How To Host A "Sunset Cocktail Open House" - In 10 Steps

The “Open House” - a real estate agent’s holy grail of marketing tools. Why? Because it allows potential buyers to stroll through your listing with no strings attached, opening up doors that can lead to an offer on that specific home or perhaps an opportunity to work with them on another transaction (if they aren’t represented; never abandon the Code of Ethics and respect another agent-client relationship).

Why host an Open House?

Open Houses are a great way to gain additional exposure for the listing as we elaborated here, and also helps get your name out to the community. While it is time intensive many sellers appreciate an agent’s dedication and willingness to put in the effort to sell their home. 

Most Open Houses take place on Saturdays and Sundays typically in the 11am to 5pm range with the majority happening in the early afternoon. It seems to be the time when buyers are most likely to venture out and explore; and therefore the most common time. In a very active market, however, it can lead to tough choices or missed opportunities. Most Open Houses last around two hours. Unless buyers time themselves well, or spend little time per property, chances are they won’t see all they wished they could.

While hosting an Open House in itself is a great initiative we are going to deep dive into a specific type of Open House and take you from the concept to preparation, execution as well as best follow up practices for maximum results. After all, you want to get the most out of your time, especially when you’re basically surrendering your weekend, right?

Turn a simple home showcase into a memorable event

There are a million ways to dress up your Open House and make it into something other than the one next door. In this article we are going to plan a Sunset Cocktail Open House with you! Don’t worry, all the steps can be replicated and easily reused in any other theme you choose. The key is to make it stand out, interesting and fun. No one wants to go to a dull event. We want to be entertained, intrigued and surprised. Is your listing in a family-friendly neighborhood? Host an event the entire family can enjoy. Is your listing located in a high-end neighborhood? Consider an art showcase in partnership with a local artist. The options are endless and only limited by your imagination.

Needless to say, it is crucial to stage any listing that will be hosting events. Furnishings and decor give your guests a reason to come, stay and experience the home. There is very little anyone can take away from an empty home. I’d go as far as saying that your event - or Open House for that matter - are half as efficient if you host them in an empty space. We can tell ourselves that we buy square footage and a recently replaced roof; but no one buys a home they can’t see themselves be happy in. We are emotional beings and our buying decisions are driven by outside influences that stimulate us. If this wasn’t the case you wouldn’t own an Apple product (and you know very well that you’d never switch to a Microsoft computer again). As one of the world’s most valuable companies they understand the human need to be excited about something and even more importantly - feel good about ourselves. 

Ultimately, this is what a good real estate agent does: helping clients find a home they fall in love with.

Getting back to our Sunset Cocktail Open House, this is the perfect type of event to choose if your listing has an amazing outdoor or possibly rooftop space! Any event you plan should be conceptualized to highlight the strengths of a home. 

As a former event planner in Singapore, Paris, Dubai and Cancun, I have collected my fair share of insights on how to create moments that are both effective and remarkable. Without going too deep here are 10 steps you can refer to to plan a successful event:

1. Define the day and time of the event

Defining the basics is always the most important part. There is no what and how, if there is no when. Carefully check your calendar and find a date and time that does not conflict with other major events or falls on holidays when your fellow citizens go out of town. Unless you have a solid following of guests that will make a pilgrimage to wherever you are, please, don’t try to compete with Art Basel. Find a day and time that makes it easy for your guests to join you. For our Sunset Cocktail typically Thursday presents itself as a great option; it only leaves Friday in the work week but doesn’t interfere with weekend plans. Also, make sure you plan this event with sufficient anticipation. If it is your first, I’d recommend you set the date around 4 weeks in the future to ensure you have enough time to coordinate and market it.

2. Establish partnerships with brands

Next, it’s always great to find a suitable partner that can both benefit and bring value to your event. For your Sunset Cocktail this could be a local store that sells glassware (think of the cocktails you are serving!) but could be any other business that would like to promote their goods and services in a nice setting - while promoting the event to their client list and thus getting the word out to more people about the event. It is key to widen your reach whenever you can.

3. Organize food & drinks, music and lighting

Before you hire a catering company or try to get away with some cheese assortment platters, think again. What is your favorite restaurant in town? Where do you know the owner, and could propose working on the event together, offering bites and snacks and giving them an avenue to advertise to a select crowd.

Another very important aspect is music. It is essential that you create a suitable plan to play music both indoors and outdoors (remember, we’re hosting an event to promote the amazing sunset experience at the property but we want our guests to roam freely in the home and explore it). Check the existing audio-visual equipment that is in place or create a speaker system that can supply at least the main living areas. Both Bose and Sonos, for example, offer different sizes and solutions of speakers that can be installed and paired for a great mood. Choose a playlist that underlines the event and allows your guests to have conversations without feeling interrupted. And please, make sure you cut out the ads; it’s worth the $4.99 upgrade on Spotify ...

