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. Be aware that many unqualified buyers and tire kickers will attend and the chances of making a sale on an open house is less than 1%.

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.

 
FSBO Selling Tip - Follow These Safety Rules

One of the most over-looked items by the "fsbo" is that of safety. While most use common sense knowledge, some are just lacking in this area.

Recently, I called a "fsbo" and asked when I could come over to see the home. A young girl answered the phone and said her parents weren't home but I could come over to look if I wanted. With no parents home? I would imagine the parents never educated the daughter regarding showing safety.

Safety Tip #1 - Have all calls go directly to one of the parents cell phones. That way, all or most calls come in with caller identification and the caller can leave a message if they want to. I would personally suggest investing in an 800# voice mail message where you can sell the benefits of your home using a message greeting, capture the caller’s number, and mention that you will be returning the call shortly. This avoids the safety issue of leaving your home number where anyone in your family can answer it. Plus, these 800# voice mail services will automatically call your cell phone alerting you to the call. That way, you can return the message right away.

Safety Tip #2 - Set aside one or two days a week for showing. Make sure your neighbors know when you are showing, so they will be aware of the coming and going traffic. During showing have more than one adult available and make sure if there are multiple people in the "buyers party" that they don't get scattered all over your home. Try to keep everybody together during the showing.

Safety Tip #3 - This will be a hard tip to follow and you might see it as restricting your showing activity. Tell all potential buyers that you would like a pre-qualification letter by a lender and a copy of the potential buyers drivers license. Why? Because of the safety issue. Quite a few of the lady agents in my office are now making copies of potential buyers driver licenses and giving them to Carol at the front desk before showing them property. Yes, some agents have been injured by buyers.

Safety Tip #4 - Safely store everything of value, mementos, etc. during the times of showing your home. I have simply suggested to "fsbo's" who asked to either take their small items to a safety deposit box or even put items in the trunk of their car.

Safety Tip #5 - Never give out too much information over the phone. This is non-fsbo related but is a good example. My friend Larry across the street received a call from a salesman offering a home security system. Larry told the salesman he didn't have any use for one. Yes, Larry was burglarized the very next day.

While this briefly covers most the common concerns, you will have to use your own judgement depending on your own situation.

Houses for sale by owner, also known as "FSBOs," are a unique case in real estate investment. Buying from an uninformed seller who thought he knew enough to handle everything by himself can be frustrating. It can also be very profitable if you are prepared.

Why do people try to sell a house on their own? Only one primary reason comes to mind: To save the sales commission. Of course they usually underestimate the cost and complexity of going it alone. They end up frustrated and tired of the process, ready to drop the price and be done with it. Help them solve their problems, and your reward can be a good price on a good investment. Keep the following in mind:

1. An owner isn't an agent. Don't ask possibly offensive questions. Don't make negative comments about the house. Whether you like it or not, the truth is that it's difficult to get a good deal if the seller doesn't like you.

2. Houses for sale by owner have often been on the market a long time. The seller is usually tired of the process, and wants it to be done. In other words, you'll get a better price if you are willing to close quickly and easily.

3. FSBO sellers usually think they're being smart. Encourage that belief and they'll be more open to your offer. When they have a good idea, tell them so. It is not unethical to make people feel good about themselves when negotiating.

4. They usually don't have a plan for where to close, where to buy a title policy, where to keep a good faith deposit, etc. Be ready with simple solutions to all these problems. Walk them through the process while letting them feel in control, and you'll both be happier.

5. They have often spent more than they anticipated. Advertising and other costs have already eaten into their imagined extra FSBO profit. Be generous in negotiating any pre-close expenses - as long as you get your price and/or terms.

6. Pass over problems and return to them later. Once a seller has invested more time in a negotiation, he'll be more inclined to give you what you want.

Professionals will tell you that most houses "for sale by owner" net less than those sold by an agent. It's too late for the seller to recover his money and time spent, however, so he usually just wants to get the thing sold as easily and quickly as possible. Help him with that, and you can get a good real estate investment at a good price.

