Most people over-stress when trying to determine how to advertise a "for sale by owner" home. But it's really not that hard if you concentrate on these five methods.

According to the National Association of Realtors, the primary sources prospective buyers use to find houses are as follows:

1) Agent: 86%;

2) Yard sign: 69%;

3) Internet: 65%;

4) Newspaper: 49%;

5) Home book/magazine: 35%;

6) Open house: 48%;

7) Builders: 37%;

8) Television: 22%;

9) Relocation company: 14%

As you can see, numbers 1,7,8, and 9 would not apply to your home for sale by owner, so lets concentration on the others.

Yard Sign - To capture people driving around looking for a house in a particular area, you are going to need a yard sign. Your sign should be approximately 18x24 or 24x30 inches, and easily seen from the road. The sign should NOT be a red and white plastic sign. It should look professional. You can find professionally made signs on FSBO sites, or you can make your own by going to the hardware store and getting a larger size steel frame, and using vinyl lettering or numbering.

Internet/Newspapers: If you have no idea where to start creating your newspaper ad, the easiest way is to find an ad that you particularly like and cut it out of the current newspaper. Find homes similar to yours, then you can easily mix and match phrases and approaches to create your own successful ad. Make sure you include a picture and a description that will entice the reader to call for more information.

You can save money by advertising only on the major Real Estate Ad days (usually weekends). Most newspapers will put your ad on the Internet for free when you place the ad. There are also Internet sites that will place a special ad for you with extra space for a picture, and full description.

Home book/magazine - Real estate magazines are a great place to advertise because they are placed in high traffic areas and picked up by people interested in buying properties. These ads usually cost the same as a classified ad in a newspaper, so if your funds are low, you may have to choose between the two of them.

Open House - The smartest time to hold an open house is when a Real Estate Agent is holding one in your neighborhood at the same time. Then, you can put up your sign at the end of the street and capture some of that traffic. Be sure to have plenty of signs available, and advertise in local newspapers, real estate magazines, flyers, etc. Also, have plenty of flyers in your information box. The "nosy" neighbors will take a few, but you want to have enough available for those who are doing comparison-shopping when they get home.

MLS - If you're doing everything you can and still not finding people interested in your house, consider working with a low cost Real Estate Broker, a Discount Broker, or a Medium Service Broker, (who may be Internet based). Through these resources, you may be able to place an ad in a Multiple Listing Service. Be sure to include a photo of the house. Text only descriptions just will not do.

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