Come Prep an Open House With Me: Why Your Realtor Should Also Be a Marketer

If you think preparing for an open house means putting a sign in the yard, setting out a few cookies, and unlocking the front door… we need to talk. 😂

When I prepare an open house in Bakersfield, CA, I’m not just preparing a house for people to walk through.

I’m preparing a marketing event.

There’s signage outside. Marketing materials inside. Property information ready to go. Snacks for guests. Directional signs helping people find us.

And yes… there may even be a giant inflatable outside that somehow manages to get more attention than I do. 😂

But there’s a strategy behind all of it.

An Open House Should Do More Than Open the Door

When you're selling your home, the goal isn't simply to get people inside.

The goal is to get their attention first.

Then, once they're there, we want to create an experience that helps them slow down, look around, ask questions, understand the property, and remember it after they leave.

That's where marketing comes in.

A well-marketed open house can include:

• Strategic signage designed to attract attention and make the property easy to find
• Professional property materials buyers can take with them
• Information that highlights the home's features and selling points
• Social media promotion before and during the event
• Video content that extends the reach beyond the people who physically attend
• A welcoming environment that encourages buyers to stay and experience the home

Even the snacks have a job. 😉

It's all part of creating an experience around the listing.

Your Realtor Should Understand Marketing

Here's something I think more sellers should ask during a listing appointment:

"How are you actually going to market my home?"

Because putting a property into the MLS is important—but that's distribution.

Marketing is what makes people pay attention.

Today's Realtor needs to understand more than contracts, negotiations, and comparable sales.

They should understand how to position a property.

How to tell its story.

How to create content around it.

How to use social media and digital advertising.

How to create curiosity.

And ultimately, how to get the property in front of more potential buyers.

That's a huge part of how Cyndi and I approach real estate at the Amjadi Zaben Trifecta Group.

We don't want to simply list a home and wait to see what happens.

We want a strategy before the home ever hits the market.

The People at the Open House Aren't the Only Audience

This is probably one of the biggest changes in real estate marketing.

An open house used to be marketed primarily to the people who could physically attend it.

Not anymore.

While I'm preparing the signs, marketing materials, food, and property, I'm also creating content.

That Reel you saw?

That's part of the marketing, too.

One open house can create videos, photos, social posts, Stories, follow-up content, and advertising opportunities that put the property in front of people who never walked through the front door.

That means the open house isn't just a two- or three-hour event.

Done strategically, it becomes another piece of the home's overall marketing campaign.

Sometimes You Have to Be Willing to Get a Little Creative

And now we need to talk about the inflatable. 😂

Is a giant inflatable outside a traditional real estate marketing strategy?

ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Does it get attention? 100%!!!

And that's the point.

I'm not interested in doing something simply because "that's how Realtors have always done it."

If something helps attract attention, start conversations, create memorable content, or get more eyes on one of my listings, I'm willing to think outside the box.

Because when someone trusts me to sell their home, I believe my job is to actively market it.

Not just put it on the market.

There is a difference.

Thinking About Selling a Home in Bakersfield, CA?

Before choosing a Realtor, don't just ask what they think your home is worth.

Ask them:

What's your marketing plan?

Because pricing your home correctly is incredibly important—but what happens after that matters, too.

Your home deserves more than a listing.

It deserves a strategy.

And yes… sometimes that strategy might include snacks, a whole lot of signs, social media, professional marketing materials…

…and one ridiculously attention-grabbing inflatable. 😂

Kristin Zaben
Amjadi Zaben Trifecta Group
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