An open house can be a great tool in the process of selling your home but there are certain things you can do to help boost the success. You also need to keep in mind that the buyer of your home statistically will not attend the open house but the people that do attend will tell their family and friends who will also pass on information, so it is important to get people to attend.

• Make sure your listing is available online with as much information and as many photos and videos as possible. Most potential buyers are researching online before they ever see your home and they want to gather as much information as possible. I have my listings on over 100 different websites.
• Advertise your open house at least a week in advance on all the real estate sites your home is on. Some sites have open house searches or actual open house apps and you want buyers to know about your open house. As soon as I know I will be having an open house I enter it on all the sites I have the listing on.
• Let your neighbors know that your home is for sale. Sure, neighbors are nosey and you may not want them involved but they know the neighborhood and may have family or friends that want to buy in the area. Make sure they know about the open house too! I actually send out postcards to at least 50 homes in the neighborhood announcing the listing and the open house so they can come by and/or let family and friends know about the listing and the open house.
• Make sure your home has lost your personality. Buyers need to imagine themselves and their belongings in the home, so you need to remove family photos, religious items and any other items that may be slightly controversial to a buyer. Your Realtor should coach you on this prior to putting your home up for sale so you have time to prepare.
• Whatever you do, leave before the open house begins and make sure to take your family and pets with you as some buyers do not care for pets. You may be an expert on your home but trust me, what you tell buyers may be just want they do not want in a house and buyers don’t feel comfortable looking around a home when the owner is right there.
• Your Realtor should be present during the open house but he or she can’t be everywhere at once and you don’t know how many people will attend, so be smart. Lock up or put out of sight any valuables, prescription drugs or other information that you do not want people to have access to. It is rare but people have taken things from homes during open houses.

SOLD IN JUST 15 DAYS! Yesterday I closed on my listing at 15598 Cornell Trail #C in Rosemount.  The sellers had renovated this 1989 built quad home, new kitchen, new flooring, new bathrooms and so much more.  They put it on the market at a good competitive price and hoped it would sell.  It was priced right and we had showings galore with several offers almost right away.  The sellers accepted one of the offers and had a successful closing.  This sale was typical of today’s market – price it right and the offers will come, often multiple offers giving the sellers some options as to who they will sell to.

In between days. The spring and summer selling seasons are well behind us, and the holiday slowdown is well ahead of us (except in some department stores). As the days grow shorter, housing numbers may not be as thrilling as they were in recent months, but the trends remain the same. Compared to last year, sales are regularly up and inventory figures are down, including months of supply. Sales and prices will surely drop, but there is reason for optimism through the end of the year, providing a cure to several years of little to hold on to.

In the Twin Cities region, for the week ending October 6:

• New Listings increased 2.8% to 1,301
• Pending Sales increased 33.5% to 1,049
• Inventory decreased 28.6% to 16,113

*From the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors

We are now into the fall market in real estate, school has started, we in Minnesota are thinking about comfort foods and then the thought of selling the house enters the mind.  If you have had your home listed you tend to think it is time to take it off the market and try again in the spring.  If you want to sell you think it might be best to wait for spring.  I mean really does anyone sell a home in the fall and winter?  The answer is YES!  Keep your home listed and if you haven’t listed, go right ahead and list.  Because fall/winter are slower times, there are fewer listings on the market and simple economics says low supply, higher prices.  People that want or need to move are still shopping for their new home in the fall and winter so why not have yours out there in the smaller inventory pool?  Bake some apple crisp to make your home smell homey before a showing and see how quickly your home will sell.  Sure, spring and summer have the high sales numbers but you also have a lot more competition – if people are motivated they will buy any time of the year! So before cancelling your listing or not listing at all because of the fall market, take a serious look at the pros and cons.