1. Complete one open house source record
The email is only as reliable as the event record behind it. Build the record before drafting the subject line, then use the same approved fields in email, social posts, video, property pages, calendar entries, signs, and follow-up. Record who can stop or correct the sequence.
Open house source record
Property identity: [approved public address or location label]
Current status: [active status / source / date and time checked]
Event window: [day / date / start / end / time zone if useful]
Host: [agent / team / brokerage-approved identity and contact]
Access: [entry / parking / building / accessibility / registration instructions]
Verified facts: [price / beds / baths / area / property type / approved details]
Primary property proof: [visible detail supported by current media]
Property page: [controlled destination with current details]
Video: [approved version / thumbnail / alt text / playback page]
Audience and permission basis: [segment / relationship / exclusions]
Reply and update owner: [monitored person / correction process]
Stop triggers: [status / offer instructions / seller decision / event change / weather / access]
Do not bury access requirements or a material change in a decorative image. Put operational details in live text and repeat the current destination. When a fact changes, pause scheduled sends first, correct the record, then update every affected version.
2. Choose the audience and sequence
An invitation for a buyer who asked about the property should not read like a broad database announcement. An agent-network note should be easy to verify. A seller recap should report work and feedback rather than promote the event after it has ended.
| Message | Audience | Primary job | Useful action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matched invitation | Permitted contacts with expressed property criteria | Explain the specific match and event option | View details, reply, or confirm interest |
| Database invitation | Permitted audience without an individual match | Let recipients self-select | Open the current property page |
| Reminder or update | People who asked for or reasonably expect event information | Make the current logistics easy to retrieve | Save details, reply, or review the change |
| Agent-network note | Relevant real-estate professionals | Provide a verifiable property and showing route | Open the approved details or ask a property question |
| Attendee follow-up | Visitor with a documented conversation and contact route | Answer the next question they expressed | Reply, request details, or schedule |
| Seller recap | Seller and approved internal participants | Report completed work and decisions | Review facts or respond to a recommendation |
Audience relevance should come from permitted relationship data and expressed housing needs, not assumptions about who belongs in a property or neighborhood. Use the listing campaign plan to coordinate the email sequence with the public event posts and status updates.
3. Write a subject and preheader that preserve the facts
Let the subject identify the event. Use the preheader for the next useful fact rather than repeating “open house.” Avoid fabricated exclusivity, pressure, or predictions about demand.
Invitation subject lines
Open house [day]: [approved property identity]
[Property type] open [day] in [approved location]
Tour [property identity] · [day and event window]
An open house matching [expressed property criterion]
Reminder and update subject lines
Reminder: [property identity] open [day]
Open house update: [property identity] · [what changed]
Today: open house at [approved property identity]
Preheader formula: [one verified property detail] + [current access or response action]
“See the [visible feature]” is stronger than “dream home.” “[Time] to [time]” is clearer than “this weekend” when the message may be forwarded or reopened later. If the date is far enough away to need context, include the month and day in the email body and linked event record.
4. Copy the open house invitation email
Use this version for a contact whose expressed criteria make the property relevant. Name the match precisely, keep complete details on a controlled page, and make a private showing an option only when it is actually available.
Subject: Open house [day]: [approved property identity]
Preheader: [Verified detail] + [event window or access note].
Hi [first name],
[Property identity] matches the [property criterion] you asked me to watch for. It has [verified fact], [verified fact], and [visible detail supported by the listing media].
I'm hosting an open house on [day, date] from [start time] to [end time]. [One useful access, parking, building-entry, or registration instruction].
[View the current property details and short video]
If you plan to stop by, reply with your approximate time and any question you want me to confirm. If the property misses the mark, tell me which criterion to change in the search.
[Agent name]
[Brokerage-approved identity and contact]
For a broad permitted database, remove the personal-match statement. Start with the property type, approved location, event window, and two verified facts so readers can decide whether the event is relevant without being told how they should feel.
Subject: [Property type] open [day] in [approved location]
Hi [first name],
[Property identity] will be open on [day, date] from [start time] to [end time]. The current listing includes [verified fact], [verified fact], and [visible property detail].
Watch the short property preview and review the current details, directions, and access information before the event.
