The key selling your home yourself is Advertising, Advertising, Advertising! A realtor once told me, while showing me a house, “The main thing people pay for realtors to do is advertise their home.” So if we learn to advertise our home and consider it a job then hopefully it will pay off!
{photo credit modified by Jules}
The other day I told you How to Stage Your Home for Sale. That needs to be done before any advertising can take place. You’re going to want people driving by wondering why your home suddenly has so much curb appeal. You will want your rooms to be clean, de-cluttered, and be ready to show before you take any pictures. If you’re looking for a quick sale then you must be ready to show your home the day after you advertise it’s on the market!
Now, realtors have lots of connections but there are so many ways for us FSBO’s to advertise on our own now.
- Take pictures {making sure you take the best shot(s) of each room from a corner trying to get the biggest view of the entire room}
*Use or borrow a fancy camera with a wide-angle lens
*Use an iPhone with a panoramic app
*Use a nice quality camera - Signage
*Quality Signs
The classier the sign the more interest you will get in your home.
*Good Placement
In front of your yard facing perpendicular to your home so those driving by can see it easily, not parallel.
Place other signs at the entrance(s) to your neighborhood and/or busy intersections
*Clear/Clean
Make sure there is a least a clearly written phone number on your sign(s) with a BLACK, bold, permanent marker. If you have a nicer sign you can print information papers about your home for interested buyers to take with them {make sure these are in a nice, closed box to keep them clean and dry}. - Utilize Online Sites
There are many sites online available for FREE or low-cost depending on the length of listing or amount of pictures showing for your home. This is probably the most useful tool for potential buyers to view your home. Our culture LOVES buying things online and although they can’t purchase your home online they can view it at their convince in the comfort of their home {or ANYWHERE that the internet is available}.
FSBO
forsalebyowner
alebyownerrealty
owners
craigslist {surprisingly, lots of people are selling homes here now}
ebayclassifieds
Example of FREE listing I’ve done for my home on Zillow, Owners, Craig’s List, Ebay, and even Facebook. Facebook may seem to be an odd place to list a home for sale but most likely you are friends with lots of people who live near you. Lots of great home finds are found by word of mouth. This album of pictures will need to be set to “public” so people can share it and those who aren’t “friends” with you may view it. Just make sure not to list your exact address if you are uncomfortable with that. - Open House
Plan to open your home on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon for prospective buyers to tour your home and ask questions with less pressure than a private showing. - Private Showings
Some may prefer to view your home privately and you will need to make yourself {or a trusted friend or relative} available to walk prospective buyers through your home at their convince.
We are still in this process as I am writing this but I am hoping that I’ll be updating this status to SOLD soon. Let me know if you have any advise for other FSBOs or which of these suggestions have worked for you.
Video Tour Providers:
www.animoto.com
www. youtube.com
www.floorplanonline.com
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There’s a lot of great advice in this article! I’ll definitely be referring to it when we sell, as I would much rather keep that money in our pocket.
BTW – I think you mean REALTOR, not “realitor”?
Thanks! I’ve been researching a long time! And yes…evil spell check. Thanks.
GREAT tips!! Thank you 🙂
Thank you! I hope it’s helpful and will save research time for everyone!
My husband was a realtor for a while and quit because of all the work involved, and very little of that work was advertising (the office took care of that). A lot of it was the paperwork and showing the home to prospective buyers.
Fun! I think being a realtor could be tons of fun. I KNOW it’s lots of work though. Thanks for sharing. I sorry if I mis-represented your husband and/or other realtors. I was just quoting what a realtor told be. I believe he was refuring to the national data base they have access to that FSBOs don’t. There are lots of new resources out there for FSBOs but not the whole shabang. I in NO way want to sound like I’m against realtors, I just wanted to help provide information for those are choosing a different route. We have since this writing this post, decided to list with an agency to help speed the process along. I am so thankful that I have them to do the paperwork! I do still believe these tips are helpful for ANYone selling.
I just linked to this article on my blog – sbforsalebyowner.blogspot.com. Thank you so much for the great content!
That’s a HUGE complement! Thanks!!!
Thanks for the list of sites available. I have looked at them and got lost in the pros and cons for each. I wish I knew ahead of time how long I would want the listing.I think I need to make a spreadsheet of each of the features available and ones I can’t live without (such as MLS listing) and those maybe I could do for myself (signage.) Has anyone done that research?
Sorry Gale, for the delayed response. I was hoping to be able to respond with someone/where that had done and awesome spreadsheet like what you’re talking about. As for which one to use…I used ALL of them. Well, at least all the free parts of them. And signage- TOTALLY do it yourself. Just make sure it’s “professional” looking. You want your signs to last the duration of your listing.
GOOD LUCK!
btw: if you find or do this research, come back and let us all know!!!
THANKS!
Having an open house is definitely a great idea to let people know you’re selling your house and also help sell your house fast.