Hah! Made ya look, didn't I?
Selling a home is not much different than selling anything else. You must PREPARE it well, PRICE it competitively, and PROMOTE it to your market. We call this the THREE "P's".
If you choose to use a real estate agent to market your home, it will be his/her job to get the word out. This usually involves putting the listing on the MLS and on other Internet websites, putting an ad in the local paper, sending some postcards to your neighbors and possibly hosting an open house. By outsourcing the promotion, you will pay between 5 - 6% of the sales price of your home...assuming that it sells! If you choose to take control and sell "by owner", you will be promoting your home yourself and you will form your own marketing strategy.
If you have done your homework in the first two areas, promoting your "product" to a wide buyer pool is the key to your success. Quality marketing and advertising that makes sure your home stands out in the crowd will create a strong statement to buyers, giving them confidence to work with you. It will create value for your home, further enhancing your credibility. Expect to pay a reasonable amount to advertise your home and look for results oriented marketing that will reach buyers where they're looking.
First impressions count. Will your yard sign come from a hardware store and look generic, leaning precariously on your front lawn, the faded magic marker telephone number barely visible? Will your information sheets look professional and grab buyer attention?
In our years of helping private home sellers learn the ins and outs of marketing their homes to the public, we've seen more bad yard signs than we can count, and learned of countless ways that sellers have missed important opportunities. Does that mean you can't sell successfully without using a real estate agent? Heck no. It just means you need to educate yourself about the process and make sure you start off on the right foot.
Remember, your home's appearance and your choice of marketing is a reflection of it's owner. Do you want to appear cheap, like you don't know what you're doing, and possibly difficult to work with, or do you want to greet qualified buyers at your door with confidence? The choice is yours.
Selling a home is not much different than selling anything else. You must PREPARE it well, PRICE it competitively, and PROMOTE it to your market. We call this the THREE "P's".
If you choose to use a real estate agent to market your home, it will be his/her job to get the word out. This usually involves putting the listing on the MLS and on other Internet websites, putting an ad in the local paper, sending some postcards to your neighbors and possibly hosting an open house. By outsourcing the promotion, you will pay between 5 - 6% of the sales price of your home...assuming that it sells! If you choose to take control and sell "by owner", you will be promoting your home yourself and you will form your own marketing strategy.
If you have done your homework in the first two areas, promoting your "product" to a wide buyer pool is the key to your success. Quality marketing and advertising that makes sure your home stands out in the crowd will create a strong statement to buyers, giving them confidence to work with you. It will create value for your home, further enhancing your credibility. Expect to pay a reasonable amount to advertise your home and look for results oriented marketing that will reach buyers where they're looking.
First impressions count. Will your yard sign come from a hardware store and look generic, leaning precariously on your front lawn, the faded magic marker telephone number barely visible? Will your information sheets look professional and grab buyer attention?
In our years of helping private home sellers learn the ins and outs of marketing their homes to the public, we've seen more bad yard signs than we can count, and learned of countless ways that sellers have missed important opportunities. Does that mean you can't sell successfully without using a real estate agent? Heck no. It just means you need to educate yourself about the process and make sure you start off on the right foot.
Remember, your home's appearance and your choice of marketing is a reflection of it's owner. Do you want to appear cheap, like you don't know what you're doing, and possibly difficult to work with, or do you want to greet qualified buyers at your door with confidence? The choice is yours.
