Yesterday we held a Broker's Open House at this property. In addition to flyers and e-mails announcing the Open (sent individually to each agent with a listing or sale in a similar price range) we made personal phone calls to agents we knew (and liked) who might have buyers for the property.
The property is listed at $1,098,000.
We had 13 agents attend the Brokers Open - which is quite good, in our area. The ones that came, came because of our phone calls. Two of them will be contacting prospective buyers. We're so deluged with emails, notices, postings, etc. that we click them away or shut them out. A personal phone call is hard to ignore - particularly if we feel a property might appeal to our clients.
In our advertising and phone calls, we use the Principle of Sacrifice (check out Stan Barron's website) - don't try to be everything to everybody - find who fits.
If you're looking for a big backyard - keep on going.
This home has a postage stamp of grass for the dog, but no other grass in the back yard.
If you like the Old Northeast and want a typical old house with small closets, one bath upstairs, and lots of maintenance - drive on by.
This one was built in 1995, has loads of closet space, each bedroom has an en suite bath, and there are vaulted ceilings.
If you want a huge pool, with a diving board and lots of maintenance - this one isn't for you.
There is a splash pool, which is an oversized spa, with a current to swim against, that's shaded and private.
So who would want this home?
- Someone who thought they wanted a condo in downtown St Petersburg so that they could walk to all the parks, museums, restaurants, and work ... but can't really adapt to condo living, group decisions, and lack of privacy for skinny dipping.
- Someone who loves the Old Northeast neighborhood within walking distance of downtown St Pete, but doesn't want the maintenance that goes with a wonderful "old" house.
- Someone with teenagers - since each bedroom has not only its own bath, but its own space, and there's lots of driveway and sidestreet parking for friends who visit.
- Empty nesters - who want neighborhood but new, walking distance but private, and a wonderfully unique home with 4 bedrooms and over 4,000 sq ft.
But I digress - this was about Brokers Opens. Do you still hold them in your area, and are they successful?
Sharon, I do them and usually get a mob scene because I serve really good food. It's simple, delicious finger food. It's a fun party.
Hang your dumplings in the window, and they will come!
Hmmm! Principle of Sacrifice, thanks for the concept Sharon. Stan, too. Likewise, Patricia, it's food and wine tasting in Naples, gets 'em "almost" every time.
Sharon - Broker Opens were a thing of the past. However, in the last two months or so, they have been coming back. The turnout is still very low - 13 would be a party here!
BTW, this looks like a nice property! I'll take the splash pool please.
Hi Sharon, I don't do so many broker opens anymore because there is just too much inventory but we do a lot of public open houses and not just weekends. This fall I am looking to offering the 7 to 9 am or the 5 to 7PM weekday opens. This is for high traffic areas ( main roads and heavily people traveled homes). The weekend open still benefits fine. I respect all guests and ask and then have the buyer sign if they are or are not working with a REALTOR. I want them to sign agency, then and there unless they are working with someone else. But I also ask who it is ,( funny how many can't remember who they are working with,LOL) write it on the pad and ask them to sign it. A few even change their minds and admit they aren't actually working with them. Then I ask, Would you like me to work for you, here are my credentials. I am working on the whole system over the summer months, will test in the fall months and tweak for Spring 2009. I will let you know what I discover about this. The clients of course have to agree to the weekday times. Priced aggressively and open is the way to go. Even in this slow market my average marketing times are under 10 days. Had it not been for one that has been on the market with 5 offers for over 40 days, that finally got accepted today, my average market time was 8 days. But they got their price and I guess are pretty pleased. They did everthing I suggested ( over 3 months getting it ready)but wanted the top dollar for doing it and today they got it. We knew we would get it or very close, just not expected it would take 42 days. I need to tweak this more because I have a lulu I am working on. The contractors are going to be bidding ( in process) a complete makeover. Everything down to the valves. So it should be pretty awesome when completed.
Debbie - luxury homes here sometimes have soirees to sell luxury homes, but like you - the response from Brokers Opens has declines.
Patricia - two of the agents we called about the house asked what food we were serving.
