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How to sell your home on Craigslist
It's easy to save a ton of money in real estate commissions by selling your own home using Craigslist. I did this last summer from 3,000 miles away without a real estate license and I will show you how you can too.
The first thing you have to do is to emotionally distance yourself from your home. You absolutely must get a realistic assessment of your home. It's not difficult. Call a half a dozen real estate agents and tell them you are thinking of selling your home and ask them what they would list it at. They will give you their estimation based on comparable sales in the neighborhood as well as homes that your home will be competing with. After you have looked at these comparable sales and listings take a drive (if you are in the vicinity) and see if there are any extenuating circumstances. For example is one of the comparables located on a busy street while yours is nestled in the woods? Maybe one of the homes has an unfinished basement and yours doesn't. You must look at these comparables with the eyes of a buyer. If you have any doubt as to your own objectivity then have you friends look at the comparables with you. If there is a home that is very similar to yours and it is located right next door and it is listed for $225,000 you should list your home for $195,000. In this market you MUST be competitive.
Then, once you have come to a conclusion as to what the listed price should be take a weekend and completely spruce up the home. Take all of the family photo's down and paint the walls they were on. You don't have to paint the entire house (unless of course it really needs it) but if you paint a few key areas it will make a big difference. Don't forget that you only have one chance to make a good first impression. If buyers come through your home and see a bunch of garbage and clutter they will assume that the home has not been taken care of. So spruce the place up! Make sure the lawn is mowed, the flowers are blooming, all pink pelicans are removed, all pictures and clutter are removed and the beds are made at all times. Also, do a sniff test, the only smells potential buyers should be smelling is the aroma of fresh baked bread or chocolate cookies just coming out of the oven.
OK, now you are read to advertise your property. Take a few digital pictures and put them on Craigslist. Don't even think of putting an ad up on Craigslist without some wonderful pictures. If you don't have a camera borrow someones and have them take the pictures. I was 3,000 miles away so I had a friend do this for me and email them to me. Now put your ad on Craigslist and make sure to put in the heading the most important feature about the home in the title. Is there a pool? Is there a mother-in-law suite? Whatever it is that sold you on the home put as the header. Update the ad every other day or as much as possible so that it doesn't get lost in a pile of old Craigslist ads. People tend to look at the newer ads first.
Now wait, within a matter of minutes you will begin to get inquiries. Many of them will be with agents. When you get an request by an agent to list your home tell them that you will be glad to give them a 2.5% commission (or whatever is fair in your area) if they bring a qualified buyer and sell them home. You will still be saving 2.5% to 3% off of the sales price by listing the home yourself and if you have never sold a home in your life the buyer's agent will do all the work for you (remember they want that commission too) Do the math, 3% off of a $200,000 dollar home is still $6,000 that you just saved yourself.
When people come to look at your home make sure to get the telephone number of the agent so that you can ask for feedback later. If the home is priced well it should sell rather quickly. If it lingers, find out why. If they home is located in a poor location there is nothing you can do but lower the price, if you need to do more sprucing up you can either lower the price or spruce it up yourself. Keep putting ads on Craigslist as the ads must be updated in order to attract lazy buyers who don't have the time nor the inclination to look through all of the ads.
Finally, remember that everything is negotiable. Once an offer comes in you can negotiate everything from the closing date to the repairs and make sure that you keep advertising the home in Craigslist until the time comes that the money is in your hands and the home belongs to someone else, a little competition never hurt! Good luck and happy selling.
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Comments
It's amazing how much US estate agents charge. Here, in the UK, 1-2% is common.
Hi London: Yea that might change with the way the economy is going...at this point 6% of nothing is still nothing!
It's a fair point!
Thank you for providing assistance on how to sell your home on craiglist. Very useful.
You're welcome and good luck in this terrible market.
