Marketing- Signs & Flyers, Newspaper, Internet, and Word of Mouth Part 2

Newspaper- Old Reliable

The newspaper classified ads are probably the most expensive form of marketing your home, but they also work for many sellers.  Most newspapers in addition to listing your ad in print also have a website which will show your ad.

People have long considered newspapers as one of the biggest sources for housing.  So it's a good idea to have your home listed in this resource.  There are ways to keep your cost down when it comes to newspaper ads.  The first is to talk with the representative at the classified ads departement to learn what types of ads work best and what days are the most read.  Sundays are typically the big day of the week for housing classifieds, but there is usually at least one other day that is popular as well.  Focus on those key days if it's cheaper to advertise just on those days than for an entire week.

Look for local (smaller) newspapers that just target your home's area.

Some real estate agents, especially agents that work for larger brokerages, will run ads in the Sunday paper for homes they are listing.  These brokerages may get discounts for their ads.  Not all agents run these ads, or some may charge you for them.  It's certainly better to take advantage of any discount your agent can get than to run the ad on your own.  Also keep your ad short and sweet and focus on the most important details, since you'll probably be charged per line.  A useful trick is to ad a line of space at the start and the end of your ad; this really separates it from the other ads and draws your potential buyer's eyes to your ad.  This is actually more effective than having an ad of the same length but with more details and no blank lines.

Here is a same of what I mean:

This ad would be a total of 5 lines, including the 2 blank ones.  It is very simple but it tells your tenant-buyers the key criteria they need to know to get them started.  The first is putting rent-to-own in all caps, which lets them know they've found what they are looking for.  The second line tells them if the home has enough bedrooms and baths to meet their needs and whether they can afford the monthly rent.  The third line tells them how to contact you so they can learn more.  Also, depending on where you live in the country, rent-to-own might be more recognized, but there are some other phrases that might be better understood: Lease with Option to Buy, Lease to Own, Rent with Option to Buy, etc.  See what works for your area and go with it.

Compare that ad to this 5 line ad:

This second ad does contain more information, but it get's crammed in and hard to read, plus some of the information just isn't necessary to have in the ad.  Rent-to-own buyers are acutally less concerned with the asking price than they are with the monthly rent amount (at least initially).  The "gorgeous home" line is meant to entice buyers, but when it comes to real estate ads, that really doesn't mean much anymore.

There is another approach you can try with ads as well.  A student of mine from Seattle always says he uses "romance" in his ads.  For instance, instead of saying:

Nice 3 bdrm home in SEATTLE.

He might put something like:

He also has a fun one that I also have used with some success.  It sounds odd, but goes like this:

This ad would make people call and say, "What do you mean by FREE PIZZA?"  Then we would respond by saying, "Well, when you rent a home with us you get a FREE PIZZA every month delivered to your door.  Would you like to know more about this home?"

Join me on Friday for Part 3 of " Marketing- Signs & Flyers, Newspaper, Internet, and Word of Mouth".

Excerpt taken from Rent-To-Sell: Your Hands-on Guide to SELL Your Home When Buyers are Scarce, Chapter 7, Pages 102-105.

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