Debbie - stretched out over 2 hours 13 agents leaves an empty house much of the time.
They dont work in our city but work in some parts of Dallas. We have an appt service and supra lockboxes. Agents can view properties on their schedules.
We have a lot of inventory and I have rarely foudn them useful. I go myself when I want to check out property.
Jeff
Hi Sharon,
I haven't done a broker-open for years. In the past we've found then successful, yet today very few agents even preview properties. With so many photos online today, I think they rely on those more than anything else.
SS,
I went to a Brokers open a few months back where they turned it into a Tupperware Party.
The Realtor and Seller thought it was acceptable.
We walked once we realized what was going on..
Sharon,
I think brokers pens are more of a way for agents to get a free lunch...I've had them before and it was hard to get people. I send out faxes...emails I even go into offices begging people to come by and eat my food. They really have to be interested in the property to get them motivated to come out of their hole. They are just another listing tool for sellers to feel wanted.
Sharon, No Brokers Opens for me. Every now and then I will have someone ask about them but no one had ever really wanted one enough for me to have to do it. Its just not efficient marketing in my mind for this area.
I serve lunch and have door prizes at my broker opens. Typical turnout is 10-50, no way to tell how many will attend.
I've had a couple of agents come by during my open with buyers; we feed them too, no sales from that yet but I did get a couple of compliments on my Seafood Etouffee. ;->
Typical costs: $300 to $500
William - that's being creative in the public open house hours. I'd imagine that people would have more time to stop on the way home instead of on a timed trip to work.
Yes, that's a good way to find out if people are working with another agent. I usually do a one-step question (Who are you working with, or even better, Who is representing you?) instead of two steps (Are you working with someone? and then Who?).
Please do let me know about your refined system - I'm very interested in it.
"I respect all guests" - I would expect no less from you, William, in that your respect for each and every one of us shows in all your posts.
Mindy and Jay - you're right. For some agents, they work. For us, neither Brokers Opens nor public opens have been very productive - better to use the time and money for more productive ways of marketing.
Jeff - yes, exactly. I think both Ready-And-Real-Prospects and agents prefer to see things on their own time - as for previewing, they all do that on line, since we ALL have lots of photos and visual tours.
Lynda - I agree that online "previews" have generally replaced site visits.
Scott - that's one I (fortunately) haven't heard of.
Neal - for some agents, it may be the only time of the week that they do have lunch. We always want to target the selling agents rather than the Lunch Bunch, but those are the ones that generally don't have the time.
Steve - like you, we generally don't have Brokers' Opens. We do occasionally hold one when the sellers feel strongly about it. For the high end luxury listings we'd have an invitation-only soiree rather than a noontime Brokers Open.
Jim - the next time I'm in Knoxville I'll stop by just for the Seafood Etouffee. I did have two of the agents I called ask what I was serving for lunch!
They are not very succesful at all here in Calgary at this time, but there are discussions going on as to why this is the case and how they can be made to work for everyone again.
My theory is that the internet and virtual tours and floorplans and super-detailed location maps are making in-person visits by people who know how to use these tools, less useful.
- Andrew
Andrew - I agree with your theory. I think the change is representative of changing times and technologies.
Great Post! I know some of the condo's around our down town area have been doing them, not sure how they have turned out. I keep wanting to go and check it out and find that I can't seem to make it. I sure do think that it has to be some out of box thinking when it comes to selling these days.
I just did a Broker's Open in my area on a house just under $1m... and it was VERY lightly attended. I should have done the phone calls... I giess those will be on the list for next time.
Sharon~
I LOL when I read Patricia's comment..."Hang your dumplings in the window, and they will come..." poph how true it is...around Asheville the word is out about CERTAIN catering finds...a CERTAIn bar-b-Q...(makes your mouth water jsut to hear the name of this place)...a CERTAIN bakery...(same thing)..and we all know we'll see each other and have a good chat...
Lately some Brokers have been offering $50 gas card prizes as well...
If we came to YOUR Open...could we bring a bathing suit ...so that we could get some exercise after eating in that attractive endless pool? =)
lol @ Jane-Anne. Hi Sharon and I love, love, love this post. Or as they say in the vernacular, you are the bomb, lady lol.
