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Saying Word

Letting the Word Out: “I’m Selling my House!”

So….you’d like to sell your house? Great! Everyone’s doing it.  But this is your first time and you’ll be doing the sale yourself.  Nervous?  Of course!

The fact is, it’s only unnerving because you haven’t got a clue about the dynamics of selling a house – your house.  It’s the one asset you have where you’ve plunked down your lifetime savings.  Now you want it all back! 

That equity you were slowly building over these years will come back to you a hundredfold because you’ve thought about it long enough to realize that there is a handsome profit waiting to be made. 

Don’t worry!  This episode in your life doesn’t need to be a drama of horrors.  In this book, we’ve collected important tips for you – the first timer - all 101 of them, in fact. 

And when that check finally lands on your hands and the last box has been shipped out of your house to make way for the new owners, it will be exhilarating – more exhilarating than you’ve ever imagined it to be.

Study the tips.  Some you already know, no doubt.  But even with 101 or 1001 tips, you’d still need professional advice – you managed to eliminate the real estate agent, but you’ll still need your lawyer (or notary) and your accountant. 

You need to consult with other professionals as well – like the professional house inspector who can dish out valuable advice about repairs and maintenance.   

These tips can help you map out a selling strategy for your house, and when you turn the lock for the last time, you’ll come out of the experience wiser.  And yes, wealthier, too.

The confidence you gain by getting your feet wet the first time could – who knows? – make you want to do it the second time, and then a third time…and more!

Letting the Word Out:  “I’m Selling my House!â€

Get the word out!

Okay, you’ve had your house inspected and you’ve done your own inspection. It’s time to let the word out.

You can announce the sale of your house through word of mouth or putting an ad on your paper.

Do an experiment: tell your colleagues at work that you’re selling your house. Make a note of the questions they ask. Their questions can serve as an accurate indication of what prospective buyers are also likely to be asking you.

Reach out far and wide!

Your announcement can be published in the national and local community paper. The more people you reach, the more prospects you have. You may also announce in trade papers that are published by real estate associations or the housing authority.

Use as many resources as you can. You have no idea how much more successful you will be in selling when there is a larger audience involved.

You may be slightly inconvenienced by the number of inquiries you’ll get, but if you want to sell that house in a hurry, it’s a question of statistical proportions.

The more you spread the word around in the media, the more people you reach.

Word of mouth is just as powerful as advertising

Ask your office colleagues to tell their families and friends about your house sale. They may know of people who are moving into the area and looking for homes.

The more colleagues you tell, the more you increase your chances of reaching people you don’t even know.  After you’ve told them, follow up after a week and ask if they had any questions about your house that you’d be pleased to clarify. Make it known to them that you’re serious about selling, that way they take you seriously and some of them will even want to help you.

Can the company help me?

After you tell your colleagues, speak to the human resources manager of your organization and tell her that if there are executives relocating to your area, you have a house to sell.

You’ll never know what the human resources individual can come up with.

Someone may actually be moving to the area to take up a position in your organization; or your human resources manager may have been approached by other human resources professionals from other companies who are desperately looking for houses for their expatriates or returning executives.

Ah, the old reliable…the bulletin board!

Go one step further: use the public bulletin board to post your house sale. Don’t forget to leave tabs with your telephone number that can be torn out of the main sheet so that people can call you or pass them on to their friends.

Post a clear picture in color with your ad on the bulletin board. You know how the saying goes - a picture is worth a thousand words.

Am I missing the sugar?

Before you even sit down to word that ad for the papers, think about the ingredients of the recipe for successfully selling of your house.

There are five ingredients you need to have, according to Barb Schwarz, a successful realtor.

Let’s take the first ingredient: location. You can’t physically uproot your house to take it to a better location. Note that the price of your house must realistically reflect its location.

Have you been negligent?

Second ingredient for a successful sale: Condition. Remember that this is where a professional inspector and a thorough personal inspection by you can make a lot of sense. Schwarz said that the upkeep of the property is a crucial factor in obtaining the highest possible price for a home. Price, like location, must reflect a house’s condition.

How much do I want?

Third ingredient: Price. This is the # 1 deciding factor in the sale or no sale of a house. There’s a belief among real estate circles that a house is really only worth what a buyer is willing to pay a seller to gain ownership of that house.

Price must have a direct correlation to all the other ingredients for a successful sale. Never mind what the listings or other people say. If your house is overpriced, you won’t have any offers, or else it may take a long time to receive offers.

Will the buyer ask for flexibility?

Fourth ingredient: Terms. The more terms you have on the property, the more potential purchasers you reach. Again, the price of your house must reflect the kinds of terms available to purchase it.