Did you ever stop to think that maybe..just maybe...the reason real estate agents have to charge top dollar for their commisions is that they are working under a brokerage which gets a certain percentage of their commision? That maybe..just maybe.. they pay advertising and marketing expenses out of their own pocket before they ever see any commision at all? And none period if a house does not sell after months of work trying to compete with bank reos and foreclosure prices? And oh yes- lets not forget about the people that just want something for nothing all day long. The ones that want to use the real estate agents services and never pay them a dime for any of the most valuable advice they provide, the research they have done beforehand or the time they have taken away from other more sincere clients having the true intention of actually employing their services. Even people working a 7/11 go to work expecting to get paid - don't you? And yet here you shamelessy admit you wasted 6 real estate agents time under the "ruse" you were going to list your home through them. And recommend all others to do the same. That is both lying and decietful. Have you no morals or conscience at all? I was a new reader enjoying a few of your postings until I read this one and saw more into your character. You appear to be just a user with no apparent concern for anyone other than yourself as long as the outcome benefits you.
LVREALTOR: I was a realtor so I know exactly what the business is all about. And I also know that there are quite a few agents that are more than willing to give a "broker price opinion" in the hopes of getting a future listing from fsbo's (for sale by owners). It's all part of the job. If you are offended then maybe you should get out of the business.
There is a difference between a BPO or Brokers Price Opinion for which one gets paid and a CMA or Comparable Market Analysis for which listing agents will gladly do in hopes of getting a listing to further grow their business. You did not have a BPO if you did not pay for the service and you called 6 agents out with absolutely no intention of using their service in the first place. I am not offended as I am not a listing agent but can seperate the truth from fiction and see that you intentionally used these agents with no regard at all for their time or worth. Perhaps it is the agents fault as well for not qualifying you properly before going out on a listing appointment. They can be forgiven I suppose as they were only trying to do their jobs and earn their bread and butter. To pay bills and put food on the table for their families in a market where they must now work 3x as hard to make 1/2 as much money due to declining home values. Instead they get called by someone such as yourself, who had absolutely no intention of hiring them in the first place what-so-ever . Had you told them this from the beginning perhaps they would not have wasted their time. They would have more than likely sent you email comps taking just minutes of their time rather than hours. But no- you had to get each and every one of their hopes up in anticipation and then dissapoint them all. Knowing you were never going to hire any one of them from the beginning. Must have been a fun ruse for you- knowing this the whole time. Just pumping them all for as much information as you could get without it costing you one red dime. Seeing as you were a real estate agent in the past you should have been able to figure out the comps yourself instead of having to call in 6 professionals to do the price work for you. There is enough information on websites such as Trulio etc in order to do so. Then again, whatever inadequecies and flaws you had as an agent should not make you wish others to take advantage of your former collegues in their chosen profession. It is your own fault you are in a JOB you now hate.FYI- I am still in the business and going strong. My clients are devoted and grateful and send many referrals my way. I love what I do, providing sanctuary and security to people finding homes which they will create many future memories in years to come. I do not allow people to use me like you have done to others so ungraciously and unappreciatively. I do my best to discern they do in fact need my services and for the most part they are sincere. Which you, my dear, do not appear to be. And just from this story alone, I must wonder how often it applies to the rest of your life.
When I had my house, the internet was just starting so that wasn't an option and all the people I called knew that I was putting my house on the market myself. You sound terribly bitter, since you've been doing this so long I would think you would know the game by now.
