The St Aug Blog

by Sean Hess (Sean@StAugTeam.com), Broker and Manager for St. Augustine Team Realty (www.StAugustineTeamRealty.com). Join us on Facebook.

What is the best way to market my home without a Realtor?

If you think hiring a pro is expensive, try hiring an amateur.

First of all, I’m not anti-for-sale-by-owner. 

But if you are not a professional when it comes to real estate sales, by default you are an amateur. 

And if you think hiring a professional is expensive, wait until you hire an amateur.

But if you are commited to doing it here’s how you do it: put a sign in your yard, and price it right.  Maybe advertise it somewhere online that people will see it.  Tell your friends and coworkers it’s for sale.  That’s all.

Does that sound trite?  It is not.

For example, I put a sign in the yard of the homes we sell.  So you should too.  I try to take only the listings that are priced right…sometimes the price on paper doesn’t always agree with what the buyers want to spend…so you may have to work through that.  I advertise all my listings online where people will see it.  And I tell all my coworkers and friends that it’s available. 

The last one is key for me: most of my friends and all of my coworkers work in real estate.  So when I network with my friends and coworkers there’s a strong chance that someone will know someone looking to buy exactly what I’m selling.  So as a Realtor I have a distinct advantage over you there.

I also have a distinct advantage over you online, because I’ve spent the last 10 years learning where (and more importantly, how) to post my listings.

And once I get a buyer, I know how the process works and how to get it to closing. 

This is not to discourage you, goodness knows there are plenty of homes to sell, but just be aware of what the effort entails. 

Is the real issue (possibly), “I would hire a Realtor but I don’t know anyone I can trust.”  I feel your pain there.  It’s like finding a good mechanic. 

If that is really the issue then the best thing you can do is ask around.  Ask friends that have sold their own homes if they would recommend the Realtor that did it.  Believe it or not word of mouth is still the way a lot of folks find their listing agent. 

If you have any questions about how to sell a home or hire a listing agent, contact St. Augustine Team Realty!

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This entry was posted on Thursday, July 7th, 2011 at 11:31 am and is filed under if you think hiring a realtor is expensive try hiring an amateur, what is the best way to market my home without a realtor. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.