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Open House Signs: How Many You Need and Where to Put Them

Tomas Amaya

October 31, 2026Updated November 3, 20268 min read

Two open house yard signs, one with a directional arrow, stand along a suburban street as a couple walks away from a house.

How Many Open House Signs Do You Need?

A 12 x 18 inch coroplast open house sign is $64.99 and prints the next business day. Plan one sign at the house plus one at every turn from the nearest main road, so a route with three turns needs four signs. Printed in the USA, flat $10 shipping per product.

You need one sign at the house plus one at every turn a visitor makes from the nearest main road. Count the turns on the drive in, add one for the property, and you have your number. Then add a second sign at any turn that drivers reach from two directions.

The count is simple arithmetic once you draw the route. The mistake is ordering a round number because it worked at the last listing. A house on a corner of a main road might need two signs. A house deep in a subdivision with three entrances might need ten.

Route from the main road Turns Signs at turns Property sign Total
House on the main road 0 0 1 1
One turn into a side street 1 1 1 2
Subdivision, three turns 3 3 1 4
Subdivision, three turns, two entrances 3 plus 2 5 1 6
Rural road, long stretch, two turns 2 plus 1 3 1 4

The last row adds one reassurance sign on a long stretch where drivers start to wonder if they missed the turn. Use it only where the gap is real, roughly any stretch where the next turn is out of sight.

Picture an agent, Dana Brooks with Oak Street Realty, holding a Sunday open house four turns into a subdivision that has two entrances. Four turns plus a second sign at the shared turn, plus the property, comes to six signs. She orders eight so a bent or stolen sign does not leave a gap.

A Miller Home Group open house A-frame sign with an Open House 1 to 4 PM rider and a red pennant flag on a front lawn

Which Open House Signs Should You Buy?

Buy 12 x 18 inch coroplast signs for the route and a larger, framed sign for the property. Directional signs need to be light, cheap and quick to stake. The property sign needs to look finished, because it is the first thing buyers see at the curb.

Sign and what it does Starting price Production
12 x 18 in coroplast sign: directional arrow at each turn $64.99 Next business day
18 x 24 in coroplast sign: main road turn, faster traffic $64.99 Next business day
Real estate A-frame, 24 x 18 in: property sign on a lawn or paved curb, frame set below $59.99, sign alone Next business day
Feather angled flag, small 9 ft: marks the house from down the street $203.29 Next business day

The A-frame is the workhorse at the property because it stands on a driveway, a sidewalk or grass without digging. The real estate A-frame page opens on the complete set: A 24" x 18" Real Estate A-Frame is $119.99. Artwork prep is $14.99 per item. Printed in the USA the next business day and shipped nationwide, flat $10 shipping to any US address. You can add a rider for the open house hours and a pennant flag on the same page.

Coroplast signs take a wire H-stake through the flutes, and stakes are an add-on on the sign page. If you already own stakes from the last listing, leave the stake row on none.

Where Should You Put Open House Signs?

Put each directional sign before the turn, on the right side of the road, facing oncoming traffic. A driver needs to read the arrow, check the mirror and signal, so a sign placed at the corner itself is a sign read too late.

Five placement rules cover most routes:

  1. Before the turn, not at it. Set the sign far enough back that a driver at normal speed reads it before the intersection.
  2. Right side, facing traffic. Drivers look right for signs. Angle the sign slightly toward the approaching lane.
  3. Out of sight lines. Never block a driver's view of cross traffic at a corner, a stop sign or a crosswalk.
  4. One message per post. Do not stack your sign against another agent's sign or a garage sale sign. Give it its own patch of grass.
  5. The property sign at the entrance visitors should use. If the listing has a side gate and a front door, the sign goes where you want people to walk in.

Permission comes first. Many cities, counties and HOAs limit where temporary signs may stand, how many may go up, and when they must come down. Rules differ from town to town, so check with the HOA, the city and your MLS before the weekend, and ask the owner before you stake a sign on private land.

A row of green Thornquist Lawn Care 12 x 18 inch coroplast signs staked along a neighborhood street toward a stop sign

How Big Should the Lettering Be?

Use about 1 inch of capital letter height for every 10 feet of reading distance. A driver reading a directional sign from 40 feet away needs letters about 4 inches tall, which a 12 x 18 inch sign holds for two or three words and an arrow.

