What Should Your Open House Tech Checklist Contain? 9 Must-Do Items
Open houses are a tradition that started more than 100 years ago. According to the National Association of Realtors, before 1919, anyone could claim to be a real estate broker. So when a home went up for sale, multiple "For Sale" signs, each from a different broker, could be strewn all over the lawn. The open house, like the first professional real estate organization, was born to add organization to the home-buying process, which was chaotic. The NAR archives show the first recorded open house was held in the 1910s. Called "Open for Inspection," it was held over several days. The first "staged" home was in 1925, and in the 1930s and 40s, open houses gained popularity among agents as a powerful personal marketing tool. In the 1950s, "open house" was the new nomenclature for "open for inspection." Today's open houses have come a long way and are powered by technology. As a result, real estate agents can leverage tech tools to better promote – and host – an open house. Agents also need to remember that many of today's homes boast an array of new tech of their own. That smart home tech can positively impact an open house, but you must be prepared. Here's your tech checklist for an open house: 1. Wi-Fi and internet access: Make sure the home you are hosting offers a strong and reliable Wi-Fi signal. If not, check for cell phone coverage because you'll likely need access when hosting. Plus, you can create a hotspot to connect your laptop. Finally, having internet access can come in handy when you're trying to answer a question from a prospect or share online resources. 2. Make sure all your devices are fully charged: When your devices are fully charged, you won't panic if you leave your charger at home or in the office. 3. Do you have the alarm code? If the property has an alarm system, have a guest alarm code to turn it off — always double-check. 4. Do a run-through of the home's tech with the owners: Smart houses have some really cool features you can show off – if you know how to use them and what to say to Alexa or Google Home. Getting a demo and taking notes can add fun to a routine open house tour. 5. Let buyers know about cameras: Many homes have cameras today, which may always be on. Make sure you disclose this fact by having a sign that shares this information. 6. Offer a mobile charger: Here's a tip to get people to stay a while and spend time taking in the whole house. Set up a charging station for mobile devices and put out a sign to encourage use. 7. Digital sign-in apps: Instead of using a traditional paper sign-in sheet to track traffic, use an open house app – search the app store for your device. Most of these can connect to your CRM to add their contact info or are built to send out a follow-up email immediately afterward. It's the easiest way to track who visited the property and sync up with potential buyers. 8. Virtual staging software: While you know that professionally staged homes sell faster than vacant ones, sometimes, you must show a vacant property. Why not set up your laptop and virtual staging photographs to showcase the property in the best possible light? This helps potential buyers visualize themselves living in the space and may lead to more interest – and offers. 9. Live video broadcast: If you are accustomed to using video to showcase your listings and have tried your hand at live broadcasts such as Facebook or YouTube live, why not promote on your social channels a live broadcast at a specific time from your open house? The best part is your live video is recorded and archived for others to watch in the future on demand. Overall, this tech checklist for an open house may need to be modified depending on the type of home you are showcasing, your local market, and ultimately understanding the preferences of the potential buyers you are trying to reach. By going through this checklist before hosting your next open house, you can be well prepared to leverage technology – and spotlight the home's technology – that can help create a memorable experience for visitors and win more offers. And remember, if you are among the more than 725,000 Realtors in North America with free access to Tech Helpline, you can always reach out by chat, phone, or email for help with your open house tech issues. If you don't have access to Tech Helpline for free as a member benefit, ensure your MLS, association, or brokerage goes to TechHelpline.com to learn more. Finally, if you have an interesting open house tech story, please share it in a post on social media using the hashtag #TechHelpline! Tricia Stamper is Director of Technology at Florida Realtors®, which owns and operates Tech Helpline and Form Simplicity.

Friday Freebie: Guide to Hosting Open Houses That Get Better Offers
A bidding war: that's the ideal scenario for listing agents. But high interest rates, runaway inflation, and competition from institutional investors may be cooling the housing market in many areas. The good news? It's still a seller's market. The better news? You can still coax multiple, competitive offers from everyday buyers—and it all starts with the open house. In this week's Friday Freebie, we'll show you how with a guide to hosting open houses that get better offers. Free download of 2022 Open House Guide, courtesy of Zurple Aside from inspiring interest in a listing, an open house also is a strategy for the hosting agent to build in-person rapport with the community—and build their contact database. That's why open houses are often a starting point for new agents looking to build their book of business. Whatever your level of experience, this guide from Zurple breaks down the preparation, marketing, and hosting of open houses step-by-step: Step 1: Get a listing Step 2: Choose a date Step 3: Prepare the home for market Step 4: Marketing your event online Step 5: Marketing your event offline Step 6: Prepare your client Step 7: Prepare the home for the open house Step 8: Engage guests Ready to level up your open houses this summer? Download your FREE copy of the 2022 Open House Guide now!

Quikshow

Quikshow is a clever way to show your buyers more homes. This mobile app lets buyer's agents outsource showing appointments to other agents in the area. Simply post a showing opportunity and other agents who use Quikshow can submit bids for what they charge for showing a house to your clients. Bids can range from $30-950, though the company says the average bid is $50. The buyer's agent can then browse ratings of other agents via the app and select which agent they want to show their listing. All payment for showing fees is handled through Quikshow. Quikshow is only available to licensed real estate agents in good standing with their local board. Showing agents are asked only to open doors; nothing more. To discourage soliciting, Quikshow's rating system keeps agents in check and motivates them to do a great job showing properties to buyers agent's clients.

