Hosting a successful open house is an ideal opportunity to connect with potential buyers looking for a new home and sellers interested in listing theirs. However, you need a good sign-in sheet to maximize your chances of getting more leads. After all, there’s no better feeling than seeing your open house sign-in sheet chock-full of names, phone numbers, and email addresses at the end of a weekend afternoon.
Whether you use a paper sign-in sheet, a digital one, or a combination, here are nine templates for your next open house. Then, read the best use cases for each sign-in sheet and extra tips to maximize your lead gen opportunities at open houses.
Basic Open House Sign-in Sheets
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Best for: Agents seeking a quick and efficient method to gather essential contact details
These are simple, but you can use their generic layout in various situations, such as community gatherings or networking functions. Keep some extras of this realtor open house sign-in sheet in your bag at all times for impromptu events. They can be a backup if you’re unexpectedly missing your branded material. Keeping a supply of these basic sign-in sheets prepares you for any opportunity to connect with potential clients.
Here’s what goes in a basic open house sign-in sheet:
- Name
- Phone number
- Email address
- Address (optional)
If you expect a crowd at your open house, these basic, easily fillable templates will do the trick. This will minimize inconvenience and make visitors sign in immediately since you only want their basic information.
Detailed Questionnaire Sign-in Sheets
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Best for: Agents who want to gain comprehensive insights into attendees’ preferences and needs beyond basic contact information
This sign-in sheet includes fields for specific preferences besides the usual name, email address, and phone number. Questions may cover home type preference, a timeline for buying and selling, and whether they’re already working with an agent. Remember to use this template strategically. Some guests are wary of sharing too much information on a publicly visible form and others don’t want to complete many fields.
Here are other things you can include in a detailed questionnaire sign-in sheet:
- Additional fields for preferences and requirements
- “What are your current real estate needs?”
- “What is your preferred neighborhood?”
- “How do you prefer to be contacted?”
- “What is your budget range?”
- “Have you been preapproved for a mortgage?”
- “Would you like to receive updates about similar properties in the future?”
Gathering this information allows agents to customize their follow-up communication and property recommendations to align with each attendee’s preferences. This personalized approach increases your chances of converting leads into clients.
Did you know? You can organize your sign-in sheet data in a customer relationship management (CRM) to manage your leads effectively. Try Market Leader’s CRM platform as it can streamline your lead management process and improve follow-up communication with future clients.
Open House Sign-in Sheets With Feedback
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Best for: Agents who want feedback about the property
This free open house sign-in sheet provides agents with valuable insights into visitors’ impressions and preferences. Questions include their interest in the property and thoughts about the home’s price and features. All your guests’ answers can help you understand better what they’re looking for and improve future open houses. This approach demonstrates your commitment to visitor satisfaction.
Some questions you can include in this type of sign-in sheet are:
- How would you rate the overall condition of the property?
- Did the property meet your expectations based on the listing description?
- Was the property priced appropriately for its condition?
- What features of the home did you find most appealing?
- What other amenities would you like to see on the property?
If a seller insists on a particular price point (against your recommendation), feedback from an open house can sometimes be a great way to start a conversation about improving the price. It could also help convince seller clients to consider other recommendations, such as decluttering, painting, sprucing, and depersonalizing.
Open House Sign-in Sheets With a Giveaway
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Best for: Agents coupling an open house with a promotional giveaway
The strategy of this approach is pretty simple: Print up a handful of these pages and cut them into individual sign-in sheets. When your guests arrive, have them sign in and drop their slip into a fishbowl. After your event is over, call everyone. Let the winner know the happy news (and ask how you can help them with their real estate needs). Let every other attendee know about your next event and see if there are ways you can help them in the future.
Here’s what you can include in this type of sign-in sheet:
- An opt-in checkbox to give attendees an option to join the giveaway
- A section where attendees can indicate their preferred prize category, such as gift card or home decor item
- Ask if attendees agree to the terms and conditions of your giveaway or raffle
Are you wondering what the prize should be? I love offering something from a local vendor. Rather than bake cookies for the open house myself, I’ll buy some from a favorite local bakery and a gift certificate. While my guests enjoy the cookies, I remind them about the drawing for a gift certificate to the bakery that made those delicious cookies. How do they enter the drawing? All they have to do is sign in.
The Case for Using Digital Sign-in Sheets
As much as we like the old pen-and-paper system, a digital open house sign-in sheet makes a lot of sense now. Digital sign-in sheets have become more popular and will likely become the future standard in various industries, including real estate. Some benefits of using a digital sign-in sheet for open house include:
- Most people are familiar with the format and find using technology more convenient. Attendees can input their information quickly using touchscreens, eliminating the need for manual entry.
- People type a lot more accurately than they write. You won’t have difficulty decoding their names if everything’s entered electronically.
- You can transfer the data easily to your CRM software. This seamless process saves you time and enhances productivity.
