Open House: how to promote a luxury property in Marbella.

Are you thinking of selling your property in Marbella? An Open House is a great strategy that will attract potential buyers and property advisors.

In a property market as competitive as the Golden Mile, hosting an Open House allows guests to experience firsthand, life on the property.

The importance of strategy

For our Open House at Casa Cubo, we decided to take a different direction and do an “Evening Open House”.

For each property we design an individual strategy with the following sections:

• Evaluate the property’s situation
• Current market situation: it is important to know the prices and characteristics of similar properties on the market.
• Define the value proposition: identify the unique attributes of the property and how these meet the needs of the target audience.
• Identify the target audience based on the value proposition.
• Create an action plan with detailed activities, execution dates, and the communication channels through which the property will be promoted.
• Evaluate the success of the marketing plan and reinforce future actions.

With Casa Cubo we identified that the target audience is younger than our usual audience, therefore, we decided to hold a different event where our guests could enjoy a live DJ, cocktails, and snacks. Always with the aim in mind to promote the property professionally, with a guided tour accompanied by our Pure Living Properties sales team.

Complete Guide: How to organise an Open House?

Before the event

What is the purpose of the event?
You probably think that the goal is to sell the house, but depending on the agent or the situation of the property, the purposes of an Open House may vary between:

• Generating interest in the property; attracting the attention of potential buyers.
• Increasing the exposure of the property; advertising the Open House through various channels increases its exposure.
• Collecting contact information from guests; for future sales opportunities.
• Get to know potential buyers; we can gain a better understanding of what potential clients are looking for in a property and customise the sales strategy.
• Identify and solve property issues: during the Open House, guests comment on what they like most, and least, about the property. With that information, we can address problems and make improvements for potential future buyers.
• Establish working relationships with other real estate agents.

Who is the target audience?

Identifying the target audience of the property is important to know what kind of strategies we are going to follow, however, for the Open House there are several audiences that we must take into account:

• Potential buyers
• Neighbours and friends
• Investors
• Real estate agents
• Architects, interior designers, builders/developers.

Coordinate with the property owner

Communication with the owner is a priority. We need to make sure that the owner agrees to the event and the actions we will take during the event.

Day, time, and location

We must define the date and time of the event. The location will be the property.
One week before the event we contact the target audience we have defined in the previous point to announce the event.

Who is in charge of the logistics of the event?

An event involves a series of coordination with suppliers, therefore it is necessary to define who is in charge of the logistics of the event.

We must take into account:

• Cleaning and preparation of the property
• Decoration and staging
• Parking
• Lighting
• Exterior signage; arrows to the property…

Preparation of marketing material

We prepare individual branding for each Open House, conveying the characteristics of the property.

• Invitation to the Open House
• Reminder emails
• Social media content
• Property brochures
• Agent business cards
• Feedback Questionnaire
• Online PDF with property information

Responsible for photos and videos of the event

Having audiovisual material from the event will help us to continue creating content after the event and for future marketing strategies.

During the event

Registration and Welcome

Who will be in charge of welcoming the guests to the event, registration is important to control the number of guests and to have a complete database (name, phone, and email) of all the guests.

Entertainment & Catering

Based on the objective and the type of Open House we are going to host, it is important to choose:

• Catering: define whether it is breakfast, lunch, or dinner and the type of food.
• Entertainment: music, DJ.
• Activities: art exhibitions, fashion shows.

Guided tour

Agents must have clear information about the property, especially its main features. At each of our Open Houses, agents lead a guided tour for guests, either individually or in groups. The agents are in charge of providing information about the property, organising a personal guided tour, and following up with potential buyers.

Questionnaire

At the end of the event, we ask our guests to fill out a form with their feedback on both the event and the property itself.

After the event

Feedback analysis

We analyse our guests´ feedback to find out what features they liked most about the property and what points they would improve.

This will give the owner a clear view of the aspects that can bring us closer to a sale, e.g. a change in price or renovation.

Post-event mailing

We send an email to all our guests thanking them for their attendance. In addition, we add information about the property, photos, and videos, so that they can share it with potential buyers.

How to determine the success of an Open House?

It is important to bear in mind that the success of an Open House is not only measured in terms of immediate sales, but also in terms of generating interest and attracting potential buyers.

We make a report to the owner in which we analyse the following points:

• Number of visitors
• Guest feedback
• We collect feedback on the property to help us identify strengths and weaknesses.
• Follow up requests
• If there have been any offers or sales

If you would like us to apply these and many more strategies to sell your property please contact us.

Javier Nieto CEO / General Manager

Meet Javier

Javier is the founder and CEO of Pure Living Properties. Born and raised in Marbella in an entrepreneurial family who settled on the Costa del Sol in the 1960s, when Marbella’s real estate and tourism industry was just a fledgling market, Javier is an expert connoisseur of Puente Romano, which he calls home, and the Golden Mile, but also of the best areas, projects and companies, as their owners and developers have been among his inner circle since childhood.