After preparing your home for showing, an Open House is a great way to kick off your sales campaign. You might get lucky and find a buyer, but the main objective of your open house is to inform your neighbors and enlist them in your sales campaign. 1. Make sure everyone who attends the open house leaves with a flyer that lists your price and describes the property. 2. Hold your open house on a Saturday or Sunday. Make sure your open house is not competing with major sporting events on T.V. or in the community. 3. Be sure to have a guest book to get the name and address of everyone who attends. 4. Make sure you can get back in touch with the people who show interest in your home. This becomes especially important if you lower your price or change terms later on. 5. Put up an open house sign in your front yard. Attach balloons to draw special attention to your yard sign. If you are on a quiet street, place directional signs at intersections leading in from the main streets. 6. Freshly baked cookies or bread is always nice. The aroma fills the house and creates a wonderful atmosphere. 7. Anyone can show his or her home, but if you really prefer not to, hire a gregarious relative or friend to help host your open house. Of course, if you're working with a Realtor®, he or she should be more than happy to hold an open house for you. 8. Be sure to through in a few innocent questions while showing the house such as: "Are you planning on buying within the next two or three months?" "Have you applied for a mortgage ?" 9. You may even want to have a blank sales contract on hand just in case someone wants to make an offer right away.