1. Choose the safest format the host can operate
A form is useful only when it works at the front door, protects earlier responses, survives a busy period, and reaches the person responsible for follow-up. Choose the primary and backup format during event planning, then test them at the property with the actual device, connection, QR code, pens, surface, staffing, and account permissions.
| Format | Useful when | Plan for |
|---|---|---|
| Individual paper card | The host wants a private, low-tech record that can be collected immediately | Blank-card supply, writing surface, secure envelope, transcription, and disposal |
| Host-controlled digital form | One staffed device can show a clean form and hide completed records | Device access, session privacy, connectivity, charging, app permissions, and backup |
| Visitor QR form | Visitors can use their own phones and the destination is simple and trusted | Plain-language label, typed URL, mobile testing, privacy notice, and non-QR alternative |
| Shared multi-row sheet | Only as a controlled fallback when another format is unavailable | Earlier contact visibility, handwriting, covered rows, removal, storage, and fast replacement |
Do not make the QR code the only usable route. A visitor may have limited connectivity, a device accessibility need, security concerns, or no camera available. The host should be able to explain the purpose and offer the approved alternative without pressuring the visitor.
2. Define every field before collecting it
For each field, name its purpose, whether it is required or optional, who can see it, where it goes, how long it is retained, and what happens when the visitor corrects or withdraws a contact choice. If the event team cannot answer those questions, remove the field until the process is defined.
| Field | Useful purpose | Keep separate |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Recognize the visitor and connect promised follow-up | Government ID or extra identity data unless an approved process requires it |
| Email or mobile | One visitor-chosen route for the stated property follow-up | Collecting both by default when one is enough |
| Working with an agent? | Route property communication through the appropriate relationship | Attempts to interfere with a disclosed representation relationship |
| Property follow-up choice | Answer a question, send current details, or discuss another look | Unrelated recurring promotions |
| Future listing updates | An optional, clearly described marketing preference | Prechecked language or a choice bundled into event entry |
| Property feedback | Optional reaction to visible features, presentation, or unanswered questions | Protected-class, demographic, financial, or private household information |
Avoid collecting a home address, financing details, household composition, preferred school, reason for moving, or detailed purchase timeline merely because a downloaded template has a blank for it. Those conversations may belong in a later approved agency or client workflow, not a public property sign-in.
3. Copy the individual open house visitor card
Place two or four copies on a page, leave comfortable writing space, and collect each card as soon as it is complete. Replace the bracketed notice with the language approved for the firm, location, technology, and planned uses. Do not represent this operational template as a required legal disclosure.
OPEN HOUSE VISITOR CARD
Property: [approved address or property identifier]
Event: [date / start–end / time zone]
Hosted by: [agent / firm / professional contact]
Why we are asking: [brief approved purpose for check-in and property follow-up]
Your name: ____________________________________
Choose one reply route: ☐ Email ____________________ ☐ Mobile ____________________
Are you currently working with a real estate agent? ☐ Yes ☐ No ☐ Prefer to discuss
May the event team contact you about this property? ☐ Yes, by my chosen route ☐ No
What would be useful? ☐ Current details ☐ Answer a property question ☐ Discuss another look ☐ No follow-up
Property question: ____________________________________________________
Optional and separate: ☐ I want [agent/firm] to send [clearly described future listing updates] by [email/text]. [Approved opt-out and consent language.]
Privacy and contact notice: [who collects the information / intended uses / sharing / privacy notice URL or available paper notice / contact route]
If the brokerage or jurisdiction has required agency, representation, safety, visitor, or entry forms, keep those requirements in their approved wording and order. Do not collapse them into this marketing and follow-up card for convenience.
4. Copy the digital form and shared-sheet fallback
Digital form field order
Screen 1 · Event identity: [property / current event / host / firm / why information is collected]
Screen 2 · Name: [single field or approved structure]
Screen 3 · Reply choice: [email or mobile / validate only the selected route]
Screen 4 · Representation: [working with an agent? / approved professional-routing note]
Screen 5 · Property follow-up: [current details / question / another look / none]
Screen 6 · Optional property feedback: [visible feature / concern / unanswered question / skip]
Screen 7 · Separate optional marketing choice: [specific content / sender / channel / unchecked choice / approved opt-out language]
Screen 8 · Confirmation: [what was requested / who will respond / current property-video or detail link / correction route]
Persistent notice: [privacy notice / required disclosures / accessibility and alternate route]
- Completed responses disappear before the next visitor uses the device.
