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February 4, 2025 17 mins

Are you ready to build a thriving real estate business without sacrificing your sanity? In this episode, discover the power of open houses as a lead generation goldmine! You'll learn:

  • How The OPEN Method (Organize, Promote, Engage, Nurture) transforms open houses into a six-figure lead generator.
  • Tips to overcome common objections like "open houses don’t work" or "people give fake info."
  • Pro hacks for preparing, promoting, and hosting like a pro—making you the go-to agent in your market.
  • Systems to ensure every open house builds your client pipeline for consistent, long-term success.
  • Exclusive bonuses available in The OPEN Method Course, including:
    • Foolproof Host-for-You Script
    • Open House Survival Kit Checklist
    • Buzz Builder Blueprint
    • Six-Figure Sign-In Sheet
    • ChatGPT Super Prompt: writes a 12-month nurture drip campaign custom to you!

Don’t let open houses intimidate you—they’re your ticket to growth!

👉 Learn more about The OPEN Method and snag your bonuses at happyagentco.com/openmethod

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Do you ever feel like holding open houses is a waste
of time?
What if I told you that theycould be your secret weapon for
generating very affordable, ifnot free, leads and closing six
figures this year?
Okay, maybe I have yourattention now.
I am here to share my secretsof open house success with you

(00:22):
and how they have absolutelybeen an incredible lead
generation source for me in mybusiness over the past 20 years.
I started my real estate careerin 2004 as a new construction
sales rep for Pulte Homes in theNorthern Virginia area, and I
don't know if you're familiarwith that job title, but

(00:43):
basically I sat in a model homeand I held an open house every
single day.
I have greeted, conservativelyover 8,000 quote unquote open
house visitors in my newconstruction sales career as
well as my general brokeragecareer, so to say that I
understand how to host an openhouse is an understatement.

(01:06):
I really think they are one ofthe most important ways to get
in touch, get face-to-face withbuyers and even potential
sellers, even in today'stech-driven online lead
generation market.
So today I want to give you mypeek into the OPEN method, which
is a system that I created tohelp agents maximize their open

(01:30):
house results.
I'm going to share what theOPEN method is, some actionable
tips.
Under each of the letters ofthe acronym EN is an acronym and
I'll tell you what they standfor, and I really hope that what
I share today will encourageyou, if not get you so excited,
to host an open house thisweekend.

(01:51):
Let's dive into some commonobjections that I hear about
open houses.
Open houses don't work.
The market's slow, no one'sgoing to come, people always
give me fake information or theyrefuse to sign in.
So what's the point?
I am telling you, if you have asystem and you have tools in

(02:14):
place, those objections getcompletely blown up with water.
Open houses are the best way toget face to face with motivated
buyers and sellers.
This leads to not only clients,but it leads to building your
database, which means that youcan get referrals and future
transactions.
This is such a great way toreboot your real estate business

(02:34):
.
Or, if you are brand new andreally struggling with getting
clients, open houses are such apowerful way to make that happen
.
So let's dive in to what exactlythe open method is.
It is a four-step system thatis designed to help you master
each stage of the open houseprocess from planning all the
way to follow up.
So the acronym stands fororganize, promote, engage and

(02:59):
nurture, and we'll dive intoeach four of those steps and
give you some tips on how tohave open house success.
The first step is organize, andthis is where I think a lot of
real estate agents don't do agreat job.
This is all about doing yourhomework and getting prepped.
The first thing, and the mostobvious, is know the property

(03:22):
that you're actually holdingopen is know the property that
you're actually holding open.
This means review the MLS dataIf it is in a condo or an HOA.
Make sure you understandexactly what that monthly fee is
, what it includes.
Also, know what terms theseller might be looking for.
Anything that a potential buyeror open house visitor would ask

(03:43):
you, you should know the answer.
Nothing makes me more irritatedwhen I walk into an open house
and the person holding the openhouse says I don't know to what
should be very obvious questions.
So that is the first thing.
You need to know that propertyinside and out.
Second is know the neighborhood.
If someone does not know wherethe closest grocery store is,

(04:07):
maybe they're interested in adog park, maybe they'd like to
know what schools it'sdistricted for.
You need to know theinformation about the
surrounding neighborhood as well.
So if you're holding it open ina neighborhood that you're
maybe a little bit unfamiliarwith, go out there, find out
what coffee shops are there,what grocery stores are there,
what are the neighborhoodlifestyle features that a

(04:28):
potential buyer would beinterested in.
So, knowing the property,knowing the neighborhood so key
to holding an effective openhouse.
The last thing is I love to havean open house survival kit.
I keep this in a largeTupperware container in my car
and this is everything that youmight need.

