Turn Open House Attendees into Actual Buyers with AI Follow-Up

In this episode, Kandice Coleman shows you exactly how to use AI to save time writing personalized, professional open house follow-up emails. You’ll learn how to categorize attendees (hot, warm, and neighbors), the exact AI prompts to use for each type of follow-up, and how to provide real value beyond just saying “thanks for coming.” Plus, Kandice breaks down the legal compliance issues you need to know: CAN-SPAM requirements, Fair Housing language, and privacy considerations.

If you’re hosting open houses this month and want to convert more attendees into actual clients, this episode will save you hours and probably make you thousands of dollars 

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Gary

* Gary serves on the South Carolina Real Estate Commission as a Commissioner. The opinions expressed herein are his opinions and are not necessarily the opinions of the SC Real Estate Commission. This podcast is not to be considered legal advice. Please consult an attorney in your area.

Transcript

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It's March, and here in South Carolina, the azaleas are blooming. The tree pollen count is high. We have moved the clocks forward. Spring is here, and every weekend on every corner you see a sign for an open house. It's open house season. You get a house, you get a house. Everybody gets a house. Agents, you know, sometimes the best part about the open house happens after when everybody leaves. It's the follow-up. Or at least it should be. I'm hearing from agents that I'm great at hosting an open house, but I'm horrible at following up after. I don't want to bother people. I don't really know what to say. Do I send the same generic message to everyone? Or a lot of times it's I want to send something more personable, but it just seems to be time consuming. Today we are solving that problem. We're using AI to help carry most of this load for us. You will leave this episode with guidelines for exactly how to use AI to write personalized, professional follow-up emails. Let's get into it. Welcome back to the ninth episode of Dishing Data AI Edition. I am your host, Candace Coleman, an attorney here at Blair Cato Pickering Casterline. Dishing Data AI Edition is your weekly 15-minute companion podcast to Dishing Dirt, hosted by Gary Pickering. Each week here, we break down exactly how you can use AI in your real estate business without the overwhelm and without the tech jargon. You always get a front row seat to what works, what doesn't, and how you can put it to work immediately. If you're a realtor who wants to work smarter, serve better, and stay ahead of the curve, this podcast is for you. This is Dishing Data AI Edition. Today we're talking all about open house follow-up. And the timing really couldn't be better because we're right in the middle of spring open house season. So if you're hosting open houses this month or next month, this episode is perfect for you. So you can stop walking away from those open houses with the list of names and not following up. Let's just start with why do most agents host open houses? And of course, there's the obvious answer. It's to sell the listing. But the reality is that most open houses don't result in an immediate offer on that specific property. The research shows that the open house is going to attract the curious or nosy neighbors, people that are just starting their home buying journey and just want to check things out. They're not necessarily pre-approved yet. And then occasionally you'll get a serious buyer who's ready to make an offer on the spot. But for the most part, people are coming and getting an idea of what's going on and really just enjoying their Saturday, taking a look at houses. But we also know that even if no one makes an offer, every single person who walks through the door is a potential client if we are following up. But I've been talking to a lot of agents the past couple of weeks and they're telling me that they are struggling to follow up. And of course, it's a long day. You had to set up the open house, you're there, you're talking to people, greeting people, and answering questions and being of service. You're exhausted. You just want to go home. You've got this list of names of people who've come. And when it comes down to what do I say afterwards, you kind of get stuck. Buyers typically only interview one agent before deciding who to work with. So this is all the more reason to follow up and make sure that you are staying in the forefront of their mind. Because if you don't follow up, somebody else will, and that someone else will become their agent. And when it comes to figuring out what to say, sometimes thank you for coming sounds a little bit too generic. Hey, wanna buy? Sounds pushy. Sometimes you struggle with, I don't want to keep bombarding this person. And sending the same email to everyone doesn't only feel lazy, but sometimes it doesn't make sense given the context of the conversations that you had with them or where they were in their journey as a home buyer. But we don't want to say nothing and let these leads get cold. AI is gonna help you here. Write personalized, thoughtful, value-driven emails to follow up in just minutes. We're not using AI to replace your voice. We are simply using it to help you say exactly what it is that you want to say to the right person at the right time in their home buying journey and without spending so much time per email. And here's a way to save some time doing this. Since we know not every open house attendee is the same, their follow-up email is not going to be the same. We are going to categorize them into different types of attendees. So, group one, we've got our hot leads. So these are the people that are showing serious interest. They've asked detailed questions, they've measured rooms, they've talked about paint colors, asked about the neighbors if there was an HOA. They were the people that you were like, hmm, okay, we've got somebody here. They mentioned timelines, like we're moving in June or we're closing on our home next month. They're ready. They just need a little bit of a nudge. They need you to kind of remind them of exactly why they want this home. Group two, warm leads. So your warm leads, they sounded interested, but they didn't really ask them any questions. So maybe they are early in their search or just casually browsing. Perhaps they indicated that this wasn't the home for them, wasn't quite right, but they are definitely looking. It's not necessarily just the nosy neighbor that