For whatever reason, you have decided to sell your home unrepresented by a real estate professional. Nine percent of home sales in 2010 were completed without the support of a real estate professional, and you’re determined to be in that statistic this year. You can absolutely sell your home without the assistance of a REALTOR®, and, armed with a little knowledge, you can be sure to get top dollar for your investment.
Here are some ideas to help you get the maximum exposure for your home:
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Signage – Put a “For Sale” sign in front of the house. Be sure that the phone number on the sign is easily readable and that you always answer the phone when it rings. 46% of all FSBOs marketed their home last year using a yard sign. 22% of buyers indicate that they use signage for information about homes they’re interested in looking at.
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Be available for showings of the home as much as possible – certainly between the hours of 9am and 8pm daily.
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Curb Appeal – is your home attractive to people who are driving by?
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Mail or email descriptions of your property to as many potential buyers as possible. Be sure to include photographs of your home’s interior and exterior features.
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Marketing on the web – The Multiple Listing Service is the most widely used resource for buyers to locate homes. Additionally, you can try to advertise with other web sites that specialize in FSBOs. Twenty-seven percent of all FSBO’s are marketed on the internet, and 11% marketed on special For-sale-by-owner web sites. After viewing a home on line, 21% of buyers drove past the house to check it out later.
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Create and publish a virtual tour on the web.
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Although more than 93% buyers use the web to search for homes, about 12 percent still use the newspaper. Advertising in the local paper’s real estate section is one of the most costly marketing techniques available, but it may attract some buyers. Find out which days the newspaper pulls the most real estate readers and be sure to advertise on that day.
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Call the people in your neighborhood and ask them if they know someone who might want to live in your home.
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Hold an Open House. Be sure to advertise your open house on the web and in print. Be sure to call potential buyers and your neighbors to advertise the event. Fourteen percent of all FSBOs held an open house last year.
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Contact your local REALTORS to let them know that your home is available so that they can share this information with their clients. You might want to consider offering a generous commission as an incentive. 69% of buyers use a real estate agent for information on homes.
Good luck in your marketing campaign! Feel free to call us if you have any questions!
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