Effective Marketing for the FSBO Seller

Some of the following advice has helped FSBO sellers get their homes sold faster and for a higher amount. These methods require very little money in your part and are very easy to place into practice.

Unique selling proposition (USP) – With the increasing amount of homes for sale, you must first decide why people will choose to buy your home: If it has a particular feature that makes it unique, make sure to include it in all of your advertisement; if you are selling for a price well below market value, make sure you let people know; if you offer owner financing or have access to loans where people with poor credit can have a chance to buy your house, include it in your marketing. Remember, you must have a USP in your marketing efforts.

Flyers – Prepare a flyer with some pictures and with a brief description of your home. Make it as inviting as possible. Of course, make your USP one of your headlines. If you are working with a mortgage broker, include some scenarios of monthly payments so that potential buyers get an idea of how much it would cost on a monthly basis to buy the house. Once you have your flyer done, place it at people’s home around your neighborhood. You may also want to post them at places such as supermarkets, laundry rooms and drug stores. Finally, you can offer a smaller finder’s fee to anyone who refers you to your home buyer.

Yard signs – Buy some white yard signs! Be unique! Don’t buy the typical “for sale by owner” signs that everyone else is using. Create about 15 of them with a short message with your USP in big letters. Please make sure that city ordinances allow you to use this type of signs (Some people place them on Friday night and take them away on Sunday night.) Place them in high traffic areas around your neighborhood. Here are a few examples of signs that have worked well in the past:

• “House For Sale / 3/2 Must Sell / XXX-XXXX”
• “Guaranteed Approval / 99% Approved, Must Sell / Bankruptcy OK!!! / XXX-XXX”
• “Owner will finance / XXX-XXXX”

Internet sites – Probably, the best two places to advertise your FSBO are craigslist.com and backpage.com. When writing the ad, make sure that your USP is part of the headline. Also, dozens of ads are placed in these sites in big cities. In order to keep your post at the top, you might have to repost on a consistent basis. Since you can not post the same ad more than once every two days, some people have decided to post slightly different ads or the same ad with different email accounts. However, if you choose these options you must do so at your own risk.

If you want to get additional help in selling your home, feel free to get in touch with me at 305-7105183. I am a certified mortgage broker specializing in helping FSBO sellers like you sell their properties fast and for top dollars.