Open House Sign-In Sheet: What to Ask (Plus a Free Printable Template)
Updated October 2, 2026 · 5 min read
The sign-in sheet is the only part of an open house that keeps working after you lock the door. Ask for too little and you can't follow up; ask for too much and people scribble a fake name. Here is what to collect, and how.
What to ask on the sheet
- Name
- Email or phone — ask for one, make the other optional. People give real details more readily when you don't demand everything.
- Are you working with an agent? It tells you who to follow up with directly and who to treat as another agent's client.
- Are you a neighbor? Neighbors are future sellers, and it is the easiest conversation to start.
- How did you hear about it? Sign, social, email, portal — it tells you what is working.
Leave off anything you won't use. Every extra box lowers the number of honest answers.
How to get people to actually fill it in
- Put it where people stop, not where they walk past — the kitchen island works.
- Ask in person: "Would you sign in for us?" works better than a sheet on a table.
- Offer something useful in return: the property details, the disclosures, or the price history by email.
- Make it quick. A tablet sign-in that takes ten seconds beats a clipboard queue.
Paper vs. digital sign-in
Paper is free and familiar, but handwriting is hard to read and someone has to type it all up. A digital sign-in on a tablet gives you legible, complete details instantly, and it can drop every visitor straight into your leads.
Waypoint's open house sign-in turns any tablet into a kiosk: guests sign in on a page for that listing, it clears itself for the next person, and every sign-in lands in your leads tagged "Open House" — and in the seller report.
Follow up the same day
A short, personal note the same evening outperforms a generic email three days later. Thank them, send what you promised, and ask one question. Open house follow-up: what to send.
Only send marketing texts or emails in line with the consent people gave and the rules that apply where you work.
Give your next listing its own page
Waypoint builds a cinematic listing website with lead capture, open house sign-in, flyers, reels and a weekly seller report — unlimited listings for $19.99 a month.
Common questions
- Is an open house sign-in sheet required?
- Generally not by law, but many brokerages require one for safety, and it's the main way an open house produces follow-up. Check your brokerage's policy.
- Should I ask for a phone number and an email?
- Ask for one and make the other optional. Requiring both tends to produce more fake answers.
- What should I do if a visitor already has an agent?
- Note it, be helpful, and route follow-up through their agent. Asking the question up front avoids awkwardness later.