Open houses are free ways to market yourself.

Just ask agent Cindy Leiterman of Green Bay, WI, who received an e-mail from a couple she met at an open house asking her to be their REALTOR®. "We chatted about the house and the market in general, and they went on their merry way. Later that evening, I received an e-mail from them asking me to be their REALTOR®. They wanted to write an offer on a house that isn't even listed with my company," she says on her ActiveRain blog.

"I didn't advertise the open house but instead just plopped out a sign at the curb because another agent had a series of houses open a few houses down from mine. I was just fishing and didn't expect a whole lot."

Leiterman says she got lucky. But as the adage goes, "luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."

Neighbors as potential clients

Most open house attendees are neighbors who want to know what their house is worth. "Agents typically hand out business cards and write them off. But 'nosy' neighbors are potential clients," said Jamie Brace, an iMarketing consultant for PropertyMinder.com.

"Agents must stop thinking about what is going to happen today and build a pipeline for business in six months or a year from now."

Four open houses a month with ten guest per event could generate as many as 30 leads.

In a free webinar today, Brace advised agents to "ask for permission to send them an e-mail to let them know if anyone has sold on their street."


PropertyMinder's Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool allows agents to import contacts and assign follow-up campaigns. Agents can automate proximity searches for prospects and alert them to any changes in local property values.

AccelerAgent websites harness the use of new information technology to enable agents to sell houses faster and for more money. "That's how you set yourself apart from the competition in this marketplace," Brace said.