Creating that Wow! Factor for your Open House with Marley Majcher on the Staged Home Lifestyle Radio Show
The Staged Home Lifestyle Radio Show had the honor of interviewing celebrity party planner, Marley Majcher on October 15, 2009. Marley is the CEO of The Party Goddess!, a nationally acclaimed full service event planning and catering company with a very impressive resume. Her client list has included Earthlink, Cedars-Sinai, Georgetown University, Art Center College of Design, and Whole Foods Market. Marley has also produced notable events for the Hollywood Bowl, the Critics’ Choice Awards, luxury car manufacturers, Porsche and Rolls Royce’s Bentley brand as well as celebrations for Britney Spears, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Ross McCall, Pierce Brosnan, Katherine Heigl, Snoop Dogg, Ali Landry and Cesar Millan (Dog Whisperer). From understated elegance to rock star fabulous, Majcher is known for creating the most well talked about parties of the year. On this episode, Marley shared her secrets to “Creating that Wow! Factor for Your Open House!”The typical real estate open house usually consists of a few signs around the neighborhood and in front of the house. Upon entry, you may experience one of two scenarios. Either you're completely ignored (yes, this happens more often than it should) or you're given a play-by-play tour of the house, and told that “here's the living room, dining room, kitchen, etc.” The concept of the real estate open house is good, but the execution and therefore the success of them tend to be very poor. I believe that if we take this ordinary concept and turn it into an extraordinary event, you'll not only gain more visibility and attract more buyers, but you'll actually reduce market time by selling it that much faster.Here are some tips from the Party Goddess herself on how to add a little pizzazz to your next open house:
- Start with the end in mind, what is the goal? For the real estate open house, it should be to get the house sold.
- Know who the target audience is. Who is most likely to buy this house? Who are you trying to appeal to?
- Don’t just tell your guests about the features, allow them to experience them.
Getting the word out
- Make an invitation that reflects the theme of the party; make it fun and inviting.
- Create fliers that look more like invitations and pass it out to all the neighbors or to groups of people in your target audience with a call to action.
- Jazz up your signage so it stands out and catches people’s attention.
What happens when you get to the house?
- A good party starts with a good host/hostess – greet people, tell guests where you want them to go (provide directional cues).
- Plan out the music to fill the time period plus an additional 30 minutes and make sure the music is complimentary to theme of the event and sets the tone.
- Make sure there’s some sort of fabulous smell – i.e. apple cider for fall, bake cookies, etc.
- Put entertainment, food or bar in key areas that you don’t want the guests to miss.
- People remember the beginning & the end but rarely anything in between…make sure the greeting is memorable and let them know that this is not your typical open house.
- Have activities to keep kids occupied so the parents can roam around.
Get their information.
- Have them enter a drawing rather than have them sign a guest list
- Leverage local vendors and give away “gifts” from neighborhood shops, i.e. local bake shop, flowers from local florist, etc.
Follow-up
- Email all attendees of the open house reminding them about some of the key things about the house and ask them to pass it on to 2-3 friends who may be interested in such a property.
Food
- Consider your audience and the type of house
- Great website for ideas is http://epicurious.com
- Create a signature cocktail that is related to the house
- Themes can be inspired by the time of year, holiday, neighborhood or key features of the house
The key to your success is consistency. Once you have one of these events, it sets the tone for all upcoming events so don’t disappoint. These are great opportunities to create visibility for the property and yourself as a real estate professional and get buzz around your brand.To listen to the full interview, visit our radio page at http://blogtalkradio.com/Staged-Home-Lifestyle.
