Archive for the ‘Tailored FSBO Tools’ Category

Inspect Home Before You Buy

Thursday, June 28th, 2007

Here’s the checklist of todos:

Interior -

* Kitchen - need remodeling? Repairs?
* Kitchen appliances - need upgrades?
* Doors - need replacing or refinishing? How many?
* Walls - Need paint? Need patching? Need to remove wallpaper?
* Flooring - what needs replaced and how much?
* Bathroom(s) - updating? Repairs? How much?
* Ceilings - need repairs? Scrape popcorn texture? Paint?
* Any water damage or mold?
* Initial clean up - how many dumpsters are needed to haul off the crap?
* Trim - need any trim? If so, how much?
* Electrical - need updating?
* Plumbing - leaks that need fixed?
* Floorplan - is the floorplan functional? what will need to be changed?

inspect-house.jpg
Exterior -

* Foundation - any cracks/sinkage? Will have to get them fixed before you sell
* Roof - need replaced or repaired? Any missing shingles?
* Gutters - need additional gutters/downspouts? need repairs?
* Paint - need a fresh coat of paint?
* Chimney - need repairs?
* Landscaping - need a bit of curb appeal?
* Garage - does it work? need repairs?
* Doors - need updated locks? need replaced?
* Decks and porches - need repairs or replaced?
* Termites - any sign of termites or damage?
* Junk - need to clean up junk outside? how many dumpsters?

Inner workings -

* plumbing - working well? need repaired?
* electrical - need updated/repaired?
* water heaters - still working well? need updating?
* heater - working well? need updating?
* A/C - need to add one? need repairs?

Intangibles -

* how’s the area - is the area appreciating and in good shape?
* market - is the market strong? other properties being sold in the area?
* demand - not overall demand… but demand for this type of property?

Save this Pre-purchase Inspection List and use before you buy a home.

Make Money Online With John Chow dot Com

Tuesday, June 26th, 2007

On my pure FSBO blog I write how to sell property by blogging about it and profit from selling it online. Here’s one more way how to make money on the internet.

Bookmark this blog if you want to make money online and if you wish to get a link from PR6 site, just review his blog. This is great way to get linked back to your blog!

Make Your FSBO Blog Unique

Tuesday, June 26th, 2007

Once you created your own FSBO blog at For Sale By Owner site, here is a nice color picker called AdesClrPicker, try it! I found this cool color picker at AdesBlog.com

AdesClrPicker is a very easy to use, yet powerful color picker application. It allows you to capture colors anywhere on the screen with a single click of the mouse and output it in either HTML, RGB, C++, VB and Delphi color codes.
color picker

Haven’t created your own FSBO blog yet?! Do it right away and don’t forget to download powerful color picker application :)

Can a Blog Sell Faster Than a Realtor?

Tuesday, June 26th, 2007

I believe that you can sell a house (without any prior real estate sales experience or training) using your own Blog faster than with the help of a realtor who uses traditional methods of advertising. When you are selling a home FSBO, a blog will generate more interest in that home. By blogging about your home and increasing traffic to your online listing, you increase the chances of selling your property faster.

I was browsing the internet to find you one more example proving that the Internet is an effective marketing tool and came across Morgan Carey’s Blog . Read about Morgan Carey who believes that he can sell his house faster than his realtor. In a battle SEO vs. Realtor, I’m sure the the seo guy will win!

Enjoy!

Using Video to Sell Homes

Friday, June 15th, 2007

Many home sellers think that it’s difficult to create a video tour, and they simply decide not to do it.Video is not hard to do and many just feel that way because they have not personally done it. A good camera can be bought for around $400 and simple editing software is not too pricy either(if you are editing on a Mac, you may use Final Cut Express). Uploading video to YouTube is easy and embedding a YouTube video into your FSBO listing on the website is a simple cut and paste job.

I can say all of these things because I have personally done them, and trust me, it’s not as hard as you might make it out to be. At the end of the day, photos have their place. I truly believe if a FSBO seller today would learn to integrate video into their home marketing plans, they would have more success than similar sellers who chose to not do so. Just my opinion, a video tour gives the buyer more of a feeling for the home. It takes about 1 hour for the shoot, and 2 - 3 hours for editing.

An ideal video tour is almost like a walking tour. How do people usually view a home? They walk in, scan left and right, and tend to head to the kitchen. Then they walk to the master, master bathroom, check the closet, etc. 90% of the people viewing homes follow the exact same path. No panning and zoom over a still shot, but actually walking through each room and focusing on what people want to see.

