Open House

Just to be clear: an Open house is not when you invite friends over to meet your new house. At least not in the real estate world.

When you hear someone talking about an Open House, they mean an event where the agent or the home seller opens his house so that interested homebuyers walk in and see with their own eyes how awesome that house is.

“Oh, so an Open House is that moment in movies when the guy goes to the house and there are fruit platters and cheesy background music?”

Yes, but if you are a real estate agent or home seller doing an Open House, please avoid this cliché. An Open House exists to “wow” home buyers and nothing says wow like being creative, innovative and classy. From the invitation, to the welcome sign outside the house and the event itself.

Because image is everything and the first impression matters, agents usually “dress” the house prior to the Open House. They normally:

-   Mow the lawn
-   Clean the bathrooms and the kitchen thoroughly
-   And sometimes even rearrange the furniture in a way that the house looks bigger and brighter

And of course: quality snacks to win clients by their stomach are a must at an Open House.

No wonder agents use the verb “to stage” when talking about the preparation for an open house, right?