[Preview the property and open house details]
Questions about the property or event? Reply to this email. Looking for something different? Send the property type, location, and timing you want me to watch.
[Agent name]
[Brokerage-approved identity and contact]
5. Copy the reminder or material-update email
A reminder should reduce search and uncertainty. It does not need the full launch story again. Send it only to the audience selected through the agent's approved permission and expectation workflow, and make any change more prominent than the original promotional copy.
Subject: Reminder: [property identity] open [day]
Preheader: [Event window] · [one current access instruction].
Hi [first name],
A quick reminder that [property identity] is scheduled to be open [day, date] from [start time] to [end time]. [Current parking, entry, registration, or accessibility instruction].
[Open directions and current property details]
Reply here if you want me to confirm [specific property question] before you visit. Please use the linked page for the latest status and event information.
[Agent name]
[Brokerage-approved identity and contact]
Subject: Open house update: [property identity] · [changed or canceled]
Hi [first name],
The open house for [property identity] has [specific change] as of [date and time]. The current plan is [new event window, alternate route, or no replacement event].
[Review the current property status and details]
I'm sorry for the change. Reply if you want me to confirm another available way to review the property, subject to the current listing and showing instructions.
[Agent name]
[Brokerage-approved identity and contact]
Pause invitation and reminder automations before sending the correction. Updating the landing page without stopping the old email does not protect someone who acts on the subject line or cached message.
6. Copy the agent-network open house email
Make the professional note scannable and verifiable. Do not imply that another agent's client is a personal match. Identify the property facts that may be relevant, link to the authoritative information, and make the host's reply path clear.
Subject: Agent open house · [property identity] · [day and time]
Preheader: [Property type], [two verified facts], and the current access route.
Hi [agent name],
I'm hosting [property identity] on [day, date] from [start time] to [end time]. It may be relevant for clients seeking [objective property criterion]. Current highlights:
• [Verified fact]
• [Verified fact]
• [Visible, defensible property detail]
[Open the current listing and property video]
[Current access or showing instruction]. Please use the linked record for current status and complete details. Reply with a property or event question and I'll confirm the answer.
[Agent name]
[Brokerage-approved identity and contact]
If the workflow calls for an unbranded property video, verify the player page, thumbnail, title, audio, end screen, related content, and surrounding page—not only the MP4 file. The branded-versus-unbranded guide covers the complete delivery path.
7. Follow up from the actual attendee conversation
The sign-in record gives the agent a way to reconnect; it does not create useful personalization by itself. Write the follow-up from the question, property criterion, or next step the person actually expressed. Keep the current property page available and give them an easy correction or preference route.
Subject: Your question about [property identity]
Preheader: [Answer, document, or next step discussed at the event].
Hi [first name],
Thanks for visiting [property identity] on [day]. You asked about [specific question or criterion]. [Confirmed answer, source, or the exact next step for getting it].
[Review the current property details]
If you want to take the next step, reply with [one useful response]. If this property is not the right fit, send me the detail you would change and I'll use that in our next conversation.
[Agent name]
[Brokerage-approved identity and contact]
If there was no specific conversation, say less: thank the visitor, link the current information, and ask one neutral question. Do not invent urgency, interest, objections, or a relationship that the event record does not show.
8. Send the seller a separate event recap
The seller recap is a service record. Separate completed marketing, attendance, observed questions, feedback themes, follow-up actions, and recommendations. Avoid identifying visitors or exposing private communications beyond what the responsible workflow permits.
Subject: Open house recap · [property identity] · [event date]
Hi [seller name],
Here is the factual recap from the [date] open house at [property identity]. The event ran from [start time] to [end time], and the following approved promotion was completed:
• [Email, social, agent-network, property-page, sign, or video action]
• [Action]
• [Action]
Attendance record: [count and definition used, or “still being reconciled”].
Questions heard: [factual themes].
Feedback themes: [attributed or aggregated according to the approved process].
Follow-up underway: [action / owner / due condition].
My current recommendation is [recommendation], based on [named evidence]. The next checkpoint is [date or condition]. Please reply with any correction or question you want included.
[Agent name]
[Brokerage-approved identity and contact]
Do not equate registrations, door count, email opens, video views, replies, showings, and offers. Define each number and report it at the layer where it was observed. The weekly seller update template provides a broader reporting structure for the complete listing campaign.