Selling your home without using a real estate agent is not difficult but as many buyers as possible need to know that your property is for sale if the process is to be a success. The key to getting the message out to buyers is an effective advertising campaign.

Homeowners who chose to go down the private sale (FSBO) path should consider the advertising tools that traditional real estate agents use and think which ones would work best for their property. Sellers should also remember how much they are saving in commission and commit to investing part of this in advertising, a rule of thumb is to allow 1% of the property value for promoting the property. Scrimping on advertising is a false economy, if buyers don’t know that the property is for sale the property wont be sold and you may end up having to pay far more in commission to a real estate agent.

The following methods are often used by homeowners looking to sell their homes and by professional real estate agents:

Internet listing
The internet has revolutionized how we buy real estate. Buyers are able to view thousands of potentially suitable properties from the comfort of their own home 24 hours a day. In today’s real estate market an internet listing is an essential part of marketing a property for sale. Good FSBO websites will let you write a detailed description and post pictures of your property.

Internet research enables buyers to make a short-list of potentially suitable properties, which they will follow up with a visit. If a property is not listed on the web it may not even make it onto a buyer’s short-list.

For Sale sign
Although the internet has made a huge impact on the real estate market one of the most effective tools used to advertise a property for sale is one of the oldest. A simple but well-designed sign in the front yard lets buyers know that the homeowner is looking to sell.

More than one third of properties are sold to buyers who learnt that the property was for sale through a for sale sign. Many buyers drive around a neighborhood that they are interested in, getting to know the area and looking at for sale signs. If your home is for sale and you don’t have a sign you’ve already excluded one third of potential buyers.

Newspaper Classified Adverts
Despite the rise of the internet newspaper classified ads are still a popular way of advertising a property for sale.

Classified ads work well with an internet listing as only the basic details of the property need be included in the ad with buyers referred to the internet listing for more details and photos. As charges for classified ads are usually based on the number of characters or words, referring buyers to the online advertisement can save the seller money.

Flyers
Many buyers come from the local area with most moving less than 7km away from their previous home. These buyers can be reached by distributing well-designed flyers that help spread the word about the property for sale.

A letterbox drop in the streets surrounding the property helps spread the word. Posting flyers in letterboxes of smaller properties targets buyers looking to upgrade to a bigger property. Posting flyers in letterboxes of larger properties targets empty nesters looking to move to a smaller property. This also creates great word of mouth advertising and may attract buyers looking to move closer to family or friends.

Sellers should think about where their target market goes and make sure that a flyer is displayed prominently. Local stores, cafes or libraries often have notice boards where flyers can be pinned up. Local businesses sometimes have staff looking to buy so sellers should find out if their local hospital, school or large company has an accommodation officer or notice board to display flyers.

Word of mouth/networks
An often overlooked but very powerful method of advertising a home is to use existing networks. Sellers should make sure that all their friends and relatives know that their home is for sale and get them to pass the details onto their friends.

Here again an internet listing can aid the selling process. Some buyers may feel uncomfortable about approaching a close friend or relative to find out the asking price or may not want to risk offending them if they visit the property to find it is not to their taste. By viewing the property on the web buyers need only proceed if there is a good chance that the property will be of interest.

Landlords should tell their tenants that they are looking to sell and ask them if they might want to buy, after all they must like the property as they are paying rent to live there. It’s amazing how many landlords prepare their property for sale by giving the tenants notice to leave when they may have been interested in buying all along.

Any homeowner who is serious about selling their property would be well advised to use all of the advertising techniques described above. By spreading the word to as many buyers as possible a seller is more likely to achieve a quick sale at a good price.

One of the most challenging aspects of selling a For Sale by Owner (FSBO) home is attracting qualified and interested buyers. There are several real estate marketing opportunities that should be considered.