That rule decides what fits. On a 12 x 18 inch sign, Open House, one arrow, and the brokerage name in smaller type is a full sign. Add a phone number and a website and every line shrinks below what a moving driver can read. Save the phone number for the property sign, where visitors stand still.

For the property A-frame at 24 x 18 inches, there is room for the agent name, the brokerage, Open House and a phone number. Riders above the sign carry the day and time, so the main panel stays reusable at the next listing.

What Should an Open House Sign Say?

An open house directional sign should say Open House and show one arrow. That is the whole job. Anything more slows the driver down.

Sign and what it can add Must say Leave off
Directional, 12 x 18 in. Can add the brokerage name or logo. Open House, arrow Phone, website, price, hours
Property A-frame, 24 x 18 in. Can add a phone number or QR code. Open House, agent or brokerage Listing details that change
Rider. Can show a time such as Sunday 1 to 4 PM. Day and time Anything permanent

Keep the date off the main panels. A sign that says Open House with an arrow is reusable every weekend. A sign that says Saturday, May 10 works once. Put changing details on a rider or a separate small sign.

High contrast wins: white on a dark brand color, or dark on white. Our sign font and color contrast guide shows which pairs read from the road.

Should Open House Signs Be Double Sided?

Order double sided signs for any turn on a two-way street, because drivers come from both directions. Single sided is fine for a sign set against a fence or facing a one-way road.

The back of a double sided directional sign is its own artwork. If the front arrow points right, a driver coming the other way needs the back arrow to point left to reach the same street. Mark each sign in the order notes or on a route sheet so the helper who stakes it puts the right face toward the right lane.

Many agents keep two sets: a left arrow stack and a right arrow stack. That way any sign fits any turn and nothing depends on remembering which side is which.

What Should You Check Before Open House Weekend?

Check the route, the count and the proof. Every order comes with a free digital proof, and nothing prints until you approve it.

  1. Drive the route once and mark every turn on a map.
  2. Count signs with the table above and add one or two spares.
  3. Read each arrow on the proof as if you were the driver at that turn.
  4. Confirm the phone number and brokerage name digit by digit.
  5. Confirm the HOA, city and MLS rules for the listing.
  6. Order a week ahead so production and transit fit before the date.

After the event, pull every sign the same day. Signs left up for days are the fastest way to lose permission at a good corner.

How Do You Order Open House Signs?

Open the 12 x 18 inch coroplast sign page, choose single or double sided, the quantity and the H-stake grade, and upload your file. For the property sign, add the real estate A-frame with a rider and pennant flag. Both print the next business day after proof approval and ship for a flat $10 per product to any US address.

If you have a logo or a phone photo of your old sign, AI image to print makes it print ready for $14.99 per item. Design it for me builds the layout from scratch for $29.99 with two revisions. For the rest of the listing kit, from for sale signs to postcards, start at the real estate signs page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Plan one sign at the house plus one at every turn a visitor makes from the nearest main road. A house two turns off a busy road needs three signs; a house five turns into a subdivision needs six. Add a second sign at any turn that drivers approach from two directions. A 12 x 18 inch coroplast sign is $64.99.

12 x 18 inches is the usual directional size: big enough for the words Open House and an arrow, small enough to carry a stack in the trunk. Use 18 x 24 inches, starting at $64.99, at the main road turn where traffic moves faster.

Put each directional sign before the turn on the right side of the road, facing oncoming traffic, so a driver reads it in time to signal. Put the property sign at the curb or driveway entrance. Only place signs where the owner, HOA and city allow them, and keep them out of sight lines at corners.

Double sided helps on a two-way street because drivers coming from both directions see a face. Build the back as its own artwork: an arrow that points right on the front must point left on the back to send both drivers the same way.

Stakes are an add-on on the 12 x 18 inch coroplast sign page, so pick the H-stake row when you order. The real estate A-frame comes with its steel frame and zip ties: A 24" x 18" Real Estate A-Frame is $119.99. Artwork prep is $14.99 per item. Printed in the USA the next business day and shipped nationwide, flat $10 shipping to any US address.

12 x 18 inch coroplast signs and the real estate A-frame both print the next business day after you approve the free digital proof. Shipping is a flat $10 per product to any US address, and transit time comes after production, so order a week ahead of a fixed open house date.

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