The two most important factors in a successful real estate transaction are price and exposure. Once you have determined what the market price should be, it is time to tell the whole world that you have a product to sell. Of course budget restraints will stop us from advertising on television during the Super Bowl. You will need to assess what an appropriate budget would be for selling your property. You wouldn't want to use up all your equity on an advertising campaign, but you still need to get the word out. Here are a few suggestions that will not overload most budgets: 1. Invest in a professional and eye catching For Sale sign. Make sure that any telephone numbers displayed on this sign are easy to read. Even your For Sale sign can equate to curb appeal. 2. Think about having a Yard Sale/Open House. These can very often attract great traffic activity. Take advantage of this and hand out For Sale flyers to everyone who stops by. Ask them if they know of anyone who might be interested in this neighborhood. Make sure that someone is available to show your house during the Yard Sale/Open House time. 3. Let your neighbors know about your decision to sell. Send post cards to 100 families in your immediate area. The message should simply say: We are selling our house at 123 Elm Street Do you know anyone who might be interested? Post cards are great. Even when people throw them away, they cannot help but look at them first. Something on your card might trigger a thought. 4. Make some flyers. The flyers should have enough information on them so that a person will have a good idea if your home will work for them. Have a good supply of these flyers for your For Sale sign. If there are any bulletin boards in your area, post flyers there. Your flyer should contain the following information: square footage, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, number of garages, list of outstanding features, list any extra appliances that will stay with the property. It is a good idea to make an additional flyer (information sheet) to give to a buyer after they have seen the home. This flyer will have additional information: all the schools for your district, yearly taxes, any association fees, yearly utility bill information, lot size, noteworthy amenities in the area, any other pertinent items that you would like to know if you were a potential buyer. 5. Let the people at your work know. Let them know on your bowling league, softball team, church or synagogue. Some organizations that you are affiliated with might have newsletters. Ask if you can advertise. 6. Look for free advertising on web sites. You can search under For Sale By Owner and dozens of sites will pop up. There are many regional sites that probably will not be productive for you. Look for local or major national sites that have many listings for the Las Vegas area. There will be offerings of every kind, from free to $500 for up to 6 months of advertising. Did you know that you can advertise on vegasvalley.com in the classified section for absolutely free. They will purge your ad every 30 days so you will have to resubmit. You can add photos and can change the text any time. Other free sites are: freehomelistings.com. 1ownerhomes.com fsboonline.com homenetworkonline.com propertytrek.com moving.com Of course you can always have a page on this web site, just supply us with pictures and information. 7. Are there any "Mom and Pop" stores close by that you frequently shop at? We are referring to maybe a small store that is actually owned by the people who run them. Small shopping strip centers are a great source for this kind of store. Go in and talk to the owners or whoever is running the store. Tell them about your property, ask if you can leave flyers. We closed on a transaction recently because the owner of a religious book store allowed us to display a flyer. 8. Consider "Target Marketing". Who would be the most likely buyer for your property? Estimate how much income a buyer would need to qualify to buy your property. Estimate how much it would cost a buyer per month to own your property with a normal down payment. If this amount is close to what some people are paying for apartments in your area, you have an ideal group to approach. Consider the number of bedrooms to estimate the size of a family that might buy. Is there something in your neighborhood that might attract a certain profession? (Close to Nellis Air Force Base, close to hospitals and medical centers, close to Las Vegas Speedway, close to UNLV, etc.) Are you in a 55 or older community, or a golf community? Do you live across the street from an elementary school? If you can profile an average buyer for your property, it could key some ideas about where to concentrate your advertising. 