wanted to see what somebody's kitchen looked like after their renovation. Okay, so our group two people, they kind of need a little nurture. They're not ready to schedule that showing tomorrow, but they might be ready in a couple months or so. So we just need to keep them more. Group three, we're gonna call them neighbors and low-interest visitors. The people that live on the street and just wanted to see inside, or people who aren't quite ready to buy a house yet, years away from buying a house. Perhaps they were just killing time. You still want to follow up with these people because you just never know. But your message here is gonna be different. We're more so planting seeds here, not asking for a show. When people are signing in at your open house, you are going to make a notes column on the sign-in sheet, or if you're using an iPad to have people sign in and give their contact information. Bother walking through, you just jot down a couple of quick observations. This person really loved the kitchen, neighbor from next door, just browsing, relocating from Charlotte in 2027, or asked about a time frame, um, moving by the summer. So you're grouping them and jotting down little observations as you go along so that when it comes time to write these emails, it's quick and easy. You already have the information available for you. All right, so we've categorized our attendees and now you got to write the emails, right? Open house is over, have a seat, here we go. This is when AI comes in. I'm gonna give you the exact prompts. ChatGPT, Claude, both will work for this. I'm using Claude. I do think that it is better for writing these types of emails. Hot leads, the serious spires, let's hit them first because we know they are ready to go. We want to get them scheduled. We're on a call immediately. The prompt, I'm a real estate agent. If you've been using your AI platform of choice, it's already gonna have this information about you. So you can just get right into it. I hosted an open house yesterday. I met a potential buyer who showed serious interest. They asked about include that specific detail that you have in your notes about them, write a warm and professional follow-up email that thanks them for coming, references the specific details they cared about, offers to answer any questions, invites them to schedule a private showing or call. Keep the tone friendly, not pushy. Keep in mind we always want to make sure that we are steering the AI in the direction we want it to go. So we're gonna give it the tone that we want it to take off the bat. If you've been using it, you know that sometimes it will spit you out a beautifully written dissertation when all you wanted was a couple of sentences. I also add in make it five to seven sentences, use a conversational but professional tone. It's gonna write you an email, take 30 seconds to generate. For our warm leads, our casual buyers will call them here. Our goal is to stay on the top of their mind without being too pushy. And this is where you'll find a lot of the attendees are gonna fall. This is why you kind of get that feeling of like, I know they really don't want to buy this home. I don't want to sound too pushy, and you stop right there and don't send the follow-up. Use this prompt. I'm a real estate agent, hosted an open house yesterday. A potential buyer attended, but didn't ask many questions. They seemed interested, but early in their search, write a warm, low pressure follow-up email that thanks them for coming, acknowledges that they might not be ready to buy right now, offers to send them listings that match their criteria, invites them to stay in touch, keep the tone friendly and helpful, not salesy. Make it five to seven sentences. And once again, if you had any details about something that you talked to this potential buyer about, add that in there. The email is generated. You're gonna go through it, read it, make sure that it sounds good and it has your voice in it. Add any personalized touches if you'd like. You'll add in the person's name and the property address of the home, of course, because if people are spending their Saturdays, Saturday is going from open house to open house. You want to remind them of exactly the address, but you don't necessarily want to type it into Chat GPT. Then the prompt for our third group that neighbor low intent to buy, follow-up email. So the goal here is just to plant a seed, build a relationship, and turn the neighbors into referral sources. I'm a real estate agent. I hosted an open house yesterday. One of the attendees was a neighbor who lived nearby and just wanted to see the house out of curiosity. Write a friendly, casual follow-up email that thanks them for coming, mentions that you work in their neighborhood, offers to help if they ever know someone looking to sell or buy, keep the tone warm and neighborly, not salesy, and make it four to five sentences. Review, send, plug in names, property address, send. In 30 seconds, you'll have a short, sweet, not salesy email done. Stick it up a notch. Let's use some more advanced follow-up strategies that are really going to allow the AI to help you show value. Strategy number one, send them a comparable listing. So if somebody come has come to your open house and the property isn't quite what they are looking for, send them a comparable listing. The prompt would look more like I'm a real estate agent, a buyer attended an open house, it had X bedrooms, bathrooms, the home listed at whatever price in whatever neighborhood. They like the home, but mention it was slightly out of their budget or slightly too small or the wrong school district. Write a follow-up email that thanks them for coming, acknowledges the concern they mention, offers to send them three to five comparable listings that might be a better fit, invites them to let you know their must-haves so you can find them the right home. Make it six to eight sentences, tone helpful and consultative. As you can see, you're positioning yourself here as a problem solver, not just someone who wants to sell a specific house. Another strategy, send them a neighborhood market report. If someone seemed interested in the area, but not necessarily that property, send them a mini market report. Here you're just gonna prompt the AI stating, I'm a real estate agent, buyer attended an open house in this neighborhood. They seem interested in the area, but unsure about the current market condition. Send them a follow-up email that thanks them for coming. Mentions the neighborhood market is active right now, and you can name the actual neighborhood. Offer