This REALTOR®’s proven system of working open houses to her advantage has paid off. Last year, leads captured at her open houses bankrolled 50 percent of her business. See if you can spot what works in this anecdote about her recent open house that turned a brief interaction into four separate transactions totaling $5.3 million in sales.
Twenty minutes before Nicole Nicolay heads to her open house, she logs onto RPR®, prints one Mini Property Report and one Neighborhood Report, puts them into her bag and hits the road.
Pro Tip: Learn why a REALTOR® would only bring one handout to her open house.
“It may seem as if I didn’t put a lot of effort into my open house, but rest assured, I’m backed by a powerful and seamless system that does all of the work for me,” says the veteran real estate pro working out of Pleasanton, Calif. That—and anyone who knows her will tell you, her cheery disposition and shrewd business acumen—are the trifecta of successful open house strategies.
“A woman with two kids in tow appeared in the doorway, and, within seconds, exclaimed she loved the house but wasn’t ready to buy,” says Nicolay. “She said she’d have to sell her house first and find temporary accommodations while searching for her next home so that she could make a firm offer. The market is that competitive here.
“The woman also admitted that she was feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of uprooting her family twice, as anyone would be,” Nicolay says. “I knew at that moment I could ease her fears and set her on the right path, ensuring her that the process can be streamlined by an agent with the right tools at her disposal—and, secretly, I knew I was that agent.
“So I made a simple suggestion: ‘Let’s check out what your house is worth. Give me your address and while you look around, I’ll see what I can come up with.’ She looked at me with a quizzical expression but decided to play along.
“My soon-to-be new client said she thought her house could sell for about $500,000, so as she turned the corner toward the dining room, I jumped into RPR, entered her address, created a property report complete with RPR’s Realtor Valuation Model® (RVM®), and texted it to her before she finished touring the second floor.
“Ding! I heard her phone’s notification system go off. She came down the stairs, phone in hand, smiling. ‘Wow, I just got a report from you!’ she exclaimed. ‘It says my house is worth $525,000. Is that true?’ she asked. ‘Well, we can find out,’ I said. ‘Let’s get together at your place to talk more. I’ll get an idea of what you’ve done to the property and we’ll rerun the numbers to confirm.’
“Days later, I listed her beautiful home for the RVM valuation of $550,000. From there, we found her new house without having to move her and her family into a temporary place. And she was so impressed by my spot-on analysis and responsiveness that she referred me to a family relative, who also bought and sold through me.”
Sure, Nicolay recognizes that this, in all, was an incredible experience. Yet, what’s important is that she had the wherewithal to listen to an open house visitor who thought she wasn’t ready to buy and took the bull by the horns to bring forth a deal. And the common thread? Realtors Property Resource®.
Learn more about what RPR can do for your next open house.
Laurie M. Brown is marketing and communications manager for Realtors Property Resource® (RPR®).
For the latest real estate news and trends, bookmark RISMedia.com.
