I accomplished my first OPEN HOUSE in the Spring of 2001 in Marshall County! I told my SELLER'S that I would do several OPEN HOUSES until we found a BUYER for their property. They told me that no one ever did OPEN HOUSES IN MARSHALL COUNTY! That they just didn't work, that no one ever attends them , and that I was just wasting my time.
Having recently achieved my Real Estate License in JULY OF 2000, I was so excited , anxious and optimistic to hold my first OPEN HOUSE IN MARSHALL COUNTY! Since my arrival at the Coldwell Banker Office in Paducah, Ky, several Realtors had assured me that I was just simply wasting my time to hold any OPEN HOUSES anywhere in WESTERN KY. So I was very determined to prove them wrong! I had learned in Real Estate School that OPEN HOUSES DRAW ATTENTION TO THE PROPERTY AND THERE IS ALWAYS A CHANCE of capturing a potential BUYER!
I proceeded to explain this the my SELLER'S , that it was worth a try and that you just never know who will show up at the OPEN HOUSE. Their property was in a small subdivision down Briensburg Tatumsville Road kind of off the beaten path. So a few days before the OPEN HOUSE I put my directional signs on every street corner leading a potential BUYER to the property. PRAYING that no one would take the signs or bother them I just couldn't wait for the upcoming Sunday to arrive! I arrived a little early and my SELLER'S wished me good luck. I hauled everything in the house, brochures, sign in sheet, loan officer business cards, ect, Just as I had finished setting up everything on the Kitchen Counter I heard someone pull up in the driveway! I looked outside and another Realtor from a Company in Marshall county arrived with her potential BUYER'S ! They were from Ohio , stayed a good hour looking over every room and asking a million questions! I was so thrilled that they were there! Soon after they left , it was time for me to gather all my OPEN HOUSE STUFF and pack it to the car. I went around the house turning off all the lights and making sure all doors were locked. As I was getting in my car to pull out of the Driveway the REALTOR that had brought the potential BUYER'S pulled in behind me , got out of her car, walked up to me and handed me a most BEAUTIFUL OFFER! WOW!! YEAH!! AN OFFER!!!! I wanted to jump up and down, scream, dance, and hug the other REALTOR ! I was so hopeful that my SELLER'S would love the OFFER! I couldn't wait to show it to them. I called them and they couldn't believe I had an offer! I stayed and we went over the offer , countered back and forth a few times with the potential BUYER'S and finally agreed on everything!
My SELLER'S WERE VERY HAPPY AND PROUD OF THEIR OFFER just as I was! They were so glad that I had listed their property and I was dead set on doing more and more OPEN HOUSES on all of my listings for EVER with GREAT PERSISTENCE and DETERMINATION!
I sold one once out in the Heath area. The young couple had been trying to sell it on their own for many months. They called me and asked if I could list their property to sell. It was a cute brick ranch back off of a main road. Their gravel driveway was just an easement shared with the neighbor to get back to their property. It's always difficult to sell a property that has a shared driveway and especially when the driveway is just an easement and not part of the property. The property was pretty private sitting on 1 1/2 acres. I had my work cut out for me and decided to start my OPEN HOUSES right away. Listed the property in Feb 2005. I set up my first OPEN HOUSE in March of 2005 , I had 2 couples show up , but no offers. I held 3 more OPEN HOUSES in April, May and June. I usually do 1 OPEN HOUSE every month until the property sells. My last OPEN HOUSE was in June on a Sunday and no one showed up. My Sellers were so disappointed and very discouraged. I told them ---just be patient, hang in there, trust me, there is a buyer for every property! 3 days later a buyer from IL called and asked me---"Do you still have that house you were doing an OPEN HOUSE on Sunday?" I said yes. He said ---" I didn't have time to stop that day , but I noticed the OPEN HOUSE SIGNS , so when can you show it to me? I said ---anytime , then showed it to him the next day and he bought it!!!! My Sellers were thrilled! The wife was a manager of the Att phone store and she asked me what she could do for me. I told her that I could use a great phone number! She gave me my current number---270-519-9000 ! Wow! HANG IN THERE! YOUR PROPERTY WILL SELL !! There is a BUYER FOR EVERY PROPERTY! WE ONLY NEED ONE ! Thank you! Jennifer
Two couples showed up on that cold day In February 2007, when 1 had an OPEN HOUSE at my listed Kentucky Lake property. One of the couples, a young couple, fell In love with the home, but they had a house to sell in Calvert City before they could buy. I OFFERED to list their 1950's, 2 bedroom, 1 bath residence, and told them that it might take a while to sell because it was 2 bedrooms and close to a business and 1-24.
I listed it, and about the 1st of March I did an OPEN HOUSE there on a Saturday afternoon. It was cold, raining, and windy when I pulled up In the driveway and thought, "No, I'm probably not going to have anybody today." But I got all my OPEN HOUSE material out of the car and proceeded to get it all set up in the house. After about ten minutes my first couple showed up from Indiana. They were in the area that weekend looking at houses. We talked for a while, and before they got ready to leave, they asked, "Are you going to be around tonight in case we want to MAKE AN OFFER?" I said, "Sure, I've got to go to Lone Oak and show another couple a house. But I can call you on my way back from Calvert City and meet you somewhere to write your OFFER." They said, "Fine." So they left and it wasn't ten minutes later until the second family showed up-a single guy and his parents. And they stayed for the second half of my OPEN HOUSE and really seemed to love the place. They stayed there for about an hour, and when they got ready to leave, the young man asked, "Are you going to be around tonight in case I want to MAKE AN OFFER?" And I said, "Sure, I've got to go to Lone Oak to show a house, but you can call me a little bit later and I will come back to Calvert City to meet you somewhere to write your OFFER." So they left, and I got all my material together and put it in the car. As I was pulling out of the driveway, I stopped to get my OPEN HOUSE signs and the first couple from Indiana called me. They said, "We've decided we want to MAKE AN OFFER on that little house." I said, "Thafs greatl I've got to go to Lone Oak to show property, but I will come back to Calvert City and meet you somewhere to write your OFFER. I did tell them that I had another family interested, too, that came to the OPEN HOUSE, and it was possible that I could be writing up TWO OFFERS to present to the seller at the same time. They were fine with that. Then I went to Lone Oak to show a property. After that, the second family from the OPEN HOUSE called me, the single guy with his parents, and he said, "I've decided I want to MAKE AN OFFER on that little house." I said, 'Wonderful! I'm going back to calvert City to write up an OFFER for the first family, but I can meet you at the KY Fried Chicken after I meet with them." He said, "That's fine." So I went back to Calvert City and I met the first family at KFC and I wrote their OFFER. We parted, and I called my second family and they came in the same KFC and I wrote their FULL PRICE OFFER !
It was about 8:30 on Saturday night when I took THE OFFERS to my sellers, and sat in their living room and presented BOTH OFFERS--one of them was the FULL PRICE OFFER . and they were just in shock. They were tickled to death! They had these BIG SMILES on the1r faces and they could not believe that I sold their house at the VERY FIRST OPEN HOUSE, because 1 had warned them that this was a house that might be tough to sell. It was only 2 BR, 1 BA, and was near a business and 1-24. They accepted the full price OFFER, and then they bought the house they had seen in February at my OPEN HOUSEl 1 ended up selling both houses as a result of these 2 OPEN HOUSES!