10 Impactful Real Estate Open House Signs: Tips & Examples

When hosting and promoting an open house, nothing beats the classic real estate open house signs. But let’s be honest—people won’t even look twice at those standard rectangle and square signs with basic wording. If you really want to make your property listing the talk of the town, you’ve got to up your signage game. I’ve created a list of ten creative signs and strategies to keep in mind to help you stand out and drive more interest in your listing.

1. Adhere to Real Estate Sign Regulations

Research your property’s neighborhood for any rules they enforce before putting up your signs. Be mindful of sign restrictions from property-owner associations (POAs) and homeowner associations (HOAs). Many POAs and HOAs restrict the type of signs you use, like the number of realtor pop signs or feather signs. Opt for open house materials that coincide with HOA and POA regulations when purchasing.

2. Stand Out With Shapes

One of the simplest ways to make your sign stand out is by using an unconventional shape like a house, arrow, or another shape representing your brand. However, like real estate sold signs, open house signs should be used with a strategy. Since this sign does not include event details like time and date, you’d likely need to use this along with an open house sign rack with listing brochures or sign riders.

3. Make Your Open House Sign Pop With Color

When it comes to attention-grabbing colors, magenta is energizing and eye-catching while still feeling professional. Colors are a powerful way to grab attention and attract leads, but they speak differently to each person. For instance, when creating just-sold postcards and flyers, too bright or neon colors can annoy many buyers. Choose colors wisely to make your signs stand out without screaming for visual attention.

4. Be Concise in Your Real Estate Open House Sign

The best open house signs for realtors should not have the same content or goals as other real estate marketing materials, such as brochures or newsletters. These signs need to do one thing: clearly and boldly display the location, time, and date so potential buyers can find you without a second thought.

5. Add Your Headshot to Signs

Another of the best open house realtor signs includes your realtor headshot. Adding a name and a face to the sign makes the open house more personable. Potential buyers will recognize your face from the signs, which can help build trust and authority before you show them the property. 

6. Turn Everyday Objects Into Open House Signs

Making your sign stand out is possible without adding shapes or colors to the original sign. Instead, placing it on a unique object will capture attention. This agent used an antique bike as an open house sign in a community that values vintage and renovated properties. It shows buyers that the homeowners and the agent genuinely know and love the area. 

7. Create Movement in Open House Signs

Feather or flag real estate open house signs are designed to move in the breeze to attract passersby’s attention. The size of the flag, bright colors, and large lettering swaying in the wind are difficult to ignore, and the movement stands out from all of the other static objects on the property.

8. Incorporate Personal & Brokerage Branding for Trust-building

There are many reasons to incorporate your brokerage into your branded open house signs, and many agents choose to centralize their signage on the brokerage branding. Large brokerages like Keller Williams already have a strong reputation, so their name can build trust and authority with an audience who’s unfamiliar with you.

9. Ensure Proper Placement & Size of All Signs

The location of your open houses sign is just as crucial as its format or design. Many homes are located within neighborhoods, so placing a few signs in front of the home will only attract a small number of neighbors. However, by placing signs on street corners and busy roads near the house, you will attract many more potential buyers in the area. 

10. Include Interactive Elements in Promotional Materials

While most open house signage is meant to be placed in physical locations on or around the property, creating an online promotional strategy for your open houses is essential. When creating digital open house flyers, include more details and information and add interactive elements like links. This open house flyer uses a short video loop to take advantage of the marketing power of video.

In addition to promoting a digital open house sign, add your open house to your Zillow listing. Zillow displays open house times and dates on listings so potential buyers can search through Zillow for upcoming open houses. Don’t miss out on qualified buyers and leads by neglecting to set up your agent profile or sign up to become a Zillow Premier Agent.

Visit Zillow

What to Include on Open House Signs

Open house signs for realtors can come in various shapes, sizes, styles, and colors. Most open house sign companies have free templates that allow you to start with a somewhat generic design, with the ability to change sign elements. Remember that changing every sign element can lead to muddled messages and confusing designs, so revise wisely. 

These sign details can include the following:

• “Open house” title
• Date and time
• Agent names
• Phone number
• Additional contact details
• Brokerage name
• Logo or personal branding
• Headshot
• Listing price

Keep in mind all of these details must be presented in an organized way to avoid overwhelming your target audience. When designing your open house sign graphic, start with a plan for each sign. Instead of trying to include all of the information in one sign, create multiple signs, each with one primary goal. For example, place a flag sign on the front edge of the property, an A-frame sign near the home’s entrance, and open house directional signs beside surrounding roads. Use similar colors and fonts for cohesion.

How to Design Open House Signs (+ Extra Tips)

Since there are no open house sign design rules, it can be overwhelming for a real estate agent to decide how or where to begin. However, success in real estate doesn’t necessarily require you to become an expert in every part of real estate marketing. Instead, you need the tools and tips to design effective open house signs.

• Focus on a clear message: Each sign should have a clear goal, like drawing attention to the property or building authority.
• Use clear and legible writing: Choose font styles that are easy to read and remember for those walking or driving by.
• Incorporate branding: Include elements of you and your company’s brand.
• Location-specific strategy: Purchase signs with directional arrows to direct visitors where to go. Signs placed on a main road should not be identical to signs placed by the front door.
• Consider your sign’s size: A typical open house welcome sign is 24 inches wide by 18 inches tall. Since commercial property signs can be as large as eight feet wide by four feet tall, your sign should be large enough to read without slowing the car down. which may require a more prominent sign than the standard real estate yard sign size.
• Preview your sign before the big day: Remember to test different sizes, colors, and placements. On the day of your event, include attention-grabbing items like tiny flags.

Where to Buy Open House Signs

Many companies provide real estate postcards, open house signs, flyers, and brochures, so choosing can be challenging. However, depending on the quantity and types of signs you require for your open house, you can find a company that fits your business needs. A few of the top sign providers are as follows:

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Bringing It All Together

Open house signs are integral to a real estate agent’s marketing strategy to attract leads, direct open house guests where to go, and help sell listings. When choosing open house signs, you want to ensure the colors are appealing and not overly laden with text and images. Signs can be unique, but ensure they’re easy to read by passing cars. Strategically place additional signs on main roads so they can be seen by more people, and pay close attention to local sign ordinances.