Is this a good time to sell?

Fifth ingredient: Market. Market conditions are influenced by key factors such as interest rates, supply and demand of houses in your area, competition and the general state of the economy.

Real estate is a cyclical phenomenon. The beginning of 2000 witnessed a surge in home building. All of a sudden homes were being sold faster than contractors could build them. When there’s a real estate boom, this is an excellent opportunity to make a killing!

The truth will come out…

So keep those five ingredients uppermost in your mind at all times. Now you’re ready to word that ad.

Be honest.

Don’t say you have a house in excellent condition when your inspection report has a long list of deficiencies and repairs your house will require.

Don’t say you have 3 full bathrooms when you really have only two bathrooms and one powder room. A powder room, as we all know, does not qualify as a full bathroom.

Also, don’t say that you live in a quiet neighborhood when in fact your house is located near a university campus where you hear students partying all night. If you mention that your house has an alarm system, it better work.

Umm, how will I word this ad?

If you aren’t good with words, that is, it’s taking you painstakingly long to draft an ad, go with ads placed in the local and regional papers that you FEEL works for you.

This means putting yourself in the buyer’s shoes: you read the ad, it makes you curious, and you take down the number. If an ad pleases you or strikes you as effective and persuasive, copy the style and content of the ad.

Another alternative would be to refer back to some of the books you read on successful real estate sales and mull over the model ads.

Can you just state the bottom line please?

When you’re ready to write out an ad, clarity and brevity must be your parameters. If your price is reasonable and realistic and you put the ad in the right strategic places, you’ll get at least 20 calls.

Do your thinking before picking up that phone

Don’t do what many people do. They call the classified ads department of their local and regional papers and craft the ad with the person in the other line.

Don’t waste time by providing information only while you’re on the phone. Instead, figure everything out in advance.

And when we say everything, we mean that by the time you call the classified ads person, you know ahead of time what your ad will look like, what it will say, where to put it, what abbreviations to use and whether or not it should have a border (experts say you don’t need a fancy border for your ad to catch the readers’ attention).

Bill Effros who sold his house in five days said that you don’t need a double column or a fancy border for your ad.

Wait and see.

Be careful about how long you want your ad to run. An ad that’s been around too long will give readers the impression that your house is not selling because of major problems. It will also tell them that maybe buyers are coming to see the house only to walk away disappointed.

Some experts say a five-day ad is sufficient. If you don’t get a sufficient number of serious callers, pull out the ad, wait a few weeks, and start all over again. Review the ad’s wording. Perhaps there’s something in the ad that doesn’t sound right that you didn’t notice the first time.

Where should I publish?

Put it in two sure places where it will get read. Again, pretend you’re the buyer looking for a house. Where would you most likely look? That’s the section where you should place your ad.

Your local paper with a small circulation and your regional paper with a much larger circulation should be your target destinations for your ad.

One is enough.

Buyers often don’t really want to buy 4-5 newspapers to look for houses for sale. They’d much rather concentrate on one paper and encircle the ads that could lead to potential visits. They usually go for the paper which is the most popular with the highest number of readers. That’s the paper where your ad must also go.

Cyberspace? Do I really want Martians buying my house?

What about placing my ad on the Internet, you ask? If our guess of the human tendency is right, people may look at the Internet for houses for sale, but may not necessarily be serious buyers.

So the Internet for now would be an alternative to traditional newspaper advertising. Just watch people in cafes who are reading the classified ads. They usually mark the paper, circling those ads that they’re interested in.

On the Internet, the buyer would either copy contact details by hand or print the ad – this can be cumbersome. At least with the newspaper at hand, people can just toss it in the seat of their cars as they drive off to visit the property, and can look at the ad again, if needed.

Do you want to write a house story? Try the home section, not the classified ads

Think twice, even three times before you get that pencil or word processor moving. Avoid flowery words. Avoid expressions like “it will capture your heartâ€, or “a house of your dreamsâ€, or “here’s a house where you can have many memorable daysâ€.

People are not really looking for something to captivate their hearts or memories.  They’re looking for a real house to live in, for a roof over their heads. The dreams and memories can come later, but at this point, buyers are only interested in a physical structure that they claim ownership of.

What should I say?

Word your ad so that it answers the questions that buyers would want to know: location, the fact that you’re selling it yourself (no brokers or agents please), brief description of house, a starting reasonable price.

Mention that you’ll take the best reasonable offer, and put your area code and telephone number. These are the only points that buyers are initially interested in. Other details like amenities and extras and true value can be discussed face to face or during a follow-up telephone call.