9. Add a property video with a linked thumbnail
Use the email to explain why the video is relevant, then link a representative property frame to a current hosted page. Mailchimp's current video-in-email guidance says most email clients cannot display embedded video and describes linked thumbnail approaches. Test the exact email platform and clients used by the brokerage.
Thumbnail: [approved property frame with a restrained play cue]
Alt text: Watch the property preview for [approved property identity]
Caption: A short look at [specific visible property story]
Button: Preview the property and open house details
Text fallback: View the current property page and video: [linked title]
Destination: [current property page with event details and response route]
- Lead with context. State the event and property reason in live text before the image.
- Choose an honest frame. The thumbnail should represent the property story the click will open.
- Keep the event off the master. When practical, add dated event text to a separate export so the property video can remain useful.
- Add captions and a text route. The destination should work without sound and the email should work without images.
- Test the complete handoff. Check mobile crop, image blocking, redirects, playback, current event details, and the reply path.
Use the open house video campaign guide to make the announcement, property-proof, FAQ, reminder, day-of, and evergreen assets distinct. The video email workflow covers thumbnail, hosting, accessibility, testing, and measurement in more depth.
10. Review, measure, and retire the sequence
Review the actual recipient experience and the live destination. For commercial email in the United States, the FTC's current CAN-SPAM compliance guide covers accurate headers, non-deceptive subject lines, ad identification, a valid postal address, opt-out methods, and sender responsibility. Confirm the complete consent, privacy, fair-housing, brokerage, vendor, and jurisdictional requirements that apply to the real send.
- The sender, reply-to address, subject, preheader, audience, and permission basis are correct.
- The property status, identity, price, facts, event window, host, and access instructions match the live source.
- The copy and audience selection do not express or imply discriminatory housing preferences.
- The thumbnail, alt text, button, text fallback, redirects, property page, video, calendar, directions, and reply inbox work.
- The message remains understandable with images blocked and on a narrow mobile screen.
- Required agent, brokerage, advertising, contact, postal, preference, and opt-out information is present.
- A named person owns replies, accessibility requests, registration questions, corrections, and event changes.
- Scheduled messages stop when status, access, seller instructions, offer handling, or the event changes.
- Recipient and visitor information is collected, shared, and retained only through the approved workflow.
- The post-event report distinguishes delivery, interaction, attendance, follow-up, and transaction outcomes.
| Layer | Examples | What it can support |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery | Sent, delivered, bounced, unsubscribed | List and system health for the sequence |
| Interaction | Tracked event-page or video clicks, replies | Which approved paths were used |
| Event | Registrations, arrivals, questions, accessibility requests | Event operations when each measure is defined |
| Qualified follow-up | Requested information, showing, agent inquiry, seller decision | Which next steps need an owner |
| Transaction context | Offer or closing recorded elsewhere | Outcome context without assigning unsupported causation |
After the event, remove expired date language from reusable video and property pages, stop the reminders, preserve the approved record, and route the listing to its next real campaign state. If another event is scheduled, create a new event record rather than silently changing the old one.
Build the event sequence and property preview together
The free Westby open house campaign builder drafts an editable invitation, reminder, follow-up, social sequence, and video plan from one event brief. When the listing is public, Westby can also turn its existing property photos into a cinematic preview before purchase.
Build the open house campaign or create a free property-video preview.
Frequently asked questions
What should an open house invitation email include?
Include the current property identity, event date and time with time zone when useful, access or parking instructions, two or three verified property details, a current property page, one response or attendance action, and the responsible agent's contact information.
What is a good subject line for an open house email?
Use a specific, accurate formula such as “Open house [day]: [property identity]” or “[Property type] open [day] in [approved location].” Add one verified detail in the preheader instead of using unsupported urgency or vague hype.
How do you add a property video to an open house email?
Use an approved property frame with a visible play cue that links to a current hosted page, then add descriptive alt text and a plain-text link. Test the complete route on mobile and desktop rather than assuming an embedded player will work in every email client.
What should an agent send after an open house?
Send a short, permission-aware follow-up that thanks the attendee, answers the question or interest they actually expressed, links to current property information, and offers one reply path. Send the seller a separate factual recap of completed marketing, attendance records, feedback themes, open questions, and next steps.