I do know the game and I am not terribly bitter. Just able to spot the inconsistancies that don't make sense very easily since I listen to peoples wants and needs on a regular basis. I can point out the fact that now you according to you in your very own words you appear to be not only a user but also a liar. You state that "when you had your house the internet was just starting so that wasn't an option" and yet in your original post you only sold your house last summer. So which is it Miss Brie? Your story makes no sense at this point. The internet was going strong last summer as it has been for years. Craigslist is full of scammers and thiefs not to mention murderers and I cannot believe you would advise your readers to invite these people into their homes unscreened by a professional REALTOR or not even prequalified or preapproved by a lender in the first place to see if they are capable of buying the home before they even enter he premises. You are setting every one of your readers up for a multitude of possible crimes to include robbery if a supposed "buyer" is scouting out their home for valuable items. You are reccomending they let unscreened,unqualified strangers into their homes in todays day and age. But then again, you do it all the time just to make a little extra money to pay your bills. Well I consider you very lucky in that aspect and hope your luck continues but I watch the news on a regular basis and have heard too many horror stories from homes that have been listed on the market FSBO to know that there are a myriad of possible situations you are not even beginning to let your readers know of. Selling homes is not as simple as you make it sound. If it was , perhaps you would still be an agent yourself. And since you're not, perhaps you should stop giving out advice as though you were.
I sold my house in the summer of 2007 on Craigslist. This post was originally written in 2008. When I had my boarding house business the internet was not an option and I did not use it (I believe that is what I was referring to). So I did NOT lie as is your accusation.
I think that your bitterness shows very clearly. I am no longer an agent because I moved, not that it is of your concern.
And if people are afraid to have strangers come to their home then I'm sure they have enough brains to figure that out and spend an additional 3% to have an agent bring strangers to their home. One is statistically more likely to get hit by a car then to be murdered on Craigslist. I don't live my life in fear, if you choose to do so, then that's your business.
Your tone reveals your bitterness, I'll let your post speak for itself.
You have said you advertise on craiglist and rent out your sofa to strangers on occasion. Call it a boarding house "business" if you like. There was a Craigslist killer. That is a fact. Real estate agents always prequalify/ preapprove clients through lenders before even letting them in their car to drive around and look at clients homes. They know all their background information and whether or not they even have they financial ability to indeed purchase the home they are viewing in the first place. They do their homework. statustically speaking they have much better odds of bringing a qualified individual to purchase the home. Not a complete nutcase from Craigslist that has no money and is only a lookieloo wasting time.
Before doing that in New York I ran a boarding house for 10 years in Portland, Oregon. Life is full of risks, like I said you are more likely to be hit by a car.
Yes life is full of risks but there is a difference between "living your life in fear" and taking necessary precautions to prevent the likelihood of occurences happening. And people do get hit by cars- it happens everyday, many times over. That is a fact.That is reality. We never think it will happen to us but sooner or later it eventually does. Now 10 years ago Portland Oregon was most likely a different scenario than New York or Las Vegas is today, would you not agree? Desperate times make people do desperate things- you must realize this. Now you sold your home from thousands of miles away so to let strangers into a vacant property is really of no consequence in the selling of your property as you were not there. But the mere suggestion of allowing unscreened, unqualified buyers into a home that is currently resided by it's owners makes me squirm in my seat. Let me give you few reasons why-Example: Caller asks to see property this weekend or at 2PM Seller INNOCENTLY responds: unable to show because I will be out of town or I am at work. EEGADS! Seller may have now just unknowingly let a robber know the exact hours they may come by to rob the home! This happens ALL THE TIME !!! Especially during the holiday season it is much more rampant. Agents know this. They will not say such unwitting things. Another common misconception is the fact that an "open house" will sell your home. Fact of the matter is less than 2% of homes ever sell directly from holding the open house itself. Less than 2%!!!! Why do agents do them in the first place? Because the seller/owners INSIST. They think opening their homes up to complete ,unqualified strangers is going to sell it faster when in fact it usually does nothing but open the doors for opportunity to burglary as well as give the agent LEADS to BUYERS interested in other homes because it is highly unlikely someone will walk in off the street and decide this is the home for them. All buyers want to see more before they decide to make such a large investment-and well they should. But sellers insist agents do this for them and so they do. But all agents do insist on a sign-in list-not only to safeguard & protect