9. Can you offer any financial incentives to a buyer? There are various methods to use. A. You have a buyer who likes your property, but cannot afford all of the down payment plus the closing costs. You have learned through a loan officer that they can qualify to make the mortgage payments. You ask the loan officer how much the buyer would need to be able to close the transaction. The loan officer gives you an approximate dollar amount. You ask the loan officer if you can legally contribute the needed amount and if so just where should you contribute, to the down payment or to the closing costs. A good loan officer will help you in writing the necessary information into a sales contract. Various types of loan programs will handle this type of monetary assistance differently. In return for helping a marginal buyer qualify to buy your property, you should be able to negotiate a higher sales price, assuming the sales price can be justified by an appraiser. B. You have a buyer who likes your property, has been qualified for a loan, but maybe not quite a high enough loan for your property. You call your friendly lender and tell them the situation. You ask them about the possibilities of the buyer qualifying if the interest rates were lower. The lender says "Ah, you are thinking of a buy down." In this case you might be able to pay the lender money to buy your buyer a lower interest rate and allow them to qualify for a higher priced home. A very common method is a 2-1 buy down. This means the interest rate on the mortgage will be 2% lower during the first year, 1% lower during the second year, and the normal rate for the next 28 years. It will cost a little over 2 1/2% of the loan amount for the 2-1 buy down. Again, you help the buyer qualify, it could be worth a little higher sales price which offsets your cost, and you have closed a transaction that otherwise might never have happened. C. You can loan a buyer some of the down payment money and secure this loan with a second trust deed. The buyer would make their normal monthly mortgage payments to a mortgage company and monthly payments to you until the second is paid off. As long as you make sure that the buyer has some equity in the house and they have decent credit and you do not need all of the equity out of the sale, this could get the property sold and earn you some monthly income. D. There are other methods such as All Inclusive Trust Deeds (wraps) or Contracts of Sale (land contracts) that we would suggest you contact a Title Company or a real estate lawyer to discuss. We do not recommend them, but properties are sold using these methods. If you are interested, investigate thoroughly. 10. You are always welcome to advertise on this web site at no cost to you. Write out your information. We will post it on the Homes For Sale page. We will also post pictures or Virtual Tour for you. You can always spend lots of money on media advertising, but half the fun of promoting your home, is to beat the system and use your imagination. |
What Are the Best Marketing Ideas? |
The two most important factors in a successful real estate transaction are price and exposure. Once you have determined what the market price should be, it is time to tell the whole world that you have a product to sell. Of course budget restraints will stop us from advertising on television during the Super Bowl. You will need to assess what an appropriate budget would be for selling your property. You wouldn't want to use up all your equity on an advertising campaign, but you still need to get the word out. Here are a few suggestions that will not overload most budgets: 1. Invest in a professional and eye catching For Sale sign. Make sure that any telephone numbers displayed on this sign are easy to read. Even your For Sale sign can equate to curb appeal. 2. Think about having a Yard Sale/Open House. These can very often attract great traffic activity. Take advantage of this and hand out For Sale flyers to everyone who stops by. Ask them if they know of anyone who might be interested in this neighborhood. Make sure that someone is available to show your house during the Yard Sale/Open House time. 3. Let your neighbors know about your decision to sell. Send post cards to 100 families in your immediate area. The message should simply say: We are selling our house at 123 Elm Street Do you know anyone who might be interested? Post cards are great. Even when people throw them away, they cannot help but look at them first. Something on your card might trigger a thought. 4. Make some flyers. The flyers should have enough information on them so that a person will have a good idea if your home will work for them. Have a good supply of these flyers for your For Sale sign. If there are any bulletin boards in your area, post flyers there. Your flyer should contain the following information: square footage, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, number of garages, list of outstanding features, list any extra appliances that will stay with the property. It is a good idea to make an additional flyer (information sheet) to give to a buyer after they have seen the home. This flyer will have additional information: all the schools for your district, yearly taxes, any association fees, yearly utility bill information, lot size, noteworthy amenities in the area, any other pertinent items that you would like to know if you were a potential buyer. 5. Let the people at your work know. Let them know on your bowling league, softball team, church or synagogue. Some organizations that you are affiliated with might have newsletters. Ask if you can advertise. 