My memory has faded....

Have you ever tried to remember what you did last week? Well, I have to say that doing this BLOG is the hardest thing I have had to do in a long time.

Why so? Because I have to reach back in my memory to think about what happened during my first year as a Realtor. As a Seasoned Agent, it's hard to remember what happened that far back. You could say that I now just do it and thus have sort of moved it to the back of my mind. It's the same as when someone becomes a supervisor. You sort of forget what it was like to be a worker.

So, with that off my mind, I was thinking about this weekend. Not because I'm looking forward to a little time off, but because I have an open house set up.

I seem to have some recollection issues of my first Open House, but here goes.

During our New Agent training, we were impressed upon to use all sorts of opportunities to create leads. One of these was an Open House. I like many agents new to the Real World of Real Estate had some of the same questions.

1. How do you find a home to do an Open House at. Our answers were to contact that agent of the listing and ask them if you could. So, off I went....hmmmmm....where do I do one at, and hey...does it have to be an open house from my broker?

First off, you have to decide where you want to market yourself at. Not just the area, but the price range too. If you are new, do not know the area, do not know the way buyers are and are very unsure of what to do....DO NOT DO AN OPEN HOUSE IN A HIGH END HOME!!!!!!

I say this to warn you only. People who buy and sell high end homes are looking for an agent that is not going to be needing watched. You would be better finding an area that you feel comfortable in. Such as, where you grew up. If this is the $150K range, then that is where you should start. If it is the $250 range, the begin there. You need to make yourself comfortable in an uncomfortable location.

Oh...and don't forget, you need to do Open Houses in houses listed by your Broker. It's an advertising thing for yourself.

2. Now that I've decided on the area and the house, you need to take some time to talk with the listing agent. Find out what you can about the home, it's particular attributes and anything special about the pool or the neighborhood. This will make you appear as though you know the area.

3. Make sure that you advertise it on the MLS. Place Open House Signs on the route in a few days before telling the date and time. This will help for those who drive by before the weekend. Oh...also...there are some restrictions in some neighborhoods regarding signs, so don't forget to get that information from the Listing Agent.

4. Do your research!!!! You need to do a market analysis the morning of the open house so you have the latest information. You should know what is Active, Pending and Sold in the last six months. This will help you if you have a customer that feels that this listing is overpriced.

5. Be at the Open House at least a half hour before the time. I had an open house where I was running a bit late, but was still about 15 minutes early. I didn't even have the open house signs in the yard before I had someone waiting to get in. I had to open up the house, show them around and then put my signs out.

6. If you have something to make the house smell really pleasing, like baking cooking, use it. The better the mood of the buyer, the more receptive they are to sticking around and talking with you.

7. Talk with customers to make them feel at ease, but don't over talk. There are some ways to get information without prying. You will need to learn what works best for you. I can't tell you how many times I asked for an e-mail address trying not to be invasive and then NEVER heard back.

8. Don't look at everyone who comes in the door with WOLF eyes. I hate to say it, but folks can see right through you. If you are over anxious, they will feel it and get VERY uncomfortable.

9. Don't give up....at some open houses, you are going to get a lot of traffic, some moderate traffic and others NO traffic. Then, there are the ones where nobody shows up until about 15 minutes before you are ready to take down and go home. This tends to be rough on you because you are overly bored after 3 or more hours of no activity and then it just explodes on you.

10. Just a suggestion...If you have never done an open house, look in the MLS and see who is holding one and call em up and see if they would mind you shadowing them. I know I wouldn't. The same thing goes when you hold YOUR first one. See if you can get someone to shadow you also. If they are a seasoned agent, they can give you pointers and if they are new, they can start learning how to be comfortable in this area with someone around. Tag teaming is OKAY!!!!!!

11. Now, what do you do now that you are at your first open house. Well, be pleasant. Talk slowly and don't worry if you do not get any hot leads. The name of the game is to get comfortable at all aspects of the Real Estate world and become the expert that everyone will come to know in you.

Take care and be safe.

Safety Note: Open Houses can be an unsafe environment at times. If you are feel that something isn't right, lock up and get to a safe spot. Always make sure that you are never in a position where you will not be able to exit a house if you come into an unsafe situation.

Good Luck and I hope to see you at a Closing Table someday soon.