in this issue…
Putting a Face on Real Estate since 1995™
• AYREP Education & Happy Hour • ABoR Brokers Forum • HBA Crawfish Boil Builder/ REALTOR Mixer • Avalar Austin Annual Awards • and much, much more!
There’s an TM
App for that! page 9
MAY 2015 • VOLUME 20 • ISSUE 1
Simple ways to get buyers to your open house By Riki Markowitz
O
Visit us online 24/7 at www.myRealtyLine.com
P. O. Box 81366, Austin, Texas 78708
TM
austin
RL
Putting a Face on Real Estate since 1995
Printed on recycled paper.
Presorted Standard U.S. Postage PAID Austin, Texas Paid Permit #715
n nearly any given Sunday, a good percentage of Texas REALTORS are dressed in work attire welcoming potential homebuyers into listings all over the city. At one time, attending an open house viewing was the only way folks could independently see, evaluate and compare homes on the market. Today, REALTORS are contending with websites that offer shoppers and gawkers alike everything from three-dimensional renderings, virtual tours, and comprehensive lists detailing local schools, markets, parks,
hospitals and more. Technology even allows us to furnish, decorate, paint and renovate prospective homes without getting out of bed. So why do some agents forgo soccer matches and weekend family time 40 to 45 Sundays of their year when a declining number of buyers go to open house viewings? It comes down to networking. “Every open house is not going to lead to a sale,” says Erik Hegwer, a REALTOR at JBGoodwin Real Estate, “but hopefully every open house is going to lead to a networking opportunity.” For Hegwer, who has been an agent for three years, roughly 10 percent to 20 percent of his open house viewings result in a lead. His numbers are not far off from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), which reports that in 2014, 9 percent of buyers found their
home at an open house viewing. But NAR does go on to say that the numbers are nosediving drastically. In 2004, 16 percent of buyers made a deal from an open house listing. Considering other NAR statistics, namely that in 2014, 41 percent of buyers went to an open house compared to 2004 when 51 percent of buyers did so, it’s no surprise that fewer agents are willing to even go to the trouble, showing the same property sometimes four, five, or six times. It’s even harder to justify when the listing is missing an aesthetic “wow” factor. The added work of coming up with clever and unique ways for families to vi-
Upcoming Events
sualize the transformation from a plain-Jane house into the home of their dreams can be an uphill battle for agents – but not so much for virtual open house tours. Reality Line spoke with local REALTORS and asked how they draw foot traffic to viewings. For the most part, crowd-attracting techniques are straightforward. But a few clever tips and tricks can be the difference between standing in an empty house and landing a sale – or even a potential client. The most common way of broadcasting an open house viewing is first listing the event on the MLS as well as on professional social media pages. No agent skips these steps. Most REALTORS place some dozen directional signs around the neighborhood. Matthew Cornwall, a REALTOR at Coldwell Banker United, says “My theory is that if they haven’t seen one of my signs in a half mile, they’ve probably veered off to do something else. So I use the directionals to keep them
Front Page: Continued on page 10
More at www.myRealtyLine.com
Thursday, May 20 HBA Parade of Homes VIP Preview Party - 6 to 9 p.m. Serene Hills
Thursday, May 28 HBA Parade of Homes REALTOR Day 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. - Serene Hills
Thursday, June 4 Homes by Avi Grand Opening 3 to 6 p.m. - Addison
Thursday, May 26 WCR: A Girl & A Gun - Concealed Handgun License Class - 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Keller Williams CP
Wednesday, June 3 AMBA Monthly Meeting 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Austin Country Club
WCREALTORS: 26th Annual Golf Classic 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. - Cimarron Hills
HBA Gayle Berkbigler Golf Classic 1 to 6 p.m. - Flintrock Falls Golf Club
Wednesday, June 17 CRS Bi-Monthly Meeting 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Westwood Country Club
Wednesday, May 27 ABoR Forum - 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. ABoR Headquarters
WCREALTORS TREPAC Wine Tasting 1 to 6 p.m. - The Long Center
Wednesday, June 17 CRS Bi-Monthly Meeting 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Westwood Country Club