Your house looks beautiful, the squirrels are enjoying life in your immaculate yard, and the neighbors are curious about what you’re up to. It’s time to tell them — and everyone else — that you’re selling your home.

Spread the Word

Just as networking is important when looking for a job, it’s also crucial when you’re selling your home. Here are eight proven and effective ways to market your home.

1 - Get Your Neighbors on Your Sales Team
Don’t surprise your neighbors by suddenly putting up a for sale sign in your yard. Make sure they’re the first ones to know of your plans to sell, because many homes are bought by people in the neighborhood. You can also get them on your marketing team by distributing a fact sheet to their homes and talking about your plans. They’ll appreciate being told and may help work for you by telling others.

2 - The Sign of a Good House
One of the most important steps in marketing your home is to rent a professional sign from HomeAvenue. A great-looking "for sale" sign says you’re serious about selling, you’re prepared to answer buyers’ questions, and you’re ready to show your home. You also gain the added credibility that comes from choosing a company that provides the most recognized sign and that offers you professional guidance and expertise. You’ve worked hard getting your house in shape to sell; don’t risk sending the wrong message to buyers by displaying an unprofessional-looking sign.

• Professional Yard Signs
  Professional yard signs quickly catch the attention of prospective buyers and make a great first impression as they drive by your home. In fact, almost 50 percent of homes are sold by using the sign alone. Make sure to rent a double-sided, post-style, multicolored sign with your phone number on it. Have HomeAvenue place the sign on your property where it’s most visible to cars
  coming from either direction; please allow 48 hours for installation or removal of the sign. Check with your city or homeowners’ association about possible sign ordinances, especially if you’re selling a townhome.
• A Brochure Box Is a Must
  Some of our customers distribute hundreds of brochures, which they keep stocked in a box attached to their for sale sign. Always keep the box filled with plenty of brochures. Buyers appreciate having immediate access to your home information. Your brochure also helps buyers remember your house when they sift through the information they’ve collected about homes they’ve seen.
• Directional Signs
  Signs that indicate "Home for Sale" and "Open House" make it easier for buyers to find your property. These should match your yard sign’s color and logo to easily guide people to your home. Place signs in strategic locations on busy streets and highways. Your "open house" signs should be posted just before you hold your open house and removed immediately afterward. You’ll be amazed by how many people respond to your directional signs! Check with your city about possible sign ordinances.
• Sign Additions
  These signs list your open house days and times, appointment guidelines, and information about whether you’ll work with agents or not. You can attach a sign saying "No Agents, Please" to your yard sign if you wish to minimize calls from agents. Or you can attach a "By Appointment Only" sign so people won’t drop by without calling first.

  
  Sign Smarts
  Renting the most professional yard signs, directional signs,
  and brochure box will maximize your home’s exposure to the greatest number of prospects. The traffic flow increases, cars slow down, and heads turn when a savvy seller takes advantage of eye-catching signs and a well-stocked brochure box.

3 - Fact Sheet
You can help potential buyers remember your house by giving them a fact sheet. If you don’t use brochures provided by HomeAvenue, just type up a page or two of your home’s features on a computer, print it, attach a picture of your house, and make copies. Include factual data about your property, such as price, year built, lot size, room dimensions, taxes, age assessment, etc. Keep your brochure box filled. Pass fact sheets out to potential buyers, your friends, and neighbors, and keep them handy by your phone. In addition to including features, highlight the best parts of your house and location, such as a parklike yard, newly remodeled kitchen, proximity to shopping, quiet neighborhood, central air, or fireplace. List features that provide value and benefits to buyers and that help your house stand out from the competition.

Other Ways to Spread the Word

• Put a notice in your company newsletter.
• Call or send a letter, your fact sheet, or an e-mail to friends, family, and
  colleagues.
• Post your fact sheet or a flyer with a picture and description of your house
  on bulletin boards in stores, libraries, your church, and schools.

4 - Classified Advertising
Reaching the greatest number of potential buyers requires advertising
in the real estate classifieds of the Star Tribune or Pioneer Press newspapers. By spending up to 1/4 to 1/2 percent of your home’s price on advertising, you gain big returns. As many as 50 percent of all prospects will discover your home through a newspaper ad. Even readers who aren’t actively shopping for a home may see it and tell their friends or family members who are looking. It’s best to run at least a couple different-sized ads on alternate weeks so readers don’t see the same ad and conclude that you’re having trouble selling your house.

Tips for Writing and Placing Classified Ads

Line Ads: An average ad runs seven lines and includes basic information that
interests people enough to call you. Remember: The larger the ad, the better your position in the paper.

Picture Ads: These stand out and produce results because buyers see a picture of your house. Ask about including your home in HomeAvenue’s HomeAvenue picture showcase.

Open House Directory: The Open House Directory is published every Saturday and Sunday in the Star Tribune and Sundays in the Pioneer Press. It provides a quick reference guide to buyers who are searching for open houses in specific locations. The one-line listing includes address, price, open house day and time, number of bedrooms and baths, "by owner," and your phone number.

