You may remember that I had stated, no Open Houses for the general public. Like always I reserve the right to change my opinion. While I'm still very skeptical, given all the data I've been presented, that an Open House will sell a home via that event, it does "Maximize the Map". If you believe that most home shopping is done online, one needs to become search engine relevant. Obviously we're not talking Google, but rather how our property displays via the private databases for Edina Realty and the local MLS.
My goal, is to Maximize the Map. With so many properties for sale, I need to draw attention to our home. Thus, I need to take actions that draw visual attention while the online shopper is engaged in research. For the first seven days of a listing, you get a "new flag", open houses also give you a visual flag. Take a look at the screenshot given below (click to maximize) and you'll see what I mean. Listings with "flags" jump out at you.
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Richard, we bought our first home in Memphis after seeing it at an open house. We'd been looking, and the agent took us to a dozen other homes following the open house, but it's the one we wanted.
Posted by: Jim Plaunt | September 25, 2010 at 08:54 AM