Talking about mood - mood is very closely tied to lighting. Make sure you visit the property in the early planning phase during evening hours and get a feel for the lighting in place. Invite your home stager and discuss options to maximise ambient lighting for a maximum effect - you’ll want them to feel the comfort and lifestyle this home has to offer as the sunlight fades … think floating candles in the pool, torches along a walk-way and candle light indoors where suitable.

4. Design event invitations

There are plenty of simple design tools that can help you create a beautiful (digital) invitation card, but Canva is probably the easiest. You’ll be able to add the mood you’re trying to communicate and all the essential event details on there and share them with your guests (in the next steps).

5. Invite the neighbors

It is always, absolutely always, a great practice to introduce yourself to the listing’s neighbors. Why? Because they are real-life witnesses of your hard work, and could perhaps become your next clients or refer you to someone else. 

This event is a great reason to not only introduce yourself, but also invite them to join! Let them explore the property and perhaps tell someone else about it? At the very least, they will appreciate the gesture.

6. Invite local business owners

No matter how residential the neighborhood there are always small shops closeby. Why not have a Poke bowl at the little corner store down the road, and while you are there and see the owner behind the counter, introduce yourself and comment on the great dish, and invite him to the event? Local business owners connect the community and can have an extensive reach in their area. Think outside the box: you are creating another avenue to promote the property to locals who already shop in this area - and you are meeting business owners who can become clients, referrers and even friends.

7. Promote the event

During the planning phase there is nothing that should stop you from promoting the event on social media. Instagram allows you to run ads up to 30 days, within a geographic area. Even if you start 2-3 weeks out, you will be reaching potential buyers on social media, which will continue to drive awareness to real estate listings. 

About a week away, enlist your event on the MLS as well as on all major real estate platforms (if they do not syndicate directly from the MLS). This presents a great opportunity to add a new front picture including information of the upcoming event (since the information you can place on the MLS itself is very limited). You have put a lot of work into this so far, so you definitely want to get the most out of it. 

8. Create a (voluntary) RSVP list to collect contacts

Open Houses in general do not call for any upfront registration, unless the listing is located within a private club or gated community. It is, however, a good practice to offer the option to sign up in advance. It will help you gauge interest and get a feeling for how many guests to expect (maybe not from just one, but hosting these events regularly will help you estimate the turnout). Those who registered should receive a final email or confirmation call either the day before or the day of, as a courtesy.

9. The event prep and setup

I will not lie; it does take a few capable hands to get an event set up and ready for the crowd! Don’t underestimate this. Work closely with your chosen food & beverage provider, your stager and your brand partners to prepare the listing. You must be stationed and ready to go at least 30 minutes before the event officially starts. Count your prep time backwards from that moment in time.

10. Welcoming guests & property brochures

It is imperative that you ask your assistant (or hire one) to welcome your guests as they enter the property. Kindly ask them to register on your iPad registration form (there are a few solid Open House apps on the app store to choose from) and give them a short intro of the home, where to find the main living areas indoors and outdoors.

It would be ideal to have nicely designed property brochures or flyers handy at this time to hand out to the guests as they are arriving. After all, they came to admire the home and should be able to get all the key details about it if they want to proceed and make an offer.

What happens during the event?

Let your guests mingle and explore the home, while sipping on delicious cocktails and tasting through appetizers (it’s always best to stick to non-tomato based food and white/sparkling wine only to avoid visible stains on any furnishings!). Your team, all on site this evening, equally stroll through the home and engage your guests in easy conversations. Perhaps you can introduce certain business owners to one another? The key is to create a memorable yet simple experience for everyone, allowing them to enjoy the home and its feeling.

An important note on follow ups

If you stop here, you’ve only done half the job! Congratulations for planning and executing a flawless event - but now comes the part that is actually going to be your long-term take-away from this very demanding marketing initiative. Pull your guest list from your Open House app and either call or email (depending on your style and the info you collected) everyone who came in the two days following the event. Offer additional information on the home, or a private tour to bring them back. If they aren’t interested in the property itself, offer to add them to your mailing list to join a future event or other initiative of yours.

Real estate has and continues to be a business of relationships. It’s important that we value them, grow them and nurture them. Hosting Open Houses that go beyond the traditional format makes for a wonderful occasion to get together and connect. It’s not the number of connections we have, but how much each one of them is worth.