The Secret To Marketing Your FSBO Home For Sale
You're ready to put your home or land (house, townhouse, condo,
apartment, farm, ranch, finished lot, raw land, etc.) on the
market as a FSBO (for sale by owner). You've priced your
property appropriately and gotten it ready to show. How are you
going to market it so that it gets exposure to enough potential
buyers to actually sell?
Signs
In some parts of the county, the real estate market is so hot
that you need do little more than buy a "for sale by owner" sign
at the nearest hardware store. Simply put it in a prominent
position on the front of your house and stand back.
In other areas, a great deal more marketing is needed, but a
"for sale by owner" sign is a good place to start. Directional
signs ("home for sale" with an arrow) at intersections leading
the way to your property are useful, too, if your location lends
itself to that.
Classified Ads
A classified ad in your local newspaper is a good idea and is
generally not expensive. A short ad repeated a number of times
is apt to be more effective than a long ad run once, or only a
few, times.
Bulletin Boards/Posters
Are there bulletin boards where you work? In neighborhood shops
and restaurants? At your church? Any place you, or members of
your family, frequent that has something like a bulletin board
is a good place to post notices of your property's availability.
If you have the use of a digital camera and a computer, you
might want to do a one-page poster with several photos of your
house, a description and contact information. Consider having
tear-off strips at the bottom with your phone number repeated on
each strip.
Magazines & Community Publications
You may want to check the cost of putting an ad in "For Sale By
Owner" type magazines. Most communities have such magazines and
you don't have to be a realtor to buy an ad.
Brochures
Brochures or one-page flyers can also be a useful method for
marketing your home. You can use the same one you made for
bulletin boards or you can expand on it a bit. Use more photos,
have captions under them identifying the rooms, garden areas,
tennis court, community club, pool and other benefits to buying
your home.
There are several things you can do to get your brochures in
front of the public. You can buy a brochure holder (typically, a
plastic box with a hinged lid on a stick which gets "planted" in
the ground near the curb in front of your home) from the
hardware store. Plant it in a prominent place in front of your
home and keep it stocked with brochures.
Don't get annoyed when "noisy neighbors" pick up your brochures.
Your neighbors can afford homes priced similarly to yours. They
probably have family and friends whom they'd enjoy as neighbors
who can afford this price range, too. Smile when you see a
neighbor picking up a brochure; another marketing ambassador is
on its way.
Also keep a supply of brochures in your home to give to
prospective buyers who come to look at it. People looking for a
new home usually look at a more than one property, and can get
overwhelmed with too many properties. "Is this the one with the
built-in book cases or was it the one across town?" The house
whose best features go with them via a brochure with color
photos and salient information is memorable. Buyers tend to
write contract offers on properties they remember and can
visualize.
Consider taking your brochures to your peers at work. After all,
you find it convenient to live in your home and work there;
might your associates know someone who'd find it a similarly
pleasant arrangement? Ask them.
Internet
There are several Internet sites on which FSBOs may list their
properties for sale. Some of these permit sellers to include
photos, information about "Open Houses" they're holding, etc.
Prices for this service varies. Try fsboamerica.org or go to
your favorite search engine and check out a few.
Open Houses
That brings up the notion of "Open Houses." In many areas, sales
frequently take place because of an Open House attended by
potential buyers. If you are in a location with good traffic, an
open house can be an excellent tool. You can promote your Open
House in any, or all, of the venues we've discussed above. It's
also often effective to install an Open House sign with helium
balloons tied on with bright ribbons on the day of the Open
House.
Whether you use a realtor or sell your home on your own,
marketing it is going to be the key to getting a quick sale. It
takes some time and access to a few tools, but most sellers can
put together a successful marketing program.