- Browser autofill does not expose an earlier visitor's information.
- The device is locked to the approved flow and cannot open internal records or accounts.
- The QR code opens the exact HTTPS form, not a generic profile or unrecognized short link.
- Required and optional fields are visually and programmatically clear.
- Keyboard, screen-reader labels, focus, contrast, error messages, and text size are tested.
- The confirmation page lets the visitor review what will happen next.
- The host can switch to the tested paper card when the device or connection fails.
Shared-sheet fallback
When a multi-row sheet is the only approved backup, collect the minimum and cover or remove completed rows. Replace the sheet before the page becomes crowded, store it immediately after the event, and transcribe it only into the approved system.
OPEN HOUSE SIGN-IN · [property] · [date/time]
Host: [agent / firm / contact]
Purpose and notice: [brief approved check-in purpose / privacy notice route]
Row fields: [name] | [email OR mobile] | [working with an agent: Y/N/discuss] | [contact about this property: Y/N]
1. [name] | [email or mobile] | [agent: Y/N/discuss] | [property contact: Y/N]
2. [name] | [email or mobile] | [agent: Y/N/discuss] | [property contact: Y/N]
3. [name] | [email or mobile] | [agent: Y/N/discuss] | [property contact: Y/N]
4. [name] | [email or mobile] | [agent: Y/N/discuss] | [property contact: Y/N]
Future listing updates: use a separate individual choice; do not add it as an assumed use of the shared row.
5. Use a clear welcome and check-in flow
The host's explanation should match the form. If the card says information is collected for property follow-up, the spoken welcome should not describe a different use. Train every host, co-host, assistant, and replacement on the approved entry, representation, privacy, property, safety, and escalation process before the doors open.
Welcome to the open house at [property]. I'm [name] with [firm]. Our sign-in process is [individual card / host device / QR form], and the short notice explains how we use the information. You can choose one reply route and whether you want follow-up about this property; future listing updates are a separate optional choice. Are you currently working with an agent, and is there a property question I can help you track down?
Use the entry policy approved for the seller, firm, jurisdiction, property, and event. If a visitor declines, follow that policy without inventing a rule at the door. Do not promise privacy, deletion, access, security, or communication choices that the downstream CRM and vendors cannot honor.
6. Connect visitors to property media and optional feedback
Check-in and property access are different jobs. A visitor may want the video, current details, disclosures through the appropriate route, or a question answered without joining a recurring list. Put the maintained property destination on a separate card or sign with a clear label and typed fallback URL.
Tour the property again
Scan to view the current property page and approved listing video.
QR code: [tested code]
Type instead: [short, stable, readable property URL]
Questions: [agent / firm / monitored contact route]
Current as of: [date/time when event facts can change]
Follow the listing QR code guideto label, test, track, and maintain the destination. If you collect reactions, use the showing feedback form template and keep the optional property opinion separate from contact permission.
7. Protect contact choices and personal information
Build the record lifecycle before collecting the first card: intake, access, transcription, CRM fields, communication permissions, correction, suppression, retention, deletion, vendor access, and incident response. Paper contact details should not remain visible on the welcome table or travel loose in a vehicle after the event.
The FTC's guide to protecting personal informationrecommends knowing what information a business holds, keeping only what it needs, protecting it, disposing of it properly, and planning for incidents. For REALTORS®, Standard of Practice 12-11 in the 2026 NAR Code of Ethicsspecifically addresses disclosure when consumer information gathered via the internet is intended to be shared or sold. Apply the current laws, firm policies, professional rules, and vendor requirements that govern the real event; this template is not legal advice.
- Collect only fields with a defined event or follow-up purpose.
- Make property follow-up and unrelated future marketing separate choices.
