Dos and Don’ts for Following Up after your open house

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We hope that this last weekend brought your properties lots of traffic and great leads. And while leads and traffic are certainly great, there’s only so much time you can dedicate to getting to know the needs and desires of all potential homebuyers who visit your open house.

This makes follow-up a critical piece of a successful open house. In the spirit of post-National Open House Weekend, and better understanding the needs of your visitors, we put together this list of a few Dos and Don’ts for following-up after an open house.

Check them out below and feel free to add your favorites in the comments:

1. Do send a thank you note. This may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how many agents don’t do this, or those that do admit to sending a generic thank you note with their business card. Get creative with your thank you notes!

Here’s an idea – snap a couple pictures of your open using Instagram. Using a free app like Overgram, it’s $1.99 if you want to remove Overgram’s branding, add text to your photos thanking your visitors for coming. Include property details and your contact info. It’s like a picture postcard!

2. Do follow-up with a video. After the open house is over, shoot a short video highlighting all the great things about the property for sale. Free app Videolicious allows you to create short videos highlighting the best features of your listing and the surrounding community.

Did your visitors tell you they have kids and are looking for a property with a park nearby? Consider adding a few frames highlighting the nearby park.

3. Don’t automatically add your visitors’ contact information to your email newsletter. While it may be tempting to import their contact information directly into your email newsletter distribution list and to start sharing your latest news, we recommend ASKING whether they want to receive your updates. Use your thank you note or video as a segue to ask them whether they would like you to keep in touch.

4. Don’t forget that today’s buyers are searching for homes via their mobile devices. Stay top of mind with visitors to your open house by giving them access to your custom branded mobile app. With your mobile app, homebuyers can search all available properties in their desired neighborhood and price range, and contact you when they find something they like regardless of if you’re the listing agent. For more information on our custom branded mobile apps for agents, visit: http://home.smarteragent.com/products/agent-branded-app/.

We’d love to hear how you follow-up after an open house. Please share your favorite ways in the comments below!