the sellers interest by knowing EXACTLY who walked through the door (along with adress& phone #) but to follow up on buyers leads as well-you see? Point being-they take PRECAUTIONS by having people sign in at least. I've talked to FSBOs who haven't even bothered doing this and just gasped. They seem not to realize they are opening their doors up to complete strangers they know nothing about who could potentially be scoping out their home for future burglary. You say it's not likely ? I hear of this ALL THE TIME. Most listing agents I know don't even like to do open houses because they know the dangers of this happening are a fact but they do it anyway only because the owners INSIST and they feel the owners will think they are "lazy'" if they do not when nothing could be farther from the truth. They are simply trying to look out for their clients best interest but some clients are hard to save from themselves. They already have their own ideas set in their head as to what works best. Another listing agent went out to check a vacant house she had listed for an out of state client who had relocated and was trying to sell the former home. She had recieved a phone call that someone had broken a window so it needed to be fixed. Arriving before the window repairman she unlocked the door and went into the property only to be assaulted and robbed by a vagrant. Ended up in the hospital in a coma and needed two brain surgeries. Made headline news when police caught criminal in the next state. Did not make news she is still paralyzed and her life will never again be the same. Do you think she earned her 3% commission? Oh wait... house didn't sell so she earned absolutely nothing for that. And now will never be able to work again. Another agent I personally knew was robbed at gunpoint, taken to the ATM and then had his car stolen. Shot in the arm while refusing to give his wedding band to the thief. Left on the side of the road bleeding. Was a new agent. Didn't think to screen his client properly before letting him into the car. There are procedures a good agent goes through to prevent something like this from happening. Yes, life is full of risks and we take our chances every day. But I do not see any sense in risking something preventable. And I don't expose clients to risks they should not have to take. Would you walk across a busy street without looking both ways?? I do try to use common sense and proceed with caution. Being in this business on a daily basis gives me more knowledge of what may happen than one who only ventures in for a moment. We all think something like this can't happen to us until it does. All I am saying is there is more to selling a home than just putting an ad on Craigslist. Kudos to you for having done so. I am saying in certain circumstances it is best to proceed with CAUTION as well. Don't dissolution your readers they will all have it as simple as you make it sound(or as safe). They most likely will not. If that were the case why would statistics prove over 87% of FSBO (for sale by owners) eventually end up listing their house with an agent in order to sell and another 72% of those surveyed state they felt their homes would have sold faster and for a higher price if they would have done so from the beginning with an agent? Those are high numbers and this is a tough market with a lot of competition from the bank owned REOs. To me this simply shows you were one of the lucky few. May all your readers be as lucky as you :)
Well, you can quote statistics all you want, and if someone wants to have an agent sell their home for them, I would not stand in their way. But there are a lot of people who cannot afford to pay the commission otherwise they would be upside down after the house sold. My post is for people who want that option. I think the statistics are biased towards realtors (I mean it is realtors that are gathering the statistics and they do have a bias). I worked as a realtor for a couple of years in Portland, Oregon and then I worked for a relocation firm (for 5 years) selling homes across the country. So my advice is good advice for those who want to give it a try. Maybe things have changed since then but I never once heard of any agent I knew getting accosted. I don't think I was one of the lucky few, I think that the chances of something bad happening is rare. Does it happen? I'm sure it does, but I think it's a rare occurence. After selling homes for almost 10 years I think it's a very easy process, it doesn't have to be difficult and thats why I posted the hub.
Just because you haven't "heard" of these things happening in your perfect world doesn't mean they don't happen in others. Believe me- they happen plenty. Just because you can't see air doesn't mean it doesn't exist either... Ask any agent in any metropolitan city- I'm sure they will tell you more stories such as mine. And FYI- most people right now can not afford to sell their house PERIOD due to the markets declining property values they no longer have any equity left in their property in order to even begin to think about selling their home unless they absolutely must. And most people at this point are attempting to "shortsale" their homes since they are so upside down owing more than the property is worth. A process they are unable to successfully do without a real estate agent or on Craigslist as you suggest. The clients are not charged typically real estate commissions for this service as the bank usually pays for them. Why don't you with all your "real estate experience" write a post about that ? Now I've wasted enough of my valuable time on you- you're really starting to irritate me thinking you know it all when in fact you know nothing.