One more tip: filming the local community is a good idea for a video tour, go and shoot shopping areas, parks, libraries, schools and other points of interest with real people moving around. It will add a lot more interest. If done tastefully and professionally it can be a fantastic FSBO tool for a home seller listing his/her house.

Video Tour vs. 360 degree Home Tour

Friday, June 15th, 2007

The Virtual Tours you generally see on real estate sites are a static 360 degree distorted view of a room that simulates motion. Photos are stitched together in a 360 degree circle, and you can virtual “tour” around the room. But when was the last time you walked into a room, stood in one place, and spun in a circle? Common virtual tours are distorted, usually blurry, and always unrealistic.

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Property Video Tour Helps Sell Your House

Friday, June 15th, 2007

Video Tours is a powerful new marketing tool for FSBO sellers and a fantastic time-saving breakthrough for buyers. If people are not seeing your property for what it really is maybe you should consider a video tour. A picture might paint a 1000 words but a video will give you the whole book.

If you are selling your home for sale by owner, video tours allow you to showcase your property to potential buyers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, while you get on with you life. If you are looking for a new home, video tours offer a realistic viewing experience from the comfort of your home, workplace, friend’s house, or Internet café. Simple yet powerful!

Current marketing practice utilise photos which vary in quality, virtual tours that offer a slightly skewed view of the world and schedules that offer essential specifications about your property but very little visual information that can inform the buyer.

It can be an amateur video tour, which you can simply upload to YouTube.com or you can find a professional.
The bottom line: If you can, definitely hire a professional!

How to Hire a Local Videographer…I highly recommend using Wellcomematt.com to search for a videographer by zip code.

For years, brokers, agents, and sellers have been torn over the impact the 360 degree virtual tour has on selling property. I admit that I was impressed when it first appeared on the internet but was always puzzled as to why we weren’t using real video images to entice buyers. Most of those whom I have asked about there perspective of the “virtual tour” have indicated that they felt it wasn’t an accurate portrayal of a property. Video just seemed to make more sense to me. It turns out that although I was on track with the concept, I had no concept of the capabilities of the web. Now that streaming video has become a reality, so has the video tour. Thanks to companies like WellcomeMat, the days of spliced fish eye lens pictures are becoming a thing of the past and actual guided video tours are becoming a more accurate way for buyers to preview property.

Bernice Ross seems to share the same opinion about the video tours in the post Cheaper than Cheap? on Inman’s blog. Indeed, how can real estate ignore a service that allows such amazing presence on the web? Hope FSBO sellers will use this powerful marketing tool and sell homes faster. Great video tour gives a good feeling for your whereabouts.

Brochures As an Effective FSBO Tool

Friday, June 15th, 2007

FSBO brochure (flyer) can be a very effective tool in the marketing of your home. Sometimes the smallest things can make the biggest difference between a home that sells quickly for top dollar and one that languishes for months on the market. Find out how to attract buyers and sell your home fast: FSBO brochures that are professionally photographed and written will set your home apart from others, helping you attract more buyers and a quicker sell.

brochure FSBO

Usually, when people are out home shopping they tend to drive around a lot looking for homes for sale and collecting FSBO flyers and fact sheets about different homes they like. In order to make any further decisions they need some information up front before scheduling an appointment with the seller to view the property. Knowing how many square feet, how many bedrooms and bathrooms are some of the basic questions that must be answered before hand. Providing this information on the FSBO flyer will save you and them time and unnecessary appointments.

Below is a list of what I consider the most essential items that should be included.

● The total amount of heated and cooled living space
● How many Bed Rooms & Bathrooms
● Sizes of the Living Room, Dining, and Bed Rooms
● Right at the top of the brochure should be the address.
● Provide information about nearby schools
● How and when to schedule an appointment to view the property.
● Last but not least some decent photos the show the home for sale. One at a minimum.

A typical prospect may view anywhere from 5 to 25+ homes in a single day! At the end of that day, all the prospect has to remember your home is the brochure. For that very reason, you have to pour loads of energy into the design and production of your FSBO brochures.

Don’t be shy. Mention the best features to set your home apart from others for sale. If you have the space, a good tactic is to describe the characteristics of the house that lead you to originally purchase it.

Obviously, marketing is one of the key factors in selling a home. If you are creative with yours, buyers will come.