What time should you Door Knock?

There are a couple ways to plan your door knocking. 

You can plan based on either the area’s demographics or overall time of day success patterns. 

Area Demographics

In areas with a median home value, it’s common for everyone in the household to work during the day. It’s less common to find someone at home during standard working hours in these areas. Knocking during prime weekday work hours is usually a wasted effort. 

In some areas, it might be common for homeowners to be retired and not working. In this case, you’ll find someone at home at any time of day. 

It is also common to find someone home during the day in areas with above average median household income. Typically, not everyone in these areas works. In these areas, you can attempt to knock daytime hours. 

Times of Day Success Rates

Not all times of day are the same for door knocking. Do not listen to what other agents tell you about door knocking timing unless they are regular door knockers. Most agents giving advice about door knocking have not done it consistently enough to know. Knocking IS my game so trust me when I tell you that these times work. 

Mornings

Many people used to say, don’t knock in the morning. This used to be the case, before the world changed and everybody began working at home. People are home now and guess what? They don't mind taking a break from their work to have a short conversation at the door.  

When targeting a family-focused community, I recommend going after school drop off times. Many parents who work from home or are stay at home are out during the drop-off hour. Go after the school drop off time in the area. This will increase your chance that someone will be home to answer the door. 10am is usually a good time in a family neighborhood. Midday is also a good time to knock as people working from home like to take a break at this time. 

Evenings

Even in a changing world, many professionals  - such as dentists, doctors, teachers, etc. - always work away from home. However, they are home in the evening. After work can be a relaxed time to talk with them. Just make sure you are not knocking during dinner hour. 

A good window of time to knock is after dinner but before dark. A good rule of thumb is to finish knocking before 8pm. Obviously, it’s not safe or advisable for you to go knocking in the dark. You also don’t want to startle homeowners late in the evening. People get nervous at night when people are around their homes or at the door. Overall, most homeowners consider it too late when someone comes to their door after 8pm. 

Another consideration is if the home has small children. You don’t want to wake a sleeping child up with the doorbell. This will upset the mother in the household. Keep your eyes out for notes on the door. Mothers often put up a sign or sticky note on the door saying not to ring the doorbell because of a sleeping child. 

Weekends

Weekends can be another relaxed time to talk with homeowners. It’s a great time to catch busy professionals at home. Just make sure you are not knocking too early in the day. People enjoy sleeping in. It’s best to knock from 11am onwards on weekends.

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