6. Look for free advertising on web sites. You can search under For Sale By Owner and dozens of sites will pop up. There are many regional sites that probably will not be productive for you. Look for local or major national sites that have many listings for the Las Vegas area. There will be offerings of every kind, from free to $500 for up to 6 months of advertising. Did you know that you can advertise on vegasvalley.com in the classified section for absolutely free. They will purge your ad every 30 days so you will have to resubmit. You can add photos and can change the text any time. Other free sites are: freehomelistings.com. 1ownerhomes.com fsboonline.com homenetworkonline.com propertytrek.com moving.com Of course you can always have a page on this web site, just supply us with pictures and information. 7. Are there any "Mom and Pop" stores close by that you frequently shop at? We are referring to maybe a small store that is actually owned by the people who run them. Small shopping strip centers are a great source for this kind of store. Go in and talk to the owners or whoever is running the store. Tell them about your property, ask if you can leave flyers. We closed on a transaction recently because the owner of a religious book store allowed us to display a flyer. 8. Consider "Target Marketing". Who would be the most likely buyer for your property? Estimate how much income a buyer would need to qualify to buy your property. Estimate how much it would cost a buyer per month to own your property with a normal down payment. If this amount is close to what some people are paying for apartments in your area, you have an ideal group to approach. Consider the number of bedrooms to estimate the size of a family that might buy. Is there something in your neighborhood that might attract a certain profession? (Close to Nellis Air Force Base, close to hospitals and medical centers, close to Las Vegas Speedway, close to UNLV, etc.) Are you in a 55 or older community, or a golf community? Do you live across the street from an elementary school? If you can profile an average buyer for your property, it could key some ideas about where to concentrate your advertising. 9. Can you offer any financial incentives to a buyer? There are various methods to use. A. You have a buyer who likes your property, but cannot afford all of the down payment plus the closing costs. You have learned through a loan officer that they can qualify to make the mortgage payments. You ask the loan officer how much the buyer would need to be able to close the transaction. The loan officer gives you an approximate dollar amount. You ask the loan officer if you can legally contribute the needed amount and if so just where should you contribute, to the down payment or to the closing costs. A good loan officer will help you in writing the necessary information into a sales contract. Various types of loan programs will handle this type of monetary assistance differently. In return for helping a marginal buyer qualify to buy your property, you should be able to negotiate a higher sales price, assuming the sales price can be justified by an appraiser. B. You have a buyer who likes your property, has been qualified for a loan, but maybe not quite a high enough loan for your property. You call your friendly lender and tell them the situation. You ask them about the possibilities of the buyer qualifying if the interest rates were lower. The lender says "Ah, you are thinking of a buy down." In this case you might be able to pay the lender money to buy your buyer a lower interest rate and allow them to qualify for a higher priced home. A very common method is a 2-1 buy down. This means the interest rate on the mortgage will be 2% lower during the first year, 1% lower during the second year, and the normal rate for the next 28 years. It will cost a little over 2 1/2% of the loan amount for the 2-1 buy down. Again, you help the buyer qualify, it could be worth a little higher sales price which offsets your cost, and you have closed a transaction that otherwise might never have happened. C. You can loan a buyer some of the down payment money and secure this loan with a second trust deed. The buyer would make their normal monthly mortgage payments to a mortgage company and monthly payments to you until the second is paid off. As long as you make sure that the buyer has some equity in the house and they have decent credit and you do not need all of the equity out of the sale, this could get the property sold and earn you some monthly income. D. There are other methods such as All Inclusive Trust Deeds (wraps) or Contracts of Sale (land contracts) that we would suggest you contact a Title Company or a real estate lawyer to discuss. We do not recommend them, but properties are sold using these methods. If you are interested, investigate thoroughly. 10. You are always welcome to advertise on this web site at no cost to you. Write out your information. We will post it on the Homes For Sale page. We will also post pictures or Virtual Tour for you. You can always spend lots of money on media advertising, but half the fun of promoting your home, is to beat the system and use your imagination. |
Jeannine Cutter 702 283-8883 David Berg 702 281-5827 |
