Guerrilla Marketing in For Sale by Owner Homes

One of the biggest concerns for those considering a private home sale is marketing. Real estate agents, after all, have a number of marketing tools at their disposal. Multiple Listing Services, newspaper advertisements, real estate magazines, etc. Many have been turned off from selling their own for fear that they would not be able to attract enough interest through a lack of advertising.

Even without the resources of a real estate agent, however, there are many things that you can do in order to market your FSBO home. The classics, of course, are always available: classified ads in newspapers, yard signs with information sheets, etc. There are also many guerrilla marketing techniques you can use in selling your own home.

Guerrilla Marketing Techniques

One of the greatest boons to the private real estate industry in recent years has been the advent of the Internet. Never before has it been so cheap and so easy to advertise your For Sale by Owner home than now. Put up a classified ad on sites such as Craigslist. Sell your home through online auction sites such as eBay. You can also pay for the services of dedicated FSBO web sites which will assist you in getting out the word on your home, not only in your own community but throughout the country and even around the world. You never know just who might buy your home!

Without even touching a keyboard or picking up a pen, though, you can work on advertising your home. Simply tell your friends and family that your home is for sale by owner. Never underestimate the power of word-of-mouth marketing: many homes are sold every year based on nothing more than word-of-mouth.

Take a look around at grocery stores, convenience stores, libraries, gyms, apartment complexes, schools etc. in your town. Oftentimes they will have public bulletin boards available. Put up flyers on as many of these bulletin boards as you can and help get the word out on your FSBO home.

Another place to consider putting up flyers is at lower-priced homes in your area. If there are town homes in the neighborhood, you might find people who wish to upgrade from the town homes to a larger home without leaving the neighborhood. This could be a great place for you to pick up some potential buyers.

If there are large businesses in your area, call up their human resources departments and find out if they have bulletin boards. Chances are good that they will allow you to put up flyers on their bulletin boards for a minimal fee. This is another great way to let people know that your home is available.

Even if you don’t hire a seller’s agent and are doing a private home sale, you might consider allowing buyer’s agent to bring sellers to you. You will have to pay them a commission, although it will a smaller one than you would have to pay if you hired a seller. Write out a flyer for the agent informing them of the home, asking price and what commission you will pay them, and invite them to bring potential buyers to the property.

Some discount agents will even provide you with an MLS listing for a fee, without requiring you use them as a seller agent. Again you must pay the buyer’s agent should one of their clients purchase your home, but this is still a cheaper option than selling through a seller’s agent.