Esquire Realty Ciaramella & Co.

Open houses can go one of two ways. Smooth and controlled, or chaotic and uncomfortable for everyone involved. The difference usually comes down to planning and knowing how to read the room before the first buyer even walks in.

𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗜 𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲, 𝗜 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗺𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀. I look at how many people have viewed and saved the property, and I pay attention to how many agents are opening my promotional emails. That data tells me what kind of traffic I am realistically preparing for.

Two weeks ago, I had a property with extremely high interest. I knew it was going to be busy, so I staffed it accordingly. 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲, 𝗽𝗹𝘂𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀. In situations like that, I actually prefer keeping agents stationary in key allowing buyers to walk through more freely. It keeps things flowing and avoids bottlenecks.But not every open house is a crowd.

𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼.The property was large, four full floors of living space, but the interest level did not suggest a heavy turnout. That creates a different kind of challenge.𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗮 𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝗱, 𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲. So I adjusted.

𝗜 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗜 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗼𝗻. It created a natural pause point, allowed me to stay in control of the showing, and made sure every group got proper attention without others roaming the house. It is a small move, but it makes a big difference.

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲.This can matter even more when a property is tenant occupied. Tenants already feel like their privacy is being interrupted. The last thing you want is strangers walking through their space without any structure or supervision.

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗱𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄, 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿.