Do the Open House Math

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The spring selling season is upon us. One of the best ways to make the most of it is to encourage your agents or team to take advantage of open houses.

While some agents might not see the value in hosting open houses for their listings, we’ve found statistics showing that serious buyers are walking through the door. According to analytics from more than 1,000 homes we’ve sold and thousands of coaching calls we’ve conducted, 20 percent of all buyers shopping in the low- and mid-price points go to open houses so they can decide which house they want to buy that very weekend. At higher price points, including the luxury tier, 30 percent of all buyers go to open houses go so they can decide which house to buy that weekend.

Most sellers expect their agents to hold an open house as part of the services agents provide for their listings. What’s more, open houses are a great way to meet soon-to-list sellers, providing agents with the opportunity to prove they can handle and present another person’s home well. Buyers who haven’t yet found an agent are also be perusing open houses.

Train your agents to ask open house visitors if they’re currently working with an agent or if they have a home in the neighborhood and are considering selling. Then, tell agents to listen carefully to their answers. The goal is to offer solutions that will help potential clients reach their real estate goals and, in turn, choose your agents to work with. This will help your agents build future business in a very efficient way—by meeting several motivated people in a minimal amount of time. The key after the open house is follow-up. More contacts equate to more contracts. Provide agents with open house sign-in sheets or an app that will also serve the purpose of securing contact information for staying in touch with serious prospects.

Now, have your agents do the open house math: Say they each hold one open house every weekend with the goal of adding three AAA prospective buyers or sellers into their pipeline. Once each agent has a client under contract, they’ll replace that client with one of their triple-A prospects so that they’re never without active clients. Having three AAA prospects at all times also translates into fewer lean months. Chances are good that one or two of the AAA prospects will close within one month.

Assuming your agents’ average commission is $5,000, they’ll earn $10,000 each month just from open houses. This $10,000 a month could translate into $120,000 year from working open house leads alone.

Even if your agents earn half this amount of commissions from open house prospects, incorporating open houses into their business plan still makes sense, right? For more seasoned agents who’ve plateaued in their businesses, adding open house prospecting back into their business plan could help them add $60,000 to $120,000 a year to their existing bottom line (based on a $5,000 commission).