HomeFeedback® by Showing Suite

Showing Suite's HomeFeedback® software is a feedback system to help obtain feedback from fellow real estate agents after they show a listing to their client. HomeFeedback helps agents save time and by scheudling more effectively with their clients. It also helps agents by presenting them with the feedback directly from the showing agents and their buyers. Once sellers begin to read feedback through this innovative realtor software, they will be more apt in making necessary changes to speed the sale of the listing. HomeFeedback® can be used by individual REALTORS®, real estate teams or real estate brokerages. The questions of the showing agents can be customized. HomeFeedback® sends 3 feedback request emails three days apart or use custom settings to change the frequency and intervals. Listing agents can also use the e-blast feature for price reductions, commission incentives etc. Whenever a listing is shown, the showing agents' contact information is entered into the HomeFeedback® REALTOR® software. Showing information can be manually entered into the system, or automatically pulled from SentriLock or Supra lockboxes via Showing Sync. HomeFeedback® will then follow-up through a series of emails requesting feedback from the showing agent and their clients. Once the showing agent responds to the feedback request, HomeFeedback will then distribute the responses to both the listing agent and the home seller. If the showing agent fails to respond, the system will alert you and your seller. Additionally, the seller can login to their very own private seller console to see the list of registered showings, review feedback gathered, statistical reports, any comments you have left, and more.

Advanced Office Solution (AOS) Real Front Desk™by REAOS

Real Estate Advanced Office Solution (REAOS) provides Advanced Office Solution (AOS) - Real Front Desk™ to real estate agents and brokers.  AOS is a web based front desk system for the real estate industry. AOS provides showing appointment, lead management and floor scheduling tools for brokerages and MLSs. This software provides also provides additional features like a Professional Feedback system for free to agents. AOS dashboard provides information on eight areas of management: listings, reports, to-do, call tracker, agents, user tools, control panel, and system info. AOS Real Front Desk Showing and free Professional Feedback system includes: First Real Estate Web Based Showing and free Professional Feedback system Fastest Showing Appointment taking system on the market No software to download for on line appointment taking from any computer anywhere Hosted database for online report capturing with networking of all offices Automatic listings and agents data base updates from the users’ MLS Online Multiple Reports from showings, activities to advertising Automatic web based confirmation and feedback email set with all showings Free Professional Feedback system with house images and customizable forms included Call Coordinator feature at no additional cost to track all calls Email alert system to quickly contact showing agents for any price reductions, etc. Centralize Showing Feature to network offices at no additional cost

Showing Pro

Showing Pro - Showing Scheduler is a product of Pro Agent Solutions. It is designed to be an end-to-end web based solution to save agents time in scheduling showings. The features include, automated scheduling approval and confirming, showing calendar and automatically capturing showing feedback

SentriLock Launches New Offer Comparison Tool
SentriLock announced a new SentriKey Showing Service® feature, Offer Comparison, designed to increase listing agent productivity. The days of using spreadsheets to evaluate incoming offers and look at side-by-side comparisons are in the past. The new feature streamlines this process, so you can review all offers in one place, and easily share those offers with your clients. Benefits for agents: Saves time for listing agents and showing agents with an easy-to-use tool for adding offer proposals. Allows listing agents to evaluate offers efficiently using the side-by-side offer comparison tool. Enables a comprehensive "net view" of approximately how much cash the seller would receive from a specific offer. To learn more about these great features and how they can help you, check out this video: Offer Comparison is available on the Professional Tier of the SentriKey Showing Service®. To learn how you can add on this time-saving feature, contact your association. To view the original post, visit the SentriLock blog.

Quikshow
At Quikshow, we know you can't be in two places at once. That's why we have developed the first app that allows you to post a showing opportunity and have other, available, nearby agents, show the property to your clients for you!

ShowingTime
ShowingTime equips agents, brokers, offices and MLSs with easy-to-use tools to schedule, manage and report on showings and feedback, including its best-in-class Appointment Center.

Showing Suite
Real Estate Productivity Suite Showing Suite is an all-in-one web-based real estate productivity software suite that helps real estate agents, teams, and offices harness their full sales potential by automating time-consuming tasks, allowing more focus on sales. Showing Suite boosts real estate productivity by automating the showing feedback process, allowing buyer agents to schedule showings on your website, and employing email marketing to communicate with both clients and incoming leads. Along with saving REALTORS® hours of valuable time every month, Showing Suite keeps clients and leads happy and informed during their real estate transaction. Reach your full sales potential, obtain more listings and sell in less time for more money with Showing Suite.

Showami
Showami provides licensed real estate agents on-demand for home showings, open houses, and more. Showami works with busy real estate agents, brokers, and property management companies to ensure their home showings are covered by professional real estate agents in the local area. With coverage in every state and tens of thousands of agents onboard, getting home showings covered is piece of cake with Showami.