First you need to spruce up your home, fix what is broken, tidy up the gardens, cut down dead or overwhelming vegetation. Put yourself in the position of the buyer, it’s difficult to be objective, but it’s a good mindset to start with. You also need to ensure that the price you have set for your FSBO home is fair and compares with real estate sold in your area that is similar to yours. You can usually engage a local realtor to provide a free estimate (they do it as a favor in hope that you don’t sell your home yourself and list with them later) or have a hire and pay to have a professional appraisal done. A professional real estate lawn sign is the next essential – a shocking 18% of all successful home sales are initiated by a real estate lawn sign. From there you should consider “creative” classified advertising in local papers.

Additionally, although it is more expensive, you may want to consider “Display Advertising” in your local paper. It is becoming more and more important to advertise your FSBO home on the internet - today’s prospective home buyers demand it. Online real estate listings are an integral part of any successful FSBO real estate sale – again 70% of all home purchasers start their search on the internet. Furthermore, internet advertising allows you to display full color pictures and lengthy descriptions that you could never justify the expense of in classified or display advertising. Another consideration is a For Sale by Owner – “Open House”. There are compelling arguments for both sides regarding the advantage of Open Houses. Many argue that they are a waste of time and are primarily an opportunity for the real estate agent to gather sales leads (people looking to buy a home, just not yours). Others contend that you can’t sell a home without the prospective home buyer having the opportunity to view it.

Another consideration is Flat Rate MLS listing. MLS is a very valuable marketing venue; it exposes your FSBO home to literally thousands of REALTORS ® nationwide that may have a buyer looking for exactly what your FSBO home offers. It also provides very valuable marketing exposure on Realtor.com, which enjoys 7 million visitors/month. Flat Rate MLS cost is in the $399 - $599 range, depending on state and coverage. In this situation you agree to pay the selling agent their regular real estate commission (usually 2.5 – 3.0%) – you still save significant real estate commission fees and may facilitate a quicker FSBO home sale. You maintain the right to sell your home yourself without paying a realtor sales commission so in effect it is the best of both worlds.

As many sales people can attest to - nothing sells itself – that includes your home. It is shortsighted to think you can save 100% of a typical real estate sales commission. That said, count on spending at least 1% to effectively market your FSBO home – if your home is at the national average ($238,000) that amounts to $2,000+ but leaves a 5% savings or $11,000 - which is still a significant savings!

You’ve decided to sell your home yourself and decide to have an open house to show off the property. Potential buyers come and you get an offer. What now?

Qualifying Buyers

Your home is looking sharp and you’ve got the word out telling people about the open house. Now you need to be prepared to take action if a qualified buyer attends, likes your home and wants to buy it.

Most qualified buyers will have a strong lender letter. If one of them wants to buy, you can move on to the next step. There may be people who come to your open house who would like to buy but don’t yet have a lender letter. Let me suggest a mutually helpful alliance for dealing with that situation.

Call several lenders before you schedule your open house. Tell them you’re planning an open house and you’d like to have a lender on hand to help buyers (even if they don’t want to buy your home) figure out what they can afford. Tell them you’d also like them to help you evaluate any lender letter you’re offered by a potential buyer. Choose the lender you feel most comfortable with and work out a mutually acceptable date for your open house.

You can introduce all attendees at your open house to the lender. This often proves to be helpful to you, some of the buyers who attend and can be a source of additional loans for the lender. Everybody wins.

Be Prepared for Action

You need to know how you want to handle a contract should someone want to make an offer. Do you have an attorney who will draw it? Are you going to suggest using a contract form? If so, have one on hand. Do you have a specific settlement company you’d like to use? Do your homework and think these things through in advance. Buyers may have ideas and connections of their own. You should consider any reasonable suggestion a potential buyer makes, but be prepared with your own approach if the buyer isn’t sure how to proceed. The point is to plan your course of action in advance.

In Closing

FSBO sellers often worry whether anyone will attend their open houses. They are then happily surprised when people arrive. Such happiness can turn to embarrassment when an offer is made and the FSBO seller isn’t sure how to handle it. If you think positively and prepare, this need not happen to you.