You can hold ten Open Houses, but if they’re not properly planned or organized you’ll still be left with a "For Sale" sign gathering dust on your front lawn. Here’s a checklist to help you make the most out of each of your little "house parties":

• Is it scheduled at a convenient time? Weekend afternoons are the best time to hold an open house, as long as it doesn’t compete with major sporting events or religious observances. The ideal time is Sunday from 2-5 pm.
• Do people know about it? Send out as many flyers as you can. Hang a large sign in front of your home, in a spot where light hits it so it can be seen even at night. Attach balloons to draw even more attention. When you’re done setting it up, stand on your street to check if you can see it from there. You can also send email announcements with a jpeg attachment of your house that people can forward.
• Did you attract the right people? You could have spent all your time entertaining guests who really had no means to purchase your home. To screen buyers while making the rounds of the room, innocently ask, "Are you planning on buying within the next two or three months?" or ""Have you applied for a mortgage?"
• Did you entertain the buyers properly? You do require some selling skills (or at least, good social skills!) to deal with potential buyers. This includes the ability to make friendly chitchat, respond to questions in a credible and clear way, and an ability to "connect" to them by making eye contact and engaging in enjoyable "cocktail chatter". If you don’t enjoy talking to strangers, or if you have mannerisms that can be subconsciously interpreted as untrustworthiness (nervous twitch, tendency to say "uhm" or stumble mid-sentence, tendency to make wild hand movements) ask a friend or relative to play host for you.

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