Now that you have put the finishing touches on your house, and you have all the other elements required for you sell your property on your own, you are ready to let the world of prospective homebuyers know that your house is available for their consideration.
You became acquainted with the variety of print real estate advertising publications that are available and hopefully, discussed not only their advertising rates, but also which Internet web sites were the most productive. These recommendations should serve as the starting point for your own Internet research; there are several elements that determine how productive a real estate web site may be.
In addition to house hunters using print real estate advertising, more than 50% of prospective house buyers turn to the Internet. There are real estate websites that are operated by the large brokerage firms such as Re/Max, in addition to large sites geared to "For Sale By Owner" (FSBO) market. The increase in owners choosing to sell their own property has not gone unnoticed by the large real estate business concerns; the number of these sites that now feature a "for sale by owner" section is growing daily.
It is a good idea for you to perform a search for properties in your category on both types of websites and choose the number of sites you feel comfortable handling. Be aware of the fact that in addition to the type of site management and perspective you will find, there are local and national real estate sites. If you want homebuyers from across the United State to be able to consider your property, a national real estate site will give your house that exposure. Whether you place your listing on just one web site or one hundred, keep in mind that even the smallest sites have the potential to generate hundreds of responses.
CHOOSING A REAL ESTATE WEBSITEMany people who use the Internet to search for a new home may not venture past the first 5 pages of search result. However, the Number One web site today, may not be next week; there are several factors that determine the website position in the search results. What is more important than the website ranking, is the features it offers its visitors.
Buying a house requires moving from one location to another and whether that move is across town or across country, the person needs community information. The web sites that provide the most complete information that people need when they are moving to a new home will attract a high volume of buyers.
PREPARE YOUR LISTINGWhen you have selected the web sites where you want to place your listing, review their listing requirements. While registration on many real estate websites are free of charge because the website has sponsored advertising (www.fsbowebsites.net), there are others that operate as a paid subscription service to be able to provide a higher level of service to subscribers.
In addition to whether or not you will have to pay for the advertising as a whole, there are additional services that may be charged separately, such as email forwarding. Focus on the technical requirements for the size and format of the photographs you will include with your text listing; each real estate website has their own specifications on how to adjust the pixels of high-resolution photos to display properly on the Internet.
Ideally, the website you select will have "virtual tour" capability. Many of the homebuyers today will use photographs and virtual tours to begin their house hunting online. A virtual tour gives your prospective homebuyer a 360-degree view of your house. With many properties to choose from, there are many buyers who will use the lack of a virtual tour as the basis to eliminate the house from consideration. Check the requirements for creating a virtual tour of your house and submit at much video, as the site will permit.
Text, photos and video; what more could a prospective homebuyer want? The ability to download, print and e-mail the photos of your house to their family and friends is included on most real estate websites, but not all of them. Make sure this feature is available on the website you select.
Make sure that you make note of the factual information that you can provide in your text. The website that provides your prospective homebuyer with the most complete information about your house is the website you want to use.
With these facts in hand, you can use your appraisal report to obtain the technical information you will need to create your listing. Start with the complete address of your property and then list the following information:
Ï Total Number of Rooms
Ï Total Number of Levels
Ï Total Square Footage of the Property Ï Dimensions of Each Room
Ï Level Location of Each Room Ï Land Acreage
Ï Type of Construction
Ï Type of Design
Ï Type of Heating/AC
Ï Source of Sewer and Water
Ï Year the Property was Built
Ï Type of Roof Ï Type of Flooring Ï Type of Parking Ï Amenities
Take photos that show off your house
To accent your listing, you want to add as many photos as possible to give prospective buyers a clear idea of every important aspect of your house. The quality of the photos is extremely important; posting a blurred image of your property is a disservice to all of the hard work you have done to reach this point.
If you do not own a digital camera, but have a camera phone, take a test photo and upload it to the website and check the clarity of the image online. Make sure that your photo is within the optimum size stated in the website listing requirements. If the image is as clear online as in the camera photo viewer, you can take all of the photos you need in this manner. However, if the test image doesn't give display an accurate representation of the condition of your property, ask your friends and relatives who own stand-alone digital cameras to assist you to take the photos of your house.
