open-house

How to Host an Open House in 100+ Temps

There is a lot more to making your house look “cool,” like offering poolside libations to a raffle and choosing the best time of day for a viewing.

Site Staff Current Digital, Home & Design, Real Estate

open-house
Host an open house an hour before sunset to help sell your view.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY HOMESMART PROFESSIONALS

Attending an open house in 100-degree weather is almost as appealing as thinking about moving over Labor Day weekend. Regardless, summer is still the hottest season for selling and buying a home.

So how do you get people to visit your cool house when the mercury is on the rise? HomeSmart Professionals real estate agents Michael Valerio, Stephen Burchard, and Carol Appel from the Coachella Valley share the following tips:

Poolside Libations

You want a buyer to feel at home, so make them feel at home. In the middle of a summer day, they would probably be floating on that swan-shaped pool raft while nursing a mojito or mimosa. To sell the home, you sometimes have to sell the experience. Serving up root beer floats or gourmet popsicles are a great way to keep clients around long enough to hear your pitch.

Get Literal

There is nothing quite as straightforward as placing a rider – an attachment on top of a for-sale sign – that reads “Cold A/C.” If a home is vacant, there’s a chance the A/C isn’t running 24/7. This can make walkthroughs a bit stuffy. Advertising that this home has the A/C blasting makes a tour more inviting. Alternative rider text can promote an earlier open house (between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.) time. Updating all online listings with this information helps spread the word as well.

Free Stuff

Business card raffles are a great way to get leads, but it’s also a great way to get people into an open house. Try hosting a thoughtful raffle. Is the home near great bike paths? Raffle off a beach cruiser. If the house is near a foodie haven, raffle off a dinner for two at a nearby restaurant. This establishes you as a local expert. Even if you don’t get an offer from everyone who comes through the front door, this will leave an impression that might lead to more businesses down the road.

Twilight Zone

If the home you’re selling has a killer view or a great entertainment area in the backyard, host an open house an hour before sunset. Not only will this give off a romantic vibe sure to make buyers fall in love with the property, but it will also be much cooler. You can also consider having some light tapas available, so people stick around and really get to know the space in a laid-back way.

Get Cultured

If you’re not working with a staged home, connect with a gallery or artist to turn an otherwise blank canvas into a pop-up art gallery. As long as you reassure the future homeowner that all those nail holes will be patched up, this is another clever way to get people’s minds off the heat.