What if Every Open House Had a Line Around the Block?
By Chris Lee
Do you remember the days of the early iPhone releases? I do. I was on my way to work one early morning. As I passed by an Apple store before it opened, I saw what looked like a scene from a hippie concert venue. Fans of the new iPhone were brewing morning coffee outside of their tents on the sidewalk outside of the dimly lit store. Amazingly, these people had slept on the sidewalk just so they could be the first to get their hands on the new technology.
There’s something seemingly magical to how companies like Apple market. Apple employs strategies that create an arguably irrational response in the consumer, selling some of the most expensive and innovative products on the market. While there’s a lot to marketing, what companies like Apple have mastered is the art of timing in their marketing.
But what does timing have to do with real estate?
According to the National Association of Realtors, less than 1% of homes sell as a result of the average open house. You might say that the traditional weekend open house is dead, or at best an ineffective use of time. But what if you thought about timing like Apple does? What if you could have throngs of people camped out in anticipation of being the first to put in an offer for your home?
Through some experimentation, we crafted a plan that strategically times open houses for Thursday evenings. Having built anticipation in the audience of buyers for a week prior to Thursday with beautiful photos, the right story and excellent pricing strategies, these “twilight” opens are the first opportunity any buyer has to see our client’s house in person. The results have amazed even us.
Since nailing the timing of our open houses, we’ve seen it all. From the cops showing up to manage crowds and parking, to buyers who try to “steal” the house sight unseen, and buyer agents chipping in their commission to make the deal more attractive.
But what’s even more incredible is that, instead of the industry standard 1% yield, around 35% of the buyers who purchase our client’s homes come as a result of this strategy.
When you generate this kind of interest, there are a few critical pieces that fall into place. First, we are able to create bidding wars on properties that would not have otherwise happened. Secondly, our insights into how to position negotiations is wildly enhanced as a result of early, first hand intelligence of what the market of serious buyers thinks of the home. Finally, our sellers gain leverage in negotiating when they have multiple offers.
Most importantly, in both seller and buyer markets, we have beaten the market by a minimum of 3% per year for ten years for our sellers. That’s $30,000 on a million dollar home
What’s the cost of not having an Apple timing strategy? You do the math.