The first photos should be of the exterior views of your property. A wide angle shot of the front of your house to show the full size of the property as well as from the backyard. If you have a garage, carport or other free standing structure on your property, take a photo that shows the proximity of this structure to the house. If your garage is attached to your house, make sure that the front exterior photos capture the garage and house. You want to position yourself for the front exterior photos from curbside and the photos of your backyard from the back door of your house. Make sure you take these photos when the sun is at its zenith, between 11 am to 1pm to use as much natural light as possible to show the features of your house clearly enough for your house number to be legible.
For your interior photographs, you want to take a photo of each of the features you have highlighted in your text listing. The day you decide to take the interior pictures, give your house a "white glove" cleaning, arrange your furniture settings, board any pets you may have with friends and freshen your window coverings. Put everything in its place and remove trash containers in the kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms, with all of your personal items stored out of sight. Use your buyer perspective; this is house under consideration, not another person’s home.
Again, you want to take your interior photos at the time of day when you have the most natural light to make your photo images clear and crisp. Start at the entryway of your home, positioning yourself to be able to photograph as much of the room as possible. Take photos from several angles so you can compare them to see which gives the best impression. Pay special attention to the distinct features of each room. Our example home is a colonial 2-bedroom house with a foyer. This may not be as impressive as a swimming pool, but not every house has one, and even fewer have foyers with a closet. If your house has either or both of theses features, count it as a plus; a photo of each room’s assets will entice a prospective buyer to come and see these features.
When you have finished taking the photos of every room in your house and have selected the ones you like the best, send them to a friend by e-mail, ask them select the ones they like the best, between the two sets you should be able to choose enough photos to upload to the real estate website and place your listing.
Once you have completed placing your listing, make a note of the website address that is assigned to your house so you can include it on your weatherproof "For Sale" yard sign. Use your cell phone number or rent a pager and use that number as the contact number on your signs. If it's not possible for you to be available all day, prepare a message for your answering machine or rent a toll free 800 number to record the listing information, including your Internet listing website address. In addition, it's a good idea to write "Viewing By Appointment Only" on the sign to discourage drop-in visits.
PRINT ADVERTISINGThe Internet has its advantages, but so does print advertising. The most effective marketing is to use a combination of as many avenues to advertise your property as possible so that your property is sold quickly at the purchase price you desire. Local community newspapers as well as the newspapers with city or statewide circulation, especially the weekend editions have real estate sections. In addition, some newspapers offer special real estate picture sections.
BILLBOARD ADVERTISINGNow that you have your property listing online, print a copy of the listing at home and take it to a photocopy center to make the 8 1/2 by 11 inch advertising flyers to use as handouts and post on community bulletin billboards. In addition to the information on the listing, it is a good idea to the website address and directions to your property. Create this flyer with tear-off strips with your contact information.
Use the e-mail feature of the website to send your house listing to everyone you know with a note asking them to do the same with their contact list. Keep in mind that you should respond to telephone and e-mail requests for information in as soon as they are received.
CALLING ALL BUYERSYou have told all of your friends and relatives about the sale of your house and placed ads in the newspapers and on the Internet. So how do you handle your first response? For starters, keep a cool head and play it safe; when prospective homebuyer calls, listen to them carefully and then ask for their name and phone number and request to return their call within then next hour. This tactic will help you screen and separate the curious "lookers" from qualified buyers.
When you return the call, make sure to answer all questions and make sure that you ask the prospective buyer whether or not they have their mortgage pre-approval letter. If they are just beginning to look for a home it is possible that they do not realize that they need this. If you insist that prospects have a pre-approval letter from a mortgage banker before they make an appointment for a viewing, you will save yourself and the prospective buyer a lot of time.
In the next section, you will meet and greet prospective homebuyers through individual appointments, by holding an "Open House" or both. Each method has its advantage and disadvantages; you have to decide how much time and energy you want to devote to the process.