Kick off your campaign with an Open House and make sure all the neighbors for several blocks around know that your home is for sale.

Why? Because over 50% of homes are bought by friends and relatives of people who already live or work in the neighborhood.

(80% of homes are bought by people who live or work in the county or in surrounding counties, but the open house is targeted at the immediate neighborhood.)

 

Follow the links below for fsbo advice on what to do after the Open House:

 

• Showing your home: How to show your home to prospective buyers. Let the house sell itself by highlighting its best features.
• Use our free flyer generator to create eye-catching 8 1/2 x 11 inch sheets that describe the best features of your house and include pictures and asking price. Distributed at local shopping malls and apartment complexes, these Real Estate Flyers are an underused secret weapon for selling fast.
• 9 ways to attract buyers. Most homes are bought by friend and relatives of people who already live or work in the area, so sell your home by informing the neighborhood.
• The hard to sell home. Even ugly homes have buyers. Find our why your house is hard to sell and try our suggestions.
• Selling quick. Need to get out of town by noon? Sorry, no help here, but users of our For Sale By Owner Kit report selling within two weeks. We have other good ideas for those who can manage to stay in town for the next four or five weeks.

 

More good links to selling advice:

• Pre-Qualifying the potential Buyer: Can this buyer afford your house? ...or more specifically, can this buyer get a mortgage loan big enough to let him buy your house?
• Consider every offer from a qualified Buyer: tips on how to read and evaluate a buyer's offer to purchase your home.
• Home warranty: This low cost insurance entices buyers by providing the same sort of guarantee on heating, air conditioning and other major systems that would be offered on a new home.
• The real estate sales contract: the mere mention of the word, "contract" can cause shudders in otherwise healthy people. Review these few pages and get comfortable with obscure words.
• Disclosures: Things the Buyer MUST be told. If you know that your cellar floods or the roof leaks, you must tell the buyer, but unless you live in California, you don't have to do research to find out if your house is in an earthquake hazard zone.

 

• The Escrow Agreement:  Tips on how to handle "Earnest Money Deposits" & "Binder Fees" deposited by the Buyer along with his or her offer to purchase your property.