It's a free country, I am just responding to you.
I too was a real estate agent at one time. I too am considering posting
my house on craigslist. The information you offer is good common sense Brie. Thank you.
Questions:
Is it ok in listing on craigslist that a house will not be available until say, 6 to 8 months later, or should one just wait until they are ready to move out? I want to buy a house in another town
that is offered by an agent now, May, but I don't want to move until December.
Should I go ahead and make an offer on the other house now or
wait until I've sold my house--would telling the agent that I don't want to take possession or close on their house until December be an ok way to approach this? It is an estate type sell and has been reduced in price?
In other words, timing is my problem, so to speak.
Thanks.
John
Personally, I would wait. You might get a few people that would need a house in 6 to 8 months but you risk overexposing the house. It is crucial not to overexpose your house. If a house has been on the market (I would guess even in this market) too long people think that there is something wrong with it. The other thing that I would do if I were you is low ball the price. Try to get enough people interested so that they bid up the price. You are going to have to be very aggressive to sell in this market. But you should sell the house first especially if you need the money because you don't know how long it will take to sell that house in this market.
I would not make an offer on the other house yet. First of all you need to sell yours, secondly I believe that the prices will go even lower in 8 months so you can buy it for less if you wait it out ANd the last thing you want is to have two houses on your hands.
LVRealtor, find yourself a good therapist. And stop watching Dateline and 24-hour news. Not everyone looking to buy ahome is an axe murdererer. Good grief!
LOL Joe, thanks for the comment! My sentiments exactly!
Wow can't you girl just get alone. In my 33 years of real estate experience in California I have had my share of being used. I think it was because of my inability to qualify those people who used me. Today I am a bit wiser and require a stronger relationship before I work with anyone. Brie, I would have told what you could do with yourself and that includes the white horse you rode in on too.
The only saving grace is everyone and I mean everyone is trying to save money and time. It's the person with the self esteem and able to know what they want that will prevail in any relationship. Both parties got just what they deserved. Karma does have a way to raising its' stinky head when you least expect it.
Thanks for the tips Brie - IMHO realtors really earn their keep when working with a buyer - running around from home to home, in the evening (usually) or on Saturday's when they would rather be at their kid's soccer games. And they are a huge help when moving to an unfamiliar area. Luckily we're hoping to relocate South (not West) so we're fortunate, in my opinion, that we won't run into disgruntled realtors rattled by competing with FSBO's. I'd suggest a new occupation for those who are. One thing to think about - I have heard of sellers offering HIGHER than average commisions to motivate their realtors more. If our house languishes (which they all seem to, here in Michigan) I'll probably go that route. Right now we are FSBO (+3% to buyers agent - that's what it says on our sign) and I plan to get it on Craig's this weekend. Thanks again for the tips.
Thanks for writing Rbinmi, but I don't know if I would offer more to the agents in this market. I think what I would do is cut the price of the home as far down as you can right off the getgo. It's a very difficult market and to attract buyers you are going to have to be very competitive. I worked at a relocation firm for 5 years and price is the only real motivator. Believe me, agents are motivated already because there are so few closings these days. Also, make sure to mention that if they buy without an agent (in your Craigslist Ad) that they will save the commission because you have to spell it out to the potential buyers...put the amount they will save in your CL ad in bold.
Great article! Realtors simply lower the price (easy tactic for a quick sale) they don't care about you or how much you make. A difference in the sales price of $25,000 is only a loss of $625 to them (one-half of 5%) but it's huge to the seller. They just list the property on the MLS and then sit back and wait for the phone to ring. I work with realtors so I know how worthless they are. The only question they ever have is "when do I get my check"?
So true, thanks for writing.
sally wolfe says:
16 months ago
Very helpful