Open houses

Following up after an open house

By Estalogue · Practical notes for real estate agents

Before you leave an open house, write a short note for each visitor you spoke with: who they are, how to reach them, what they said about the home, and anything you promised to do. The sign-in sheet tells you who came. The notes tell you what to say when you call.

Write them the same afternoon, in a notebook, the notes on your phone, or whatever you already use. A detail written down within the hour is still in the visitor’s own words. By Wednesday it is a guess.

Write it down before you lock up.

Who they are: The name as they gave it. If two people came together and will decide together, note both names.
How to reach them: The phone number or email they offered, and how they said they would like to hear from you. If they chose not to leave contact details, note that too.
What they said about the home: What they liked and what put them off, in their words where you can: “loved the yard”, “the kitchen needs work”. Your follow-up will start from this.
Budget and timing: Only if they said it. “Pre-approved, looking under $1.4M” or “we need to move before August” is worth keeping. A guess from how they looked around is not.
Working with an agent: Ask, and write down the answer. If they already have one, follow your state’s rules and your brokerage’s policy on contacting someone who is represented.
What you promised: The disclosures, the HOA documents, recent sales nearby, a call once they have talked it over. Write each one with the day you said you would do it.

Keep what they said apart from what you think.

“Seemed serious” is your impression. “Asked about the HOA fee and the offer date” is what happened. Both can help, but mark the first as yours, so that next week you know which is which.

Example note · fictional

Sunday, Cedar Ave open house — Amy López, by text. Liked the yard, thought the kitchen needs work. Wants a 3-bed in Sunnyvale under $1.4M and needs to move before school starts in August. Not working with an agent. I said I would send a school district shortlist on Friday.

Every line is something Amy said or something you agreed to. The promise has a day on it, so it can go straight onto your calendar.

A visitor note you can copy.

Use one note per visitor, or per couple if they came together. Leave a line blank when you did not hear the answer; a blank is more honest than a guess. It works on paper, in a document, or on your phone.

Name or names:

Open house (address and date):

Phone or email, and how they prefer to hear from you:

What they liked, and what put them off:

Budget, timing and financing (only if they said):

Working with an agent?

What I promised, and by when:

A rhythm for the week after.

Follow-up works best when it is prompt and specific. This is a starting point, not a script; use the channel each visitor gave you.

The week after an open house · a starting point
When	What to do
The same day	A short thank-you to each visitor who left contact details. Mention one thing they said about the home, so it is clearly written to them.
Within two days	Send what you promised at the door, or on the day you named if that is later.
Later that week	Call or write to the visitors who seemed most interested. Ask what they thought once they had slept on it.
When something changes	A price change or an offer date: tell the visitors who asked to hear about it.

Adjust it to the person. Someone who said they are just starting to look may want a message a month, not three in a week. Write down what they asked for, and follow that.

Keep the promises you made at the door.

At an open house it is easy to say “I’ll send that over” a dozen times in two hours. Each one is a small promise, and the visitor will remember it better than you do. Give each one a date before you leave the property, not when you get home.

If you cannot do something by the day you said, tell them, and give a new day. A late “here it is, sorry for the wait” still keeps your word; silence does not.

For what to keep once a visitor becomes a client, see client notes you can use later.

Open house notes in Estalogue.

In Estalogue you type the note, or hold to talk, the way you would tell a colleague. The assistant saves the visitor as a client with the details they gave, and turns “send the shortlist Friday” into a task with a reminder on your iPhone. Each saved detail shows where it came from and when.

It is an AI and can get things wrong, so check the amounts and dates it saved. See a note become a client record.