to send them a quick market report showing the recent sales, the average prices, and inventory levels. This is gonna position you as a local expert who can help them navigate the market. You can create this market report using the AI CMA process that we covered in episode six. If you have not seen episode six of Dishing Data AI Edition, you can go and find it and you will see exactly how we lay out the process for this. And of course, anytime someone has asked a question at the open house, whether it be about HOA fees, property taxes, schools, flood zones, any of those questions, you want to follow up giving them an answer. Make sure that you include that in homework for the week. Let's put it all together into a workflow that you can actually use. So step one, immediately after the open house, you're gonna review your sign-in sheet and your notes and categorize each attendee, whether they're hot, warm, or neighborslash low intent. So nobody's cold because that would make them a cold lead. We're not leaving any cold leads. This is gonna take you about five minutes. Step two, you're opening Claude, and for each person, you're using the appropriate prompt template. You're filling in the blanks, adding in their name, the property address, and any specific details from your notes. And step three, you're gonna generate the email. So you're gonna copy it from the AI, read it, make sure it sounds like you, um, that it's accurate. If it doesn't sound like you, tweak it, make it yours, and then you send the email. And after that, you're just tracking responses. If they respond, you know that's an active follow-up pipeline. You're scheduling the showings, you're answering the questions that they're gonna respond back with you and just keeping that conversation going. You can see how much time you're gonna save using AI. Or if you're not doing it at all because it's overwhelming for you, you can see that it's not really gonna take as long as you anticipated it would take without AI. So it's really a great tool for you to use and save some time doing something that you know is gonna be valuable for you. Let me just run through a few compliance issues that you may run into when using AI for your open house follow-up. So, number one issue, can spam act compliance. If you're sending marketing emails, which a follow-up email after an open house technically is, you need to make sure you're complying with the Can Spam Act. Compliance here is simple. You're gonna include a physical business address in every email. You also wanna include a link or a clear, easy way to opt out of emails, the unsubscribed link. And then make sure that you're honoring the opt-out request within 10 business days. Always use the correct from and reply to information and no deceptive subject lines. Violations here can trigger FTC fines of thousands of dollars per noncompliant emails. You don't want to play around with this one. Want to make sure that you are in compliance. This isn't something that you just want to ignore. Number two, don't forget fair housing compliance. When you're writing those emails, be careful not to add any language that could violate fair housing laws. If a sentence sounds like it's describing an ideal person instead of the property itself, red flag, revise that. So keep that in mind as you are reviewing the emails because sometimes the AI, it'll generate language that sounds helpful but could get you in trouble. And you may even want to include in your initial prompt, keep fair housing compliance in mind. Issue number three, confidentiality and privacy. So, and this is why we are customizing the email with names and any private information after we get the prompt from Claude or Chat GPT. You're also not gonna include any sensitive details about the seller or the property that aren't available to the public. And then number four, keep it actual and keep it factual. The AI doesn't have the answer to the questions about the HOA or is the property in a flood zone? Get the facts and make sure that you're verifying the information before you're sending it out because you're gonna be responsible for whatever it is that you send out to clients. Hope you're able to see just how powerful using AI can be for this follow-up. You're gonna save time, but the emails are not gonna be generic. You're gonna be able to add that personalization there. As you're going through the process each week of the open house, there are gonna be things that clients say or questions that they ask. Light bulb's gonna go off and be like, whoop, that's a note for my follow-up. And then you can add that in there. And the email is professional and powerful. Not having to overthink what to say is gonna allow you to get those emails out fast within 24 hours, um, so that you are staying fresh on their mind, keeping the property fresh on their mind, so the leads aren't going cold. And because the way that the prompts are drafted, the problems that you were having before about worrying about being too pushy or salesy, eliminated. This is about building relationships. Not only are you telling them about this property or another property, you're showing them this is how I work for my sellers. So if a friend mentions, hey, do you know a realtor? I do. As a matter of fact, we had a wonderful conversation. They hosted a beautiful open house and then they sent me this follow-up email within 24 hours. They were so helpful. They're actually an expert in this neighborhood or this local area. Everything is working for your good here. So you're really able to get the most out of hosting each open house. It ends up not just being about selling this one property. You're becoming a referral source for people that may be interested in buying one, two years down the line. You're truly getting the most out of each open house that you're hosting. You're not replacing your voice, you're not automating relationships, you're using the AI as a tool to help you say the right thing to the right person at the right time and save you some time doing it so that you can focus on what really matters building relationships and closing deals. The open house gives you the traffic, the follow-up turns that traffic into closings. Be sure to tune in next week as we cover more ways that AI can help you in your business. Be sure to like, comment, and subscribe. Ask me any questions. If there's a pain point in your business, send me an email, let me know. I'd be happy to let you know how you can use AI to alleviate that pain point. This is Dishing Data AI Edition. Thank you for listening. Now go follow up on those leads.