This is EXACTLY how I want it

Bill Effros recommends that your ad should be positioned as follows: location, upper top left and“BY OWNER†right hand side top.

Type of house (condo, duplex, cottage, etc) on the next line.

Brief description of major feature on the following line.

Then your starting price, e.g. “$150,000 or best reasonable offer†on the next line, to be followed by inspection times (e.g. Sat-Sun 10-5).

Last line on low bottom left, the words: “HIGHEST BIDDERâ€, and your telephone number beside it.

Note: your ad is meant to give you as many callers as possible. Details about the property can be provided to them on the phone if they request them.

And to play safe, email or fax the copy of the ad exactly as you want it to appear in the paper. You could be dealing with an ad taker who is taking ads for the first time and may not understand what “flush left†or “flush left†mean.

Screen calls.

If you’re a busy person with a full time job, you may want to filter your calls. Before you call the paper to have your ad put, make sure you set yourself up with an answering machine or an answering service.

You don’t want to be called in the middle of the night or at meal times to answer questions about your house and be forced to make a visit appointment. With an answering machine, you decide who you want to call back.

You will also be able to tell who the serious buyers are versus the frivolous ones. People who leave their names and numbers and are brief in their message make a good impression.

You want to avoid receiving callers who talk incessantly or ask questions the answers of which are already in the ad.

Be wary of people who also try to negotiate the price down over the phone without even asking to see the property.

This should raise your antennas to the fact that one, they probably can’t afford the price to begin with, or second, they can’t get their bank to finance that amount.

Add “Or best reasonable offerâ€

A famous real estate writer says that it’s not so much the description of the property that will get you a sufficient number of callers; it is the stated price on your ad.

If it is within their price range, they will call.  If not, they’ll go on to the next ad. So make sure you don’t omit this detail but add, “or best reasonable offer.â€

It’s my favorite day of the week!

Only you will pick the days you want your ad to appear. The approach is to reach as many readers as possible. In the United States, Sundays are when the ads run in the hundreds, and in Canada, Saturday has the highest number of readers.

Wednesday is also ad day in Canada but to a lesser extent than Saturday. Don’t let the ad taker convince you to put your ad on certain days of the week. Go with what you know and what common practice is.

Bear in mind that unless people are really looking for something particular in the paper, they don’t look at the paper during the week.

They are more relaxed during weekends and are likely to pick up the paper from the kitchen table.  For anxious buyers however, they deliberately read the papers every morning with the hope that they find the “house of their dreamsâ€.

Would you repeat that please?

Once your ad is published, buy the paper and read your ad a few times, ensuring that all details are correctly listed.

Look at your phone number and make sure it was listed correctly. Do not forget to list your area code.

The same city may have two different area codes – one for the east end district and another for the west end side of town. You could lose hundreds of potential buyers with this omission.

How do I sound?

So the ad has been placed. Brace yourself for calls! They will increase in number as people read your ad and then pass it off to friends and family.

Rehearse your lines. You’ll want to give the impression that you’re a serious seller, so you expect the same from them as buyers.

Don’t panic if you’re getting too many calls or none at all on the first day. Take a deep breath and get ready for the avalanche. While having an answering machine is a good idea for the sake of filtering serious callers from the frivolous, it’s perfectly alright for you to take the call yourself if you feel like it.

Take it down

Have pen and paper ready. Take down each caller’s name and number. Jot down their questions. This will give you an idea of future questions, and you’ll know how to answer them properly the next time.

Are you a (phone) grouch?

When you answer calls, come across as friendly. The impression you DON’T want to give is that of a tired, harassed seller who’s sick and tired of answering questions on the phone.

Practice basic courtesy. Be professional. And sound like one!

Let’s get serious here.

Here’s an important tip: if you get 25 calls by the third day, your ad worked. Getting 25 calls means that 25 people read your ad and dialed your number.

Don’t expect 25 buyers though. Callers and buyers are two separate people.

About the Author

Jameson Lee pursues a career as a real estate investor in his early 20s and now became a full-time real estate entrepreneur in Canada. He founded the Outlaw Real Estate Coach Membership for real estate investors and home buyers. He is a real estate consultant, mortgage consultant, and an author. An investor in all types of properties himself. Jameson is the publisher a weekly newsletters, reports, and books that sent out to his 500+ members which provides tips, strategies, and wealth building ideas for real estate investors and home buyers. Jameson’s unique approach has made him an in-demand author, speaker, and real estate consultant. You can get a free video and guide of Jameson’s home seller system by visiting http://www.FREEHomeSellerGuide.com.
www.OutlawRealEstateCoach.com is center in Toronto, Ontario Canada.

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