses in the community.

17. Build rapport with potential buyers and sellers

Go as deep as you can with unrepresented buyers (and any potential sellers who stop by as well). Build rapport by asking questions in a friendly and conversational way, such as “How long have you been looking?” and “How does this home compare to what you’ve seen so far?”

I like to help bring buyers’ guards down by telling them I appreciate all feedback, even negative feedback, because “it’s ok; it’s not my house!” This approach will help you get honest feedback for your sellers and make the buyers feel comfortable opening up to you. Then, when you follow up with them, they will be more likely to engage with you.

18. Livestream your open house

Livestreaming your open houses serves two purposes: it’s amazing content for your social media platforms, and it widens your audience, allowing out-of-town buyers to preview the property. A second person to run the livestream and tour the home would be helpful here, such as a colleague from your office. Be sure to get your sellers’ permission first, though.

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How to host a successful virtual open house: Tips from a broker

19. Partner with a vendor

It’s always a good idea to have a second person attend your open houses with you, for safety and for crowd control. Partner with a vendor such as a mortgage lender or title company. The open house attendees benefit by having easy access to another expert who can answer their questions about other parts of the real estate transaction.

Start with vendors you already have a solid working relationship with and invite them to co-host the open house with you. If you’re still in the process of building your vendor network, not to worry – most lenders, attorneys, title companies, etc, will jump at the chance to get to know you and run an open house together. Ask the more experienced agents in your office who they work with, then call them up and ask!

20. Collab with other listing agents

If there are multiple listings on the market within a small geographic area, consider collaborating with the other listing agents hosting open houses on the same day to drive traffic to all the open houses.

It can be as simple as encouraging buyers to check out the other listings (if yours isn’t the right fit for them) and providing the open house information, or you can get creative, entering buyers who visit all the listings to win a prize. By working together with your fellow listing agents in the area, you position yourself as the market expert and help buyers find their perfect home.

21. Segment the attendees in your CRM

Part of the sign-in process is asking buyers if they’ve already signed an agreement with a buyer’s agent. It’s essential to gather this critical information because you will want to follow up with these two segments of buyers in distinct ways. It’s important not to call a buyer directly if they have their own agent already. Always respect buyer-broker relationships while still following up with every attendee (see next section for specifics). Keep these segments separate in your CRM so you can stay organized and keep track of your leads.

22. Follow up with all attendees

For buyers who have hired a buyer’s agent already, call their agent to ask if the buyer had any questions or feedback about the property. For buyers who are unrepresented, follow up with your usual buyer conversion process: invite them to meet with you for a buyer consultation, set them up on an MLS search, etc. These are your leads!

If you happen to come across an unrepresented buyer who also has a home to sell, follow up and secure a listing appointment. Don’t get discouraged if not everyone replies; keep following up and providing value (market information and other, similar listings, for instance).

If you’re looking for a great CRM, check out Top Producer, an industry standard in the CRM space. Capture all your leads into the CRM and automate emails and texts to follow up with all potential clients so no one falls through the cracks. Top Producer also has property insights that show buyer interest in properties, and social insights that pull information from social profiles to better understand your audience.

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The full picture

Open houses are a great way to market your listings to get them sold faster while picking up some new clients along the way. Use this list of real estate open house ideas to craft your ideal process for your open houses. Be consistent in your process and you’ll see the results.

About Ashley Harwood

Ashley Harwood began her real estate career in 2013 and built a six-figure business as a solo agent before launching Move Over Extroverts in 2018. She developed training materials, classes, and coaching programs for her fellow introverts. Beginning in 2020, Ashley served as Director of Agent Growth for three Keller Williams offices in the Boston metro area. She’s now the Lead Listing agent for the Fleet Homes team in Massachusetts and a regular contributor to Vetted by HousingWire. She created The Quiet Success curriculum and has taught thousands of real estate agents nationwide. She has also been a guest speaker at top industry events and has been named a leading real estate coach by prominent industry publications.

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