Brokers Opens work here if they are in neighborhoods where houses are selling. That sometimes makes no sense to me, but in a way, they seem to only come if they think they will get, or already have, buyers. I'm having one on Tuesday in one of the most popular condo bldgs in Cleveland so I do expect a good turnout. One of the marketing ideas I really liked (I haven't done it yet) was a group of agents who each held an open house. Five. You got a playing card at each house and whoever had the best hand one 100 dollars. I thought that was very clever, and then you had to go to each of the five homes to get a card. Reminds me, I want to do this LOL
Hi Sharon
We still do a lot of broker's open and we also try to involve the surrounding listings.
We had 2 very unique properties on sunset beach a few weeks ago and the open was from 11 am to 2 pm By 12 I had counted 20 people and than I lost track, finally got out by 3.30 pm
It was the best brokers open, I got lots of helpful tips and ideas
Anne Hensel
Thing of the past. Photos, Virtual tours, and highly accessible MLS systems mean that previewing homes are less needed. Even Vflyers have a better return I think....
From my own experience and listening to other agents, opens and brokers opens are not working around Akron, Ohio. Maybe it is all the inventory, but that approach is wasting time around here.
Number one attractant for broker open in our area is FOOD. Feed them and a few will come.
Surveyed the thirty plus realtors in our office in the past and no one could recall ever getting an offer from a brokers open.
I myself, view properties at Sunday open houses.
Charlene - yes, we need to be out of the box, and we also need to test our prior conclusions on what works and what doesn't.
Lane - you may want to JUST do phone calls!
janeAnne - you can come with or without a bathing suit - I'll even pour the beverages.
Carole - that sounds like fun. It might also be interesting to have a progressive brokers' open so that the agents holding them open can see the other ones, too.
Anne - great response. Do you think it was because the homes were so unique? Are they hard to preview? Yes, agents are more likely to go out if they can preview several at once.
Greg - that's my take on it, too.
David - it may indeed relate to the market. When properties were scarce, we wanted to preview them quickly so we could call our clients to rush over. Now there's no urgency, in most cases.
Richard - we preview some on Sundays, too - depends where we are and what we're doing. Ironically, the agents that are the most active often won't take the time to eat any of the food - they truly just want to see the property.
What I've discovered is that if you serve food more agents will come, but unfortunately they are those agents who haven't sold a house in a year and are simply hungry for a good meal. So I don't serve food anymore. I'd rather be lightly attended by agents who actually have buyers, then have many agents who don't have any buyers at all! :)
I agree about the progressive open houses, Sharon. Sometimes I get really disappointed because it seems there are always one or two homes I really want to see when I am having one myself.
I think they are less and less attended. I sometimes have to work outside of real estate - so broker's opens are not always possible for me. Personally, there is an issue with a family member undergoing chemo on OH days - which makes attendance difficult. What I try to do is drive by anything that is of interest to my clients. I TRY to preview, but I'm finding that brokers and sellers don't like agents previewing - so getting permission is problematic. I do as much as I'm allowed before showing...
I hate brokers opens. Usually about 3-7 people show up and I have never sold a home to anyone whose agent saw it at a brokers open - in 19 years!
Kelly - I agree with you.
Carole - me, too.
Ruthmarie - with all the inventory out there, it's amazing that sellers and agents don't want you to preview. So sorry to hear about your family member going through chemo - that's never pleasant. Our thoughts are with you.
Lisa - well said.
Sharon, I have not done them much the last few years. I do agree the only ones that show up are the ones you personally call from other companies. Other than that it is new agents, who are learning the inventory or just agents from your own company.
I hold one broker open house for each new listing. My most recent was attended by over 100 agents. I do not serve food, although in the past I did, but years ago decided serving food to agents was not the highest and best use of my marketing dollars.
We haven't been able to track a sale to a broker's open in our office. In my opinion if you don't have other strong strategies and you want to show the seller you are working you do a broker's open and open houses. Of course if you simply want to build goodwill from other agents in the communtiy and you do a broker's open be sure to have food!!
