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Real estate marketing is both an art and science for smart agents – we are here to help with both.

ByLeo Victor

Real Estate Swag Ideas for a Successful Open House in 2024

Having a successful open house and generating enough leads or getting call backs from potential clients starts with the planning and strategy. Open houses are a great way to sell a home and there are ways you can maximize your opportunities, including using promotional real estate items.
Open House WelcomingAt least 20 percent of home sales are a result of an open house. However, just having an open house is no guarantee that it will sell. In order to take advantage of the opportunity presented with an open house, you must make it stellar.

Choosing the right dates and times, staging the property, and making sure you have plenty of unique real estate swag so that visitors remember who you are. After all, once they leave the property, they are likely going to visit a dozen more.

You need to make sure they remember you when the time comes to purchase. Doing so with some giveaway items for open houses is something we will touch on a little later in this article.

So, what are some things you can do to prepare for an open house?

Staging for an open housePreparing for the Open House in Advance

Preparedness goes a long way. You must think of things in advance so that your open house runs smoothly. Your open house preparation must include:

  • Choosing the Best Date and Time – Make sure to choose a time when everyone is available. Holding it on a Tuesday at 10AM will not likely get you many leads. Potential buyers are at work and not available to take off just to see the house. One of the best days to hold an open house is on Sunday (and definitely after church which would be 1 o’clock in most areas).
  • Preparing Marketing Materials – Don’t just expect visitors to remember everything they see (or you tell them about the house). You must have real estate marketing handouts such as fact sheets about the house containing things like square footage and pictures. Arrange for these ahead of time so you have them on the day of. Showing up empty handed makes you look incompetent which will really turn off potential buyers and prospective clients.
  • Staging / Cleaning the Property – If the property is empty, you will want to stage it with furniture and pictures. Empty houses are nice, but just not as appealing as those that are furnished. When a house is staged, people can picture themselves living there. Staging could be the difference between selling the house or the client moving down the street. If the house is occupied, make sure to communicate (and check up on the day before) with the homeowner the importance of the place being clean.
  • Advertising – There are many marketing items for realtors that are available to you. Marketing brochures, email lists, and even word of mouth. Communicate with everyone about the open house so that the word gets around. If people are not aware of it, how do you plan on them showing up? Social media such as Facebook advertising is also a great way to reach potential buyers.
  • Custom House Shaped Memo ClipsSignage is a Must – You must have signage if you want people to know where you are. People who saw your advertisements will still not be 100% sure of the location so signs directing them there are beneficial. You will also get a lot of drive-by traffic from people in the area so having signage is important.
  • Giveaway Items for Open House – We will get into this later in the article but having real estate swag is a must as well. People get dozens of business cards and simply giving them another is not a way to stand out from your competitors. Using giveaways items for people who visit the open house is one way to get them to remember you.

“For open houses to be effective, they also have to be sufficiently advertised, both online and with yard signs at major intersections as well as in front of the house, so people can follow the signs in from the main road.” – U.S. News & World Report

During the Open House

Now that you have prepared everything you need, make sure to hit a home run when people arrive. You will want to have an edible item for people to snack on. Bringing in a tray of cookies or Danishes from the local supermarket is a good way for people to get to know what is available in the neighborhood and also feel more at home.

Now, keep in mind that an open house will not likely result in a sale for that particular house (only 20 percent if you remember). So, you really need to concentrate on impressing visitors so that you have new clients to sell other properties.

“A real estate open house offers you the chance to interact directly and demonstrate your skills to potential buyers and sellers, who ultimately could turn into clients or refer you to other clients.” – Real Estate Express

Custom Amazon Echo PopIn order to get these leads, you must have a creative way to get people to give you their contact information. Simply asking them to give you an email address is not very enticing. We recommend giving away sometime popular like a promotional real estate item in order to get the email and phone number.

Kenneth Er agrees, as he describes it to The Close, “I usually hold a raffle at our open houses and advertise it over Facebook and Instagram. Items we’ve raffled off include gift cards, Google Home, Alexia, and more. This really entices people to come to your open house.”

Think about it. Would people be willing to give you their name and telephone number for a chance to win a free custom Bluetooth speaker or maybe an item from Amazon or Apple? You bet they would.

Following Up with Open House LeadsFollowing Up With Potential Leads

This is the one that can really make or break a sale. If you obtain a lead at an open house and fail to follow up, what good was it to obtain the lead in the first place? Your competitors from other open houses are following up with them so you are losing out on a potential sale because you fail to make a call.

Many realtors don’t follow up because they think they are annoying the client. This is a fallacy.

“Relentless follow up doesn’t have to be annoying,” writes Ryan Stewman of Hardcore Closer. “It doesn’t have to piss the prospect off. If you do it right, the prospect will love your follow up and close with you when the time is right. It’s all in the technique you use and the perception of that technique by the prospect.”

To put it bluntly, you will lose 100% of the clients you DON’T follow up with.

Popular Real Estate Swag

Custom House-Shaped Stress BallsWe have previously discussed some of the most popular promotional products for real estate agents. However, let’s look at some specific giveaway items for open houses. These are promotional items that have shown to work as they get high brand impressions and make people remember you once they leave the showing.

  • Calendars – Calendars are a great way to let people know who you are. Customized calendars can have photos of some of the properties you have sold or just some cool images associated with your selling territory. People keep calendars and hang them in visible places in their current house. Every time they look at it, they will remember you and maybe even reach out when they are ready to buy.
  • Custom Pens – Pens always make great real estate swag. According to the Advertising Specialty Institute, pens are the number one held promotional item with 89% of United States consumers owning at least one. They also garner up to 3,300 impressions per pen. Based on their low cost, you wind up paying tenths of a penny per brand impression you receive from writing instruments.
  • Key ChainCustom House Tag Keyholder – Key chains are a great piece of real estate swag. If you are able to provide a unique key change that people use, you will get endless impressions. Every time they use their key to open the door to their current home, they will see your name and think of giving you a call to get a listed of houses for potential purchase.
  • Letter Opener – Letter openers are inexpensive and have plenty of marketing space for your name and contact information. They are also a useful item, especially since people will remember you when opening their current mortgage bill (making them think about moving to a new location).
  • Custom Coffee Mugs – Along with service some finger foods from the local supermarket, why not bring a Keurig machine and offer coffee to those who come by? As a bonus, let them keep the mug you serve it in? Hint – the mug will be branded with your contact information.
  • Hand Sanitizer – One of the most essential items to have if you are visiting multiple open houses. Give one of these away as guests are leaving and tell them it will come in handy when they are visiting other houses. They will appreciate you thinking of their health and also walk away with real estate swag that will likely bring them back to you when they are ready to buy.

Making the Sale

Chances are you are not going to close the transaction on the day of the open house. However, you are likely to make the sale if you do things correctly. Collecting information and following up is important and if your real estate swag makes an impression, people will remember who you are when you call.

Real Estate Promotional Items

If you are still unsure of how to prepare, Fit Small Business provides a comprehensive checklist you can use to help. As long as you follow some of the basic steps outlined above, you will be steps ahead of your competitors.

Reach out to iPromo today and we can discuss several real estate giveaways to use at your open house to hopefully generate the most leads and plenty of brand impressions.

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