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Craigslist vs. Newspaper (Open House Advertising)

By Inland Empire Real Estate Short Sale Pro

Real Estate Agent with InlandHomeFinder.com

May 18, 2007 12:41 PM

I wanted to take a minute to share some results on a recent Open Hose I held. Craigslist is fast becoming one of my favorite tools in advertising especially the pricetag. I ran a traditional 4 line Open House ad in the local paper The San Bernardino Sun which came out Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. This ad came out to about $35. I also posted an ad on Craigslist which cost me nothing. According to my sign-in sheet 3 seperate visitors cited Craigslist as their source while the newspaper attracted none. This is just one incident but I will be monitoring this closely in the future. Things are definitely changing. It's just a sign of the times. I will continue to cover all bases moving forward but I'm interested to hear what types of results you are all finding in this area.

Your comments are greatly appreciated!

Nick Ondatje - San Bernardino Real Estate

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Dan Homan

Coldwell Banker Ellison Realty, Inc - Ocala, FL

Thanks. I have never used Craig's List, but looks like I will be giving it a shot. Thanks again!

Jun 23, 2007 07:25 PM

Anonymous

Shelly Field

I like the idea of Craigs List for advertising open houses. I was wondering about other creative ideas. I work with an associate (we are a team) who is very frustrated with advertising creativity. Suggestions welcome!

Jul 04, 2007 03:35 AM

#24

Brian Block

RE/MAX Allegiance, Managing Broker/Branch Vice President - McLean, VA

Northern Virginia & D.C. Real Estate

Craigslist is much more effective in our area and of course much cheaper (free) vis-a-vis The Washington POst (avg. $200 -- and few if any open house visitors).

Jul 08, 2007 09:42 AM

Sonja Phelps

Metro Brokers/GMAC Real Estate - McDonough, GA

REALTOR, Metro Brokers-Georgia

yes I have tried www.craigslist and the www.neighborhoodopenhouse.com web sites...both are wonderful resources. Listing a house and open house events have had many advantages in these web sites. I have received three contacts in one open house event (mainly by craigslits). I look forward to reading other great tips and super stories regarding this web sites. Great topic.

Jul 08, 2007 10:33 AM

waey wyqw

wyq34y - Dell, MT

In most markets and across most demographics, Craigslist is a very cost effective way to generate leads. Thanks for the research.

Aug 05, 2007 12:05 AM

Rob Arnold

Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. - Altamonte Springs, FL

Metro Orlando Full Service - Investor Friendly & F

The internet has definitely changed the way people do business. It is nice to have free sites like Craigslist to create leads and advertise property.

Oct 07, 2007 02:26 AM

D B

Quakertown, PA

e-PRO, Realtor - Bucks County PA - 610-952-3578

Hey! I enjoyed reading your Blog about open houses. Thanks for posting it!

Don Bradbury

Oct 07, 2007 06:26 AM

Gita Bantwal

RE/MAX Centre Realtors - Warwick, PA

REALTOR,ABR,CRS,SRES,GRI - Bucks County & Philadel

Is there a separate section for open houses or do you post with homes for sale?

Oct 09, 2007 12:13 AM

Doris Barnett-214-236-2908 cell/txt

Consultant - Plano, TX

Real Estate Consultant: Ask for your Better Biz

Absolutely YES. I have used it and received the same kind of responses. In fact when I participate online, I am a contributor too, I always suggest craigslist as an inexpensive alternative when it seems appropriate.

Good to know it works all over the country. Hailing from the North Texas area today!

Oct 09, 2007 05:18 AM

Anonymous

Bumble Bee

I know of another one that's even better than Craigslist. But its pretty new and not many people know of it. Some people may find this at piref.com a little expensive though.

http://www.piref.com

If you think Craigslist saves you money, I figure this website should save you perhaps even more.

Nov 21, 2007 05:21 PM

#32

Mehmet Met Dilsiz

FND Photography / M2 Real Estate Solutions - Midvale, UT

Nick,

thank you for sharing your experience. This is really great to know, and I will be utilizing craigslist more now..