(04:48):
Things that I have in therewould include and this is not
the exhaustive list, but itwould be sign-in sheets, pens,
tape, light bulbs, disinfectingwipes, paper towels, toilet
paper, for sure.
Just, you never know whatyou're going to walk into.
So, whether it's occupied or avacant home being prepared, know
what you're going to walk into.
So, whether it's occupied or avacant home, being prepared
means that you're going to feelconfident and it also shows your

(05:11):
professionalism.
There's nothing worse thanneeding a sharpie marker and a
piece of paper and a piece oftape to write a sign for people
to call XYZ on the call box at acondo building and you don't
have it.
It's just.
It just creates this rippleeffect of feeling scattered and
not feeling on your game.
So anything you can do to feelorganized or organize yourself

(05:35):
it is so crucial.
First step lay that foundation Oget organized.
P P is for promote.
People sometimes think you canjust throw it in the MLS and
people are going to show up.
And yes, sometimes that is thecase.
But you are here to make this alead generation magnet for you.
So we want to use multimediacampaign.

(05:58):
Yes, we're going back tomarketing school.
We want to make sure that weare using a lot of different
media to build buzz.
I personally have a buzzbuilder promotion checklist and
I use that to essentially figureout what my plan is for that
particular open house.
This could include social media.

(06:19):
This can include email blasts.
It could also include personalinvites to your sphere or lead
Neighbor invites.
Door knocking could be promo orpartnering with a local
business, direct mail if that'sin your budget, but really
making sure that this open houseis promoted.
So I encourage you to figureout what types of media you're

(06:43):
going to be using for your openhouse and then have your
promotion checklist.
All right.
So we've covered the O and theP of the open method.
So we've organized, we've gotour nice foundation, we have our
promo plan and we've beenpromoting it.
We're going to get somevisitors.
I believe it.
If you have done that, you're apromo machine.
You're making this happen.

(07:03):
The E stands for engage.
Now this is another place whereI feel like a lot of agents
really fall down on this.
You have to make this openhouse your party.
You're the host of the hottestreal estate party that has ever
happened in whatever marketyou're in.
Now I'm not saying that itneeds to be extravagant or you

(07:26):
need to spend a ton of money onit, but you need to be the
ultimate host.
Now, what does it mean to be agood host?
When people come in, we'regreeting them warmly.
I also like to ask an easy toanswer question.
So often agents are askingthese complex questions Maybe
what are you looking for?

(07:46):
Or very open-ended.
I like something very simple,very easy to answer.
So my favorite favoritequestion to ask is where do you
live?
And this is easy.
I live in Fairfax, I live inBoston, and that can lead you to
oh where in Boston or oh wherein Fairfax.

(08:07):
So really it helps you figureout.
Are they owning, do they rent?
Where do they live?
What context of a neighborhoodare they going for?
Are they way outside of wherethey live or are they close?
Are they relocating, are theynot?
I love this question becauseit's easy to answer and it also
gives you some information tostart asking a little bit more

(08:29):
specific questions.
Now, if people just aren't inthe mood to talk, totally get
that.
But I have found more oftenthan not, this question is the
money question when it comes toopen houses.
The other thing is that I makesigning in a non-negotiable.
Now, a lot of people strugglewith getting people to sign in,
but my sign-in sheet has itemsof value to entice them to want

(08:52):
to sign in.
So these are things that wouldbe helpful for a buyer or a
seller, and they just check offif they're interested in
receiving something.
So I also am a big believer inpaper because it allows me to
write notes on the back.
So I have a special sign-insheet that I like to use that
has contact information plusitems of value, and then each

(09:15):
person gets their own sign-insheet.
So it's a really great method.
I think it works really well forsigning in, and I make sure
that everybody signs in.
It's a non-invitable.
Also, I like to keep thepressure off when I invite them
to tour.
So once I've greeted them, theysign in.
I say make yourself at home.
Please take a tour.

(09:35):
Don't forget to see the primarybedroom closet it is a stunner.
Or don't forget to check outthe amazing patio in the back.
So call out a few things thatyou would like them to see, or
make sure that they see, andthen I just let them make
themselves at home.
I think that that's a reallygreat way to take the pressure
off.
Let them digest the home andthen make sure you're catching

(09:59):
them on their way out.
This is where I like to ask forfeedback.
So I'll say what did you thinkof the home?
And they'll give you somefeedback.
Are you interested inpotentially making an offer?
If it seems like they are, Iask that question and then we go
from there.
But I make sure that I amcatching them on their way out
and then, if they have checkedone of my items of value, I say

(10:23):
you'll be hearing from me X, y,z.
Or I just say I'll be chattingwith you, or I'll follow up with
you tomorrow, if that's OK.
So I'm planting the seed thatthey'll be hearing from me.
So that's E engage.
Let's dive into N nurture.
This is another piece that Ifeel like so many agents fall

(10:44):
down on.
Is this becoming a trend?
Maybe?
I just think agents aren't goodat this, which is why I want to
teach it.
First thing is send apersonalized thank you email or
text within 24 hours of the openhouse.
That is a non-negotiable.
If you are using the items ofvalue technique, make sure that
you're sending that item ofvalue within 24 hours as well.

