3 Ways to Host a Champagne Open House on a Beer Budget

On the first episode of “Million Dollar Listing Miami,” I met with my event planner to discuss an extravagant open house with all the bells and whistles. And with each over-the-top detail comes an over-the-top price tag – in this case $25,000!

While spending $25,000 isn’t in everyone’s budget (understandably), you can still have an amazing open house without breaking the bank.

Music

The Trump open house had a bit of a “sexy” flair that included hiring a DJ, which matched the property quite perfectly. A DJ can cost between $250 and $600+ an evening depending on the DJ and how many hours you host your event.

While hiring a DJ is fun and can be quite entertaining, a simpler and more cost-effective option can be to play music via iTunes or Pandora through televisions.

Or take it a step further and use the televisions to project pictures of the property and contact information on a slide rotation on the screens.

Cost of this? About $10-$20!

Presentation

Whether you’re having injectable cake balls (like I did) or simple sandwiches, the presentation of whatever you’re serving (and selling) is key. Would you not want your home to look perfect before presenting it to potential buyers?

The same logic goes with an open house. The last thing you want is to leave people with a bad taste in their mouth about the property because of the food or service they received at the event.

Service

I invited every broker in town and had a phenomenal turnout. Fortunately, I am staffed with an amazing team that assists with all my clients and their properties.

It’s vital that your agent be prepared and ensures everyone on the team is knowledgeable about the property.

Don’t have a team? Make sure the property information is present and readily available – your open house may be so busy that your agent can’t personally attend to every single broker or their clients.

Watch real-life open house obsessives tour their dream homes.

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Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or position of Zillow.