For Sale By Owner: 5 Easy Ways To Properly Advertise a Home
There is a lovely home in my neighborhood which recently went on the market ‘For Sale’. The problem is that one cannot read any of the details in the sign. I had my camera with me this morning, so I snapped a quick video to give folks a view of what it is that drive-bys can actually see from across the street.
This home is poorly signed by the homeowner, no doubt. Further, the second sign located at the entrance to the home indicates, “Open House” which I find to be quite odd. It seems that the Open House is perpetually OPEN. Is someone there all the time to take knocks on the door from looky-loos? I wonder.
[caption id="attachment_148" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Open House Sign"]
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There are several other homes available in this neighborhood and my guess is that this one will just be a drive-by…in other words…buyers will just continue to drive-by.
Even though the home is a FSBO (for sale by owner), there is so much more an owner can do to advertise simply from the front lawn.
If you have not signed on with a real estate agent (recommended by this virtual assistant!) to take advantage of all of the benefits, such as good signage, I would suggest to FSBOs to at least do this much:
1) Place the signs closer to the street and sidewalk where people can actually view them without straining their eyes. This may mean using two signs: one at the far end of the lawn at the property line to gain attention from folks driving one way and using a second sign in the front of the property reasonably close to the sidewalk to stand out to drive-bys who do stop.
2) Buy a double-sided For Sale Sign or make your own and take into account that folks might be coming toward the property from more than one direction.
3) Use a thick black Sharpie marker to write your home’s stats. This homeowner used a thin Sharpie that one would need a magnifying glass to view. People will not want to get out of their car to run over to see how much the home is priced or how many bedrooms it contains. 
4) Create a website and post photos of the home. Microsoft Office Live is a free hosting site with templates that can be used to create a site in just a few minutes. Buy a domain at GoDaddy featuring the site’s address (about $7.00) and connect that address to the site. By all means, advertise that website address on the sign in a clear fashion.
5) Make a few flyers and buy a tube at a local hardware store. Microsoft Publisher and Word feature easy-to-use templates for making flyers. Go to Kinkos to have them printed in quantity.
Janine
Tagged with: advertisement • for sale by owner • homes • house • janine gregor • manatee county • marketing • Real Estate • realtor • realtors • sarasota • signs • VA • virtual assistant • your virtual wizard
Filed under: Real Estate • Tips
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