- Many digital sign-in sheets send a message automatically if the email contact information is incorrect, providing more accurate follow-up details.
Imagine pulling together your marketing, landing pages, quick response (QR) codes, and digital sign-in sheets from one easy app and then exporting your new leads directly to your CRM. While plenty of good ones are out there, our pick for a digital open house sign-in platform is Curb Hero. This app offers a ton of functionality, easy sign-in for your guests from nearly any device (auto-fill) and, best of all, it’s free for realtors.
Common Open House Sign-in Issues & How to Fix Them
We want to help you avoid the pit-in-your-stomach feeling at the end of an open house when you look at your list of attendees and realize there isn’t much to work with. Here are some common issues agents encounter with open house sign-in sheets and some solutions to help you address them.
Issue 1: Your guests have illegible handwriting
Let’s face it: not all of us have beautiful penmanship. A standard form will likely have at least a couple of illegible names. The simple act of asking someone to sign in to your open house and then engaging them in conversation while they do so will solve many problems. Since they also talk to you simultaneously, your guests will slow down and write more legibly. If you get someone with a doctor’s handwriting, you can immediately follow up with them to clarify their details.
Issue 2: You put your sign-in sheet in the wrong place
Don’t set the sign-in sheet in the entryway when camped out in the kitchen. Instead, position it next to the refreshments. Whether guests help themselves with food or drink, nearly everyone will cruise by the kitchen, creating an ideal opportunity to invite them to sign in. You also want to avoid crowding guests into a smaller space or preventing them from entering the front door, so positioning your sign-in sheet in an open area of the home will alleviate that.
Issue 3: You’re not starting conversations with your attendees
Your open house sign-in sheet creates an opening to start a conversation with everyone who enters the door. But it only works if you engage with them actively during the event or in a follow-up communication (or both). Here are two crucial tips:
- Capture one piece of information beyond the basics. Every sign-in sheet will ask for a name and email address. These are essential bits of information, but they only get you to the doorstep of your first conversation about real estate with that prospect—during the open house or in your follow-up.
- Gather one small fact to spark a conversation. Our favorites are “What is a must-have feature of your next home?” and “How long have you been looking for a new home?” Later, when you follow up, you’ll be equipped to have a meaningful conversation right out of the gate.
Issue 4: You’re not asking if the lead is already working with an agent
You’ll want to check with prospective leads to see if they are already working with another real estate agent. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) Code of Ethics states its no-client-poaching policy clearly. Even if you’re not a member of the NAR, it is common courtesy not to poach another agent’s clients. A simple yes or no on the sign-in sheet will give you a good idea of who’s eligible to enlist you as an agent.
Issue 5: You’re not hosting enough open houses
Open houses are that magical win-win-win-win opportunity. Seller clients see how hard you’re marketing their property, brokers see how much you’re hustling, neighbors see you as the go-to expert, and buyers might see you as their new agent.
If you’re a new agent—or new to an area or a niche like luxury real estate—you want to host as many open houses as possible. It can be tempting to hand them off because they take time (and it can be exhausting to be that charming), but every open house is a golden opportunity to build your business. Make sure you’re hosting your own and even offer to host them for other busy agents.
Issue 6: You haven’t mastered the follow-up
You should follow up with every attendee of your open house. After all, why collect contact information if you won’t use it to build your business? This process takes time but it shows off your professionalism and dedication. Whether you call, email, or text, it’s a crucial step in taking advantage of your open house. Read our article on the best open house follow-up emails and tips for writing your own.
FAQs: Open House Sign-in Sheets
Why should I use a sign-in sheet for my open house?
Having guests sign in allows you to collect contact information from potential clients. You can follow up with visitors individually, send them thank-you notes for attending your open house, invite them to your next open house, and give them a preview of your other listings! Having a sign-in sheet helps you get more buyer leads.
Do I need to have graphic design skills to use your templates?
Of course not. Our free open house sign-in sheet templates are all fillable PDF files that you can customize easily. If you have questions about our templates, let us know in the comments. If you’re looking for open house flyer templates, we’ve got you covered.
How do I encourage potential clients to sign in at my open house?
First, assure visitors that their information will only be used to communicate about open houses and other real estate events. Second, offer incentives or refreshments. Everybody loves getting something for free, whether it’s free cookies, coffee, or even a gift card. Doing these creates a welcoming atmosphere and encourages visitors to stay longer at your open house. Are you nervous about your open house? Ensure you’ve ticked all the boxes on our open house checklist.
Bringing It All Together
Open houses are an essential marketing tool for your business. They allow you to showcase your listing and sales skills to neighbors and potential new listers and—of course—meet and greet buyers. Now that you’ve armed yourself with some solid open house sign-in sheet strategies and templates you can use this weekend, get out there and work.
Tell us about your most successful open house in the comments. What made it stand out above the rest?
Tell us about you so we know what to send.
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