It turns out there is a psychological reason why food is important. Anytime food is provided your perceived likeability goes up by those who consume the food... Which means they will have a good feeling doing a deal with you.
I found this documented in the book, "Influence - The Psychology of Persuassion" by Dr. Robert Cialdini
SHARON - Very interesting marketing technique. I'm going to do some more research on the Principle of Sacrifice, as you suggested. As far as broker open houses are concerned, I believe that attendance will drop as gas prices rise, simply because the free lunch is becoming very expensive @ $4 / gallon. It may be less impressive to homeowners, but sometimes...less is more. Just because a lot of agents came through, it doesn't mean that they have qualified buyers. In fact around here, some of them don't know how to qualify a buyer. It's just a social outing.
We owe one sale in a snowstorm at Christmas last year, I am sure, to my homade baked french onion soup...it warms the soul and apparently the agent ! Nothing "works" 100% all the time...but in the greater Milwaukee\Waukesha county area...feed them, and they will come !
Our office tours are poorly attended anymore. No need to waste the time if there's no buyer for the property, especially since the online photos are available. Here, the agents who attend tours or broker opens are for the most part those agents who aren't busy.
I held a broker open on a very unique home with an amazing view. I thought it would do well. I sent out evite invitations to 200 top agents (the kind who might have buyers in the price range). I placed a pretty flyer in several offices. I also put this flyer in the mailboxes of lots of top agents. I served food and offered a gift card. Only had 8-10 people - all friends from my office who attended out of courtesy. It was a total waste of money and the seller was really disappointed.
Missy - we need to remember that even new agents can have the buyer, and that it's great for them to know the inventory.
Norma - kudos to you for eliminating the food. Wow - 100 agents! That would merit a press release in our area.
Glenn - another reason to have food is to have them stay longer in the house - to see more of the benefits. I'll have to look into the book you mentioned - if it was available in a Kindle version I would have downloaded it while making these comments.
Adam - there's often a large gap between perception and reality. Check out www.StanBarron.com and read some of his copy, since he's the guru of the Principle of Sacrifice. It's great reading as well as learning. Glad to hear from you - it's been a while.
Sally & David - lots of small likelihoods add up to a larger one. We can't just sit back with our list of Everything That Doesn't Work.
Elaine - I had a sunset soiree at a luxury waterfront home once with lots of marketing, antique cars, catered food, and much more - and had less agents come than that! But you never know.
Sharon,
Personally -- I really like how you did that "Who would want this home"... It's a nice touch and makes it personal. I'm going to have to use something similar for one of our listing brochures...
As for Broker Opens -- not too common in Vegas for resales.
Paul - Determining "Who would want this home" is something our team does whenever we list a property.
Loved your post! Yes, broker opens still happen in my area -- no easy "drivebys", here (all those long driveways, with exceptional homes at the end of winding drives through forest privacy, or down to private oceanfront estates, etc.). My thought is: one can only successfully sell what one "knows", and in my quirky secondary home marketplace, this is especially true. Important to attend all broker opens so one "knows" this specialized inventory.
Thanks!
Li
Li Read, Re/Max Salt Spring, B.C., Canada
liread33@gmail.com
Hi, Li! Great to hear from you. Your point goes to all those agents who don't attend the broker opens - market knowledge is key!
Hi Sharon
We had five homes altogether within a few hundred yards, all were waterfront and beachfront, on Sunset beach, but I think what did or does the trick for us is the Pitch session on St. Pete beach.
My Partner Manny goes on Thursday mornings and introduces the properties, and right after the pitch we have it open. The homes are very easy to preview, but we never really get "preview" calls.
Our beachfront listing was built in 1938 and it the peachiest beach home you ever want to see and the 6 bedroom 6 bath home we have on Bayshore is zoned single family but the layout is such that you actually have "something" like 2 condos in one home. so I guess the uniqueness and the way we write up the flyers help a lot.
Check out this link and you will see what I am talking about
You like it or you hate it? Let me know! Sunset beach
Anne Hensel
Anne - thanks for the comment. I went over to your post and left a comment on it.