Open House Tips – Guide to Hosting an Open House in NYC
A crucial part of selling any home in New York is the open house. When done right it can solicit multiple offers and more than cover the costs of it. When done poorly it can end up being a waste of both time and money. If you’re going to make it work you have to have it well planned out and organized. With a good combination of timing, marketing, and advertising you can see your investment pay off big.
Understanding the Open House
If you’re not familiar with the concept, an open house is a block of time when a property is available for viewing. It typically runs for 1-3 hours and is normally held on a weekend afternoon. People can just walk in and view the property for themselves to get an idea of what living there would be like. The listing agent will be present at all time to show people around and answer any questions.
However, many buildings in New York, especially co-ops, do not allow open houses. Some require that two agents be present at all times, others only allow open houses by appointment and others still have no restrictions whatsoever.
How to host an Open House in NYC
Every part of the plan for the open house should be well taught out before you advertise the date. Go through each of these areas and you’ll be able to plan and execute the best open house possible.
Choose the perfect time
The first thing to decide is what the best time and date is for hosting the open house. Sunday is the most common day, a legacy of the days when the real estate section of the Sunday newspaper drove most of the traffic. You’ll want it to be a time when you can attract the most potential buyers so stick with Sunday from 11-5pm, the most popular time slot.
The only exception to the Sunday rule is if it falls near a national or religious holiday. If that happens you should maybe consider either skipping the weekend or try a weeknight open house. After work hours on Tuesday and Wednesday from 6-7pm can work but just know that weekday open houses can be hit and miss.
Marketing and advertising
When it comes to advertising, start with a simple sign. Have it not just on the door of your unit but also the doors leading into the building. If the building has a doorman make sure you keep him in the loop so he can properly greet and direct any visitors.
Most importantly, if you don’t have any online advertising you effectively don’t have any advertising. A good listing agent can help you with this and put the word out to other brokers who could be willing to send potential buyers in exchange for a co-brokering commission.
If the building requires appointments make sure this is mentioned in the advertising. A potential buyer may get in but a doorman can be difficult to work within this situation.
Home Staging
Last but not least, get the apartment set up for the open house. It would really help to hire a staging expert for this. They can recommend what changes are needed that will make the home appeal to the most buyers.
All clutter and personal items should be stored away so the place looks as neutral as possible. The whole point of an open house is to help visitors envision what living there would be like. It’s hard to do that if you’ve got family photos and other personal items lying around. Every room should be deep cleaned and any defects, such as a crack in the wall, should be amended or covered up as a last resort.
If you can do just this much you should be able to make the most of your open house. With luck, you’ll get multiple offers that could even lead to a bidding war, more than justifying the expanse of the staging and marketing.
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