Open house
sign-in sheet.

Print it, put it on a clipboard by the door, and fill in the first line yourself so the next visitor copies it.

Name and email are the record of the visit. Mobile gives you a way to call. “Have an agent?” tells you who you can work with: NAR’s Code bars you from soliciting a buyer in an exclusive agreement with someone else.

The last column is separate on purpose. A name on a sign-in sheet is not permission for marketing texts. Written consent has to be signed and name the number, so give it its own box.

Take the sheet with you when you leave. It holds other people’s details.

Print this line at the foot of the sheet, and have your broker approve the wording.

By signing the last column, I agree that [your name] of [brokerage] may send marketing texts to the mobile number I wrote here, including by automated means. Signing is not a condition of buying anything. Reply STOP at any time to end them.

A sign-in can count as an inquiry, which matters on the phone. The FTC says an inquiry supports an established business relationship for three months from the date of the inquiry. If yours qualifies, you may call that visitor in that window even if the number is on the Do Not Call Registry, unless they ask you to stop. Ask your broker how your office treats it.

Follow up within a day. Call anyone without an agent. Email the rest a thank you and the listing. Text only the people who signed the last column.

NAR’s consumer guide says a visitor does not need a written buyer agreement to attend an open house on their own. If you go on to tour other homes with them, they sign one first.

Three sample visitors at 14 Sample Lane, Saturday from 1 to 3.

Robin gets a call and a text. Jo gets a call and an email, with no text. Sam has an agent, so Sam gets a thank you by email and nothing about working together.

Check every number against the National Do Not Call Registry before you dial, using a copy no more than 31 days old. Check your state list too.

A sales call to a registered number is allowed only with the person’s permission or an existing relationship: a sale or transaction in the last 18 months, or their own inquiry in the last 3 months.

Call between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in their time zone. Give your name, your company and a number or address where you can be reached.

When someone says stop calling, add them to your own do not call list within 10 business days and keep them there for 5 years.

FTC, Complying with the Telemarketing Sales Rule · 47 CFR 64.1200, the FCC telemarketing rule · NAR, Telemarketing and Cold-Calling

Marketing calls or texts to a mobile number from an autodialer, or with a prerecorded voice, need prior express written consent: a signed agreement that names the number and says signing is not a condition of buying.

The FCC’s calling rules cover text messages to mobile numbers too. Give an easy way out, such as replying STOP, and honor it within 10 business days.

A person can sue under the TCPA for $500 for each violation, and a court can triple that. The FTC’s civil penalty runs to $53,088 for each violation of its rule.

47 USC 227, the TCPA · 47 CFR 64.1200, the FCC telemarketing rule · FTC, Complying with the Telemarketing Sales Rule