This weekend was national open house weekend. I had the opportunity to see an open house go wrong in a million dollar neighborhood, so I'm going to share some pointers to help your open house go smoothly.

1. Ensure that there are no malfunctions with the home. A defective air conditioner ruins the experience for everyone including the agent. You do not want the agent to be in a bad mood!

2. Have an agent who will not push prizes, giveaways, or follow prospective buyers as they look at the house. The idea is to make everyone comfortable and the way to do that is by making all information readilly available and be available to answer questions.

3. Have drinks and/or snacks on hand, especially on a hot afternoon. At a minimum, bottles icewater and soda is a must.

The City of Atlanta’s Department of Planning and Community Development has the responsibility for administrative oversight, management and implementation of the city’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP). 

It is designed to help revitalize neighborhoods and address the national foreclosure crisis.  NSP grants allow municipalities to purchase abandoned, bank-owned foreclosures to help stabilize communities hit hardest by the crisis.  

On Saturday, Feb. 5, 2011, the city's Office of Housing is hosting a public information session.  The community is invited to attend the free event.  Here are the details:

NSP Public Information Session: Saturday, Feb, 5, 2011 - 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., Old Council Chambers, 68 Mitchell Street.

More Important Information about the City of Atlanta NSP:

In September 2010, the U.S.