The Secret To Marketing Your Fsbo Home For Sale
By Raynor James, Fri Dec 9th

You're ready to put your home or land (house, townhouse, condo,apartment, farm, ranch, finished lot, raw land, etc.) on themarket as a FSBO (For Sale By Owner). You've priced yourproperty appropriately and gotten it ready to show. How are yougoing to market it so that it gets exposure to enough potentialbuyers to actually sell?

Signs

In some parts of the county, the real estate market is so hotthat you need do little more than buy a "For Sale By Owner" signat the nearest hardware store. Simply put it in a prominentposition 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. Directionalsigns ("home for sale" with an arrow) at intersections leadingthe way to your property are useful, too, if your location lendsitself to that.

Classified Ads

A classified ad in your local newspaper is a good idea and isgenerally not expensive. A short



ad repeated a number of timesis apt to be more effective than a long ad run once, or only afew, times.

Bulletin Boards/Posters

Are there bulletin boards where you work? In neighborhood shopsand restaurants? At your church? Any place you, or members ofyour family, frequent that has something like a bulletin boardis a good place to post notices of your property's availability.If you have the use of a digital camera and a computer, youmight want to do a one-page poster with several photos of yourhouse, a description and contact information. Consider havingtear-off strips at the bottom with your phone number repeated oneach strip.

Magazines & Community Publications

You may want to check the cost of putting an ad in "For Sale ByOwner" type magazines. Most communities have such magazines andyou don't have to be a realtor to buy an ad.

Brochures

Brochures or one-page flyers can also be a useful method formarketing your home. You can use the same one you made forbulletin 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 buyingyour home.

There are several things you can do to get your brochures infront of the public. You can buy a brochure holder (typically, aplastic box with a hinged lid on a stick which gets "planted" inthe ground near the curb in front of your home) from thehardware store. Plant it in a prominent place in front of yourhome 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. Theyprobably have family and friends whom they'd enjoy as neighborswho can afford this price range, too. Smile when you see aneighbor picking up a brochure; another marketing ambassador ison its way.

Also keep a supply of brochures in your home to give toprospective buyers who come to look at it. People looking for anew home usually look at a more than one property, and can getoverwhelmed with too many properties. "Is this the one with thebuilt-in book cases or was it the one across town?" The housewhose best features go with them via a brochure with colorphotos and salient information is memorable. Buyers tend towrite contract offers on properties they remember and canvisualize.

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 similarlypleasant arrangement? Ask them.

Internet

There are several Internet sites on which FSBOs may list theirproperties for sale. Some of these permit sellers to includephotos, information about "Open Houses" they're holding, etc.Prices for this service varies. Try fsboamerica.org or go toyour favorite search engine and check out a few.

Open Houses

That brings up the notion of "Open Houses." In many areas, salesfrequently take place because of an Open House attended bypotential buyers. If you are in a location with good traffic, anopen house can be an excellent tool. You can promote your OpenHouse in any, or all, of the venues we've discussed above. It'salso often effective to install an Open House sign with heliumballoons tied on with bright ribbons on the day of the OpenHouse.

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. Ittakes some time and access to a few tools, but most sellers canput together a successful marketing program.

About the author:Raynor James is with http://www.fsboamerica.org - providing FSBOhomes For Sale By Owner. Visit our "sell my home" page athttp://www.fsboamerica.org/seller.cfm to list and sell your homefor free for one month. Visithttp://www.fsboamerica.org/buyer.cfm to see homes for sale byowner.

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