What to Include in an Ad

• "FSBO" or "By Owner"
• Price
• General location of house, including your street address
• Number of baths and bedrooms
• A special feature such as "newly remodeled" or "parklike yard"
• Phone number: Prospective buyers must be able to call you to set up an
  appointment or get directions to the property.
• Open house details such as day, time, and address (address is mandatory for
  open house ads)
• HomeAvenue.com I.D. number
  

Sample Ad

FIRST OPEN SUNDAY 1-4
Completely updated 4 BR, 2 BA 2-sty
on overszd lot in convenient loc. Large
fam rm w/ frplc, new kit, den, C/A,
deck, 2 car gar. $189,900 By Owner
150 Townsland Ln N. 612-555-5555
www.homeavenue.com ID #1234

Examples of Ad Headings
(Bold type, two lines high is most effective)

• NEW ON MARKET
• FOR SALE BY OWNER
• 1ST OPEN SAT/SUN 1–4
• WALK TO LAKES!

Simple Strategies for Effective Advertising:

• Study real estate ads in Saturday and Sunday classifieds and consider the most attention-grabbing features as you write your own.
• Advertise on weekends. Saturday ads help people plan their weekend house hunting; Sunday has the largest circulation, reaching more prospects.
• Avoid running the same ad each week. Create a couple of different types, try them out, and track their results.
• Advertise in major newspapers. It may be expensive but it’s worth the
  investment.
• Bigger is better. Newspaper ads are categorized by size; larger ads get the best placement.

5 - Advertise on the Internet
Listing your house on the Internet is the newest way to reach the widest audience. Millions of homes are now listed on the Web sites of many real estate services, which provide both local and national exposure for homes for sale. Your house will not only be seen by potential buyers living in your area but also by people relocating to your region. In addition to a color picture and a full description, your phone number or e-mail address is included, so interested buyers can contact you directly. HomeAvenue’s www.HomeAvenue.com has the largest database of homes in the Twin Cities and receives thousands of visitors per month. Make sure buyers can find your home at this popular and heavily promoted site.

6 - Open Houses
You can show your house to many people at once at an open house (Please see "It's Show Time!" for complete how-to information.)

7 - MLS Exposure
The Multiple Listing Service is one of the most effective & powerful ways to promote your property. A listing on the MLS will expose your property to thousands of licensed real estate agents whom represent thousands of serious and qualified buyers. And best of all, you won’t give up your flexibility. If you find a buyer on you own, you’ll still pay no commission. If a Realtor brings you a buyer, you’ll pay the Realtor a reduced commission, between 2.7% and 3.5% of the selling price at closing. MLS has been uniting buyers and sellers for many years. Now, you can have all the same advantages of listing your home with a traditional Realtor and keep more of the equity you deserve.

MLS access provides these additional benefits for our sellers:

• Your home will be part of the broker reciprocity database, a system by which
  real estate brokers agree to share their listings with each other on their
  respective Web sites. If you are a HomeAvenue customer and have listed your home on the MLS, a photo and listing data will be displayed on all cooperating broker Web sites. This provides a powerful and effective vehicle for you to expose your home to many potential buyers.
• Your home will be listed on popular local and national Web sites such as www.startribune/homezone.com and www.realtor.com.
• You’ll receive fewer calls from agents trying to list your home. The Board of Realtors prohibits Realtors from soliciting a homeowner who is currently listed on the MLS. If a Realtor calls, tell the agent that your home is listed on MLS with HomeAvenue.

8 - Working with Agents (non-MLS users)
In some situations, you can actually work with an agent to sell your home faster but not have to pay a full commission. The benefit to you could be a quicker sale; the drawback might be that you’d pay a partial commission and lose some of the money you hoped to save.

Your goal as a FSBO is to sell your home on your own. But if you want some help and you don’t mind making less money on the sale, consider working with an agent. Here’s how it works.

Two Types of Agent Requests:

A "Will you list with me?"
This is the most common request you’ll receive from agents who have seen your "for sale" sign or ads and who hope that, if you can’t sell your house, you’ll list it with them. It’s best to politely tell the agent that you aren’t interested in
listing your home with a Realtor. If you are willing to pay a partial commission (typically about 3 percent) to a buyer’s agent, you may want to inform the agent that you will sign a one-time showing agreement if he or she produces a qualified buyer (see below).

B "I’ve got a buyer. Will you pay a commission?"
Sometimes an agent will ask to show your home to one of his or her
clients and wonders whether you’d be willing to pay a commission fee if that client purchases the house. If you work with the agent, you agree in writing to a one-time-showing agreement that states you’ll pay a commission to the agent if the buyer noted in the agreement buys your home. You then negotiate the agent’s fee, which generally is between 2.5 and 3 percent. Warning: Many agents ask for more than a normal commission because they think FSBOs are uneducated about the selling process. But you know what you’re doing, so don’t pay more!

Tips for Working with Agents

• Remember, most agents represent the buyer, not you, the seller, so it may be a conflict of interest for them to help you fill out legal documents required for
  selling. It’s best to hire a real estate attorney to handle the paperwork.
• There is no "standard" rate of commission.
• All agreements to pay a commission must be in writing and are negotiable.
• Hang an attachment on your yard sign saying "No Agents, Please" if you wish to discourage agent traffic.
  

First Give FSBO a Chance
If you’re truly committed to selling FSBO and saving the full 5 to 7 percent commission, tell real estate agents that you’re currently not interested in working with them because you want to promote and sell your own home and give your own efforts some time.

• Between 75 to 80 percent of our customers successfully sell by owner. Don’t give up too soon. The average selling time is about 30 days.

Now that you’ve determined your marketing strategy, you’re ready to show your home. Open the curtains and turn on the lights… It’s Show Time!