(11:05):
I also like to set up a longernurture campaign to stay in
touch with them.
So this could be valuablecontent like market updates, new
listing alerts, it could betips for buyers or sellers, and
I like using a combination ofautomation plus personalization.
So I really think ChatGPT isvery useful for drafting a

(11:26):
12-month nurture plan, and Ihave a custom prompt that will
actually not only take intoaccount my brand voice so it
sounds like me but I can tell itwhich methods I want to use,
what area I'm focusing on.
So I really like using AI todraft out a 12-month plan for me
and then I just plug that intomy CRM as an action plan, which

(11:49):
is so convenient.
So making sure that you'renurturing for at least 12 months
is a really important piece,because not every open house
visitor is ready to act rightaway.
You will find some that are,which is great and it's a huge
reason why you should be doingopen houses.
But another reason I love openhouses is that it's building a

(12:09):
longer term pipeline for you andwhat we're really focused on is
making sure that you havebusiness only today, but 12
months from now.
If you do open housesconsistently, on a consistent
basis, you're really kind ofremoving those ebbs and flows of
that feast and famine cycle ofyour real estate business.
So that is the open method wehave organize, promote, engage

(12:33):
and nurture.
I am telling you, the openmethod works in any market and
it is such an effective, no tolow cost lead generation method
and not enough agents are takingadvantage of this, I'm telling
you.
I would say 80% of real estateagents are not doing open houses
to the maximum.

(12:54):
I firmly believe that if youjust did open houses and really
took them as seriously as youshould in the open method, I
would be shocked if you didn'tsell a house every single month.
What if you don't have alisting to hold open?
What if you don't have listings?
What if you're a brand newagent or you just don't have any

(13:15):
listings?
This is such a good opportunityto partner with other agents
and hold other people's listingsopen.
There's nothing preventing youfrom doing that.
Most top producers have zerointerest in holding their own
houses open, so they're alwayslooking for professional,
organized, effective agents tohold their listings open.

(13:39):
And if you are using the openmethod, those agents are going
to respect you so much morebecause you have a process and
it's not just willy-nilly.
So you will actually buildrelationships with some of these
top producing agents who wouldlove to give you their open
houses.
You'll probably be their firstchoice because you are so
organized and following aprocess and a system.

(14:00):
So, if you are sold on openhouses, I'm so excited because
the open method is now an onlinecourse that you can take.
It is a quick 30 minutetraining and it's packed with
all of the strategies that I'veoutlined, and it also has all of
the bonus tools that will helpturn your open houses into a

(14:21):
lead generating machine.
So what are the bonuses?
So, in addition to the fulltraining.
I have the host for you script.
So this is an email templatethat you can send to any listing
agent of any property you wantto hold open, and it's going to
outline why you are the bestperson to hold that house open
for them.
I would be shocked if an agentsaid no to you using this email

(14:45):
script.
The other thing is you're goingto get my open house survival
kit checklist and this haseverything you need to make sure
that you are ready for youropen house physically.
I also have my buzz builderblueprint, which is everything
you need in terms of promotion.
So we're all the channels thatwe talked about and it walks you

(15:07):
through all of the things thatyou need.
So if you have an open houseyou're holding, you can go
through this checklist to makesure that you're addressing all
of the ways that you can gettraffic to that open house.
I'm also including mysix-figure sign-in sheet, which
includes those items of value,the specific ones.
It's a template that you canjust plug your logo into and

(15:27):
it's ready to go.
And then I'm also including myChatGPT super prompt, which
writes your 12-month nurturecampaign.
That is totally custom to youand your brand voice.
So if you'd like to learn more,you can head to happyagentco
slash open method to learn more.
Check out the course and alsoall of the bonuses, and I hope

(15:51):
that you do check it out becauseagents have been sleeping.
They've been sleeping on openhouses and I don't want you to
sleep on it anymore.
Open houses do not have to be achore.
They can be a powerful tool togrow your business when you have
the right systems in place andI love a good system.
In the open method course, I gointo full detail about each
step Plus, you get all thosetools to make open houses a

(16:14):
cornerstone of your real estatesuccess.
I tried to make this as easy aspossible.
This is really a plug and playsystem and I really know that if
you follow the open method, youwill make some money.
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