- Do not use prechecked boxes or hide intended uses behind a QR code.
- Restrict raw visitor data to people and systems with an approved need.
- Keep personal information out of the seller's attendance and feedback summary.
- Test correction, opt-out, suppression, retention, deletion, export, and vendor-removal paths.
- Secure paper cards, host devices, accounts, downloads, spreadsheets, and backups.
- Do not photograph a completed sign-in sheet for convenient storage on a personal phone.
8. Route only the follow-up the visitor requested
Reconcile each visitor's name, representation answer, chosen channel, property question, contact choice, and future-marketing preference before sending. Assign a person to every promised answer and use a current property source rather than answering from memory.
| Recorded choice | Appropriate handoff | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Property question only | Verified answer, source, sender identity, and one reply route | Adding the visitor to recurring campaigns |
| Another look | Approved agency, representation, scheduling, and access process | Promising availability or a relationship before checking |
| Working with an agent | Professional route consistent with the disclosed relationship and local practice | Using event data to interfere with the relationship |
| Future updates selected | Only the described sender, topic, channel, and approved opt-out workflow | Expanding one choice into every newsletter, call, text, and partner list |
| No follow-up or opt-out | Apply the suppression and retention process | Sending a “quick check-in” that ignores the recorded choice |
Adapt the listing text templates or open house email templates only after matching the message to the recorded context. A template improves consistency; it does not create permission or relevance.
9. Report and close out the event record
At event close, collect every paper card, sign, device, temporary QR code, and handwritten note. Reconcile attendance from the actual record, assign promised answers, document incidents or corrections, and remove expired event promotions. Give the seller an operational summary, not the visitor list.
Event: [property / date / scheduled time / actual close]
Hosts and handoff: [names / firm / data owner / follow-up owner]
Attendance record: [completed cards or forms / walk-ins not recorded / staff / known duplicates]
Representation routes: [count and assigned professional follow-up, without seller-facing identities]
Property questions: [question / source / owner / answer due]
Feedback themes: [attributed source type / count / limits]
Contact choices: [property follow-up / future updates / no contact / opt-out applied]
Property or event issue: [fact / access / safety / media / link / device / resolution]
Seller summary: [attendance context / questions / themes / next action / limits]
Campaign closeout: [event pages, posts, signs, QR codes, calendars, messages retired or revised]
Retention and disposal: [approved policy / system / person / trigger]
Use the complete open house checklist to coordinate seller approval, promotion, safety, setup, hosting, follow-up, and closeout around this visitor record. To give attendees a useful way to revisit the home, Westby turns approved listing photos and facts into a cinematic property-video preview. Create a free listing-video preview and test the mobile page before placing its QR code at the event.
Frequently asked questions
What should be on an open house sign-in sheet?
Start with the property, event date, host identity, a brief reason for collecting information, visitor name, one chosen reply method, whether the visitor is working with an agent, and permission to follow up about this property. Put any optional future-marketing choice on a separate unchecked line and add the privacy or disclosure language approved for the brokerage and jurisdiction.
Should an open house sign-in sheet ask for phone and email?
Collect only what the approved event and follow-up process needs. Letting a visitor choose email or mobile can reduce unnecessary data. If a field has no defined use, owner, protection, retention period, or deletion process, remove it rather than collecting it by default.
Is a paper or digital open house sign-in better?
Use the format the host can operate reliably and protect. Digital forms can hide earlier responses and simplify routing but need connectivity, device, access, and backup checks. Paper works offline but handwriting, public visibility, physical security, transcription, and disposal need a clear process. Test the exact event flow, not just the form design.
How should an agent follow up after an open house?
Follow the contact choice, purpose, representation context, and question actually recorded. Answer promised property questions from a verified source, identify the sender, and offer one appropriate next step. Do not treat attendance or a property-specific request as unlimited permission for unrelated campaigns.
Can an open house sign-in sheet include a QR code?
Yes, when the code has a plain-language label, opens a tested mobile page, has a typed fallback URL, and does not hide the purpose or required notice. Use separate codes for check-in and property media when combining them would make the visitor's choice unclear.