Nov 22, 2007 01:45 AM

Craig Cooper

Diverse-Capital, Inc - Saint Paul, MN

Thanks for the post Nick, Craig list is a great tool, This Craig help save homes from foreclosure with Loss Mitigation the Preforeclosure market out of control, we can help you serve your clients better, we can stop the foreclosure process and keep the homeowners in their number 1 Asset, Become part of the solution today help stop foreclosure.

www.10kpermonth.com/craigcooper or www.Preforeclosureusa.com/craigcooper

800-679-7042 ext 5701

Mar 12, 2008 08:24 AM

Craig Cooper

Diverse-Capital, Inc - Saint Paul, MN

www.10kpermonth.com/craigcooper or www.Preforeclosureusa.com/craigcooper

800-679-7042 ext 5701

Mar 12, 2008 08:24 AM

Vicente A. Martinez

Prudential Douglas Elliman Licensed Real Estate Salesperson - Woodhaven, NY

Realtor, Brooklyn - Long Island - Queens Homes

Hi Nick. Craigslist is the way to go! I stopped newspaper ads because I was spending money for just a couple of leads. Craigslist however gets me dozens of leads for FREE!

Mar 12, 2008 06:28 PM

Tony Fantis

Fantis Group Real Estate - Salt Lake City, UT

Realtor,Principal Broker - Salt Lake City

Yep, it's amazing how people gravitate toward to the free advertising! One of the upcoming issues with craigslist.com is many agents are not following local and state laws, or are making statements that violate equal housing. I know there's some talk locally of policing the site and looking for violations. If we keep our noses clean, I think this will be a great resource for a long time to come!

Mar 17, 2008 02:41 AM

Carson Porter

Baltimoresun.com - Baltimore, MD

Craigslist isn't as big in Baltimore as in San Fran. It seems to attract buyers for investment properties, handyman specials, etc. But I still reccomend posting there since it costs you nothing. And you can just copy and paste the source code from your listing on another site into CL to save time.

Jun 18, 2008 03:51 AM

Kimberly Dotseth

Blend Real Estate, broker/owner - San Diego, CA

Try Our "Cancel Anytime" Listing!

We only ever use www.OpenHouseGenie.com for all our open house advertising. It's a very clean, professional, easy to use site. We pay $10 for an ad that runs seven days. You can add photos, virtual tour, link to your personal website and all your contact information is very easy for the open house visitor. I have had a lot open house visitors come to me from this site. I know it's in San Diego and I talked to the owner who says they're expanding nationally and looking for five other cities. We used to use the Union Tribune but one small open house ad starts at $132! Insane. The death of papers is here, which is too bad because I read my religiously with coffee every morning.

Kimberly Dotseth

broker/owner

Green Box Homes

Jul 17, 2008 03:06 PM

Anonymous

Thomas

The only thing bad about selling houses or buying houses for that fact is there is so many scams going on nowadays. I routienly try to flag some of these 'deposit' type schemes, but it really does nothing, they just keep posting. Craigs Hitmen over at craigshitmen.com as put an end to alot of this, however I can't see this being the end all either. I just want to make some money selling real estate on craigslist like the rest of us!

Dec 07, 2008 01:30 PM

#40

Eric Auger

prudential Americana Group, Realtors - Las Vegas, NV

Hi everyone:

I have been using a great tool to automate my postings on Craigslit. All I have to do is create a dozen ads with several different headers and tell rainmaker how often I want those ads posted. It does the rest. Whether you are at your computer or not your ads get posted.

Here is a link to download a free trial: Rainmaker (set up is a breeze!)

Another tip you might want to take in consideration: Craigslist monitors IP addresses and if they detect that too many ads were posted from the same IP in a short period of time, they might block your IP. Trust me, if that happens posting on craigslist becomes a real headache! There is however a simple method to prevent it from happening and that is to "mask" your IP. I have used very inexpensive software to do that: hide my IP 2009. (you can get a free 15 days trial by clicking here)

Start combining both softwares and you will be a true Craigslist posting machine!

Good luck!

Jul 20, 2009 08:20 AM

NoCo Home Team

C3 Real Estate Solutions - Fort Collins, CO

Sell Smart, Buy Wise & Live Well in Nrthn Colorado

Thank you for this info. I am holding an open house this weekend and was trying to decide on the best way to advertise it.

Feb 22, 2010 07:44 AM

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