Ode to the Open House/ Baton Rouge Real Estate Home

Well, I would love to say a million people showed up to our open house. I would love to say so many people were there that all the cookies were gone. Come on Baton Rouge, don’t let Christmas take away from the awesome open houses. lol Didn’t you want to see the crazy upside down Grinch tree?

 So, before the ‘open house’, I made my way to Party Time to get some black and yellow balloons. Obviously, black and yellow are our colors (which I love). Of course, I would much prefer black and pink but I’m thinking that isn’t very professional. So, I got balloons to put on the open house signs. My partner, Pat Travasos, had put signs up around the neighborhood so people could find their way to the open house. The only problem? I had problems finding the signs myself.

When I think open house…I think “BIG” signs. I think “BIG” flags. I picture at least five or six signs coming from every direction, right? I mean, I’m not asking for a marching band but, you know, just reasonable signs. Our signs were so small, I actually passed them up. They were not signs that stood out and said “Hey You, It’s an OPEN HOUSE”. You basically had to look for it, which wasn’t good. They were teeny tiny and they were, yes..in our colors…black and yellow. While I think the black and yellow colors are an awesome combo- I’m think we just need the generic RED AND WHITE OPEN HOUSE signs.

I think my partner and I will invest in an “open house” kit. Oh yes, we actually DID have a flag BUT our company had just purchased it and guess what? They forgot to send a pole with it. Hello! Flag+no pole= no flag! lol I was so excited about the flag to. I knew this would be the main indicator of what drew people in. “HEY, LOOK IT’S A FLAG, LET’S GO CHECK IT OUT”. I think we need to get a flag that says “Free Cookies”. lol I think that would work better than an open house flag.

So, I’m putting this on my ”to get” list,  open house signs that are  viewable and noticable. So, how did the open house go? Oh, I had a great time by myself. It’s actually a beautiful house, so I didn’t mind getting cozy on the couch and reading my latest Real Estate book. One lady did actually show up. This made my millienium. She was so kind and outgoing and easy to talk to. I am not sure if she is a potential buyer of the home, but she was def. interested in buying a home.

I love this job. I really do. I love being able to meet new people. My last job, well, I owned an online, baby clothing store. I totally loved it, but it gets really boring after awhile working out of your home. You can only hold so many conversations with yourself. It was great meeting people “online” and forming new relationships, but these are people I would never actually “meet”. I wanted to get out and meet people, personally…face to face.

 So, one person showing up is better than none, right? Always. I’m not worried about it. It will go fast, I think. It’s a lovely home. The owners are wanting to move b/c they would like to be closer to her parents. I am thinking that they want to build. I am keeping my fingers cross for this house to get sold with a quickness.

So, (why am I starting all of my sentences with so?) for the next open house we will do things differently. We did have a gift basket drawing but of course, only one person showed up so she one that one by default. lol Next time, we will put it in the newspaper. We were unaware that we had the option to do that. Sometimes you are suppose to have a contract with the newspaper before you can even submit an ad. Next open house- new flag!, new signs!, newspaper ad!, Real Estate Finder ad!, More cookies!!!