Open house for rental

[Michael Clevenger]

Does anyone have suggestions/ideas for an open house on a rental?

From what I've gathered on BP I am only doing one open house day for all whom have showed interest. If I receive an email in regards to the property I'll reply with an template email stating additional information as well as the open house date. 

As of now I am thinking of showing this Saturday from 9am-11am.

Am I on the right track? Should I put balloons outside? Do I have bottled water available? MY MIND IS GOING CRAZY!!! 

The house looks great although it is completely empty my crew and I just updated it with new floors and paint thoughtout. This is my first rental.

[Kyle J.]

I've done open houses and like them if there's a lot of interest because you can show everyone the property in a short amount of time.  It's certainly a lot easier than running back and forth to the property showing it individually for each applicant.  Plus, having multiple people walking through seems to create a sense of urgency in applicants because they can see that other people are also interested.  

I don't provide water or anything.  People don't tend to stay long enough to work up a thirst.  Plus, some applicants will show up with their kids and I'd hate for them to give one to their kids and have them spill it all over the floor.   

Never done balloons either but it probably wouldn't hurt.  If nothing else, it might help people locate the property.  Don't really think it's that important either way.

All I really bring is a stack of applications and info sheets on the property for people to take with them if they're interested.  The info sheet has the number of bedrooms and baths, key features/selling points of the house, rent amount, security deposit amount, rental requirements, instructions for how to turn in a completed application and the amount of the screening fee, and my contact info.  The info sheet answers most applicants questions, and it also helps them remember what stands out about the house and how to turn in the application (especially if they're touring multiple properties that same day).

The picture of your house looks nice.  Good luck at your open house.