Yes, you read that right! lol I am now nicknamed “The Queen of Open Houses” – but let me take you back to October of 2022 and how I got the name.
It was the first day of Launch (which is a course with Carolina One that you take when you first sign up with them & it’s basically classes Mon-Friday) We were brought in with agents who had started the classes a month before us and honestly, I loved it. It gave new agents the training they needed, with a group of the same “newbies” who help support each-other in the beginning stages of growing your business. – I had walked in & saw a leader board on the wall. Not a (oh look what i’ve done & what you haven’t haha wall) but a wall to help show agents it is possible to gain transactions when you are first starting out & how launch helps. I knew I had to be on that board.
Fast forward to a month into launch and I was ready to jump into hosting Open Houses. We had a class about how to find them, how reach out to the listing agents to ask if you are able to host one & last but importantly not least, how to host them. I knew I had to start getting myself out there & in the public eye. I knew I wasn’t going to be getting any compensation from the listing agents for hosting them but I would be putting my signs out and people would see my name & number driving by. (good old marketing)
It was my goal to do 3-4 a weekend and mind me, I wasn’t working when I first started. (Like a naive rookie, I thought money was going to fall from the sky. So I didn’t think I had to work) Well that all changed ——- Anyways, I had my first open house the beginning of October of 2021. I remember it like it was yesterday. I had shown up to the house a day before getting door hangers on the neighborhood doors, talking to anyone who was walking around on that beautiful day and putting my signs out. (Which if you remember, my first clients are from that open house) – The next day rolls around & I got to the OH about an hour before. Setting up MLS sheets, snacks, drinks & getting some good video footage of the home. That day I had 5 groups come through. One couple actually had me write an offer on the house, but unfortunately fell through the week after.
After the first OH, I was hooked. I began reaching out to agents every Monday to set up OH’s for the weekends. I made sure to stick to the hot areas and good price points. I vowed to myself, that every weekend I would host at least 3-4 and I’m still going strong to this day. Now almost 6 months into this, I’ve hosted about 20+ houses & no other rookie agent was doing this. I was standing out, just like I wanted.
I remember hosting one in particular for an agent from our Downtown office (Seth Stisher). I had spoken to him about the property & key details that I should know before hosting. Before we ended our call, he told me something that would stick with me throughout my whole career. He said, “I know OH’s can either be rewarding, or a giant lesson, but no matter what keep them up. Another agent from our office has grown his career solely from hosting OH’s and I know you can follow in those footsteps.” After we hung up, I knew all of those long weekends that I sat in empty houses for 2-3 hours, where not a soul walked through them, would be worth it in the end.
The beginning of this year we had a couple new agents join our brokerage. I had walked into the office one morning & one of the listing agents that I had held an OH for before (Will Moody) came up to me & said “Hey! There is a new agent, Jackson & he wants to follow you on a couple OH’s before going at it alone. I told him you are “The Queen of Open Houses” and that you could teach him your ways”. That was the day i found out my new nickname & that everyone was calling me that. Rookie agents were looking up to me in ways I never knew & even some of the seasoned agents.
I had begun helping new agents out with OH’s and teaching them anyway I knew how, because of course, i was still new myself in a way. I knew the feeling I had when I first started & didn’t want to leave them to fend on their own. In an industry where so many new/seasoned agents end up not helping others, I wanted to be the one who wouldn’t let people fail. If they worked hard enough, I want to give them an opportunity to grow just like I had.
I will continue to educate anyway I can and help others when they ask. I am never one to turn down some one who has a dream & if I can’t help on my own, we will always figure it out together.
It’s now February 19th & I’m currently holding an OH for an agent who CALLED me. I swear, it’s good to know that the agents who have been in it for the long run are calling me to host their listings. OH’s are something I will continue to do throughout my whole career & I will always find new ways to promote them .
Thank you for coming to my ted talk. xoxo, Alli
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