Flat Fee FSBO, Discount Realtors, Forsalebyowner - Sell Your House Yourself. Use A "FSBO 2.0" System. First Impression

SELLING YOUR HOUSE IS LIKE
GOING ON A BLIND DATE

You Get Only One Chance to Make a Great First Impression

Deane Alban - July, 2009

When selling your house, whether you are using an agent or selling FSBO (for sale by owner) it is crucial that the front of your house and yard look fantastic. You only get one chance to make a first impression. Within moments, your potential buyers are putting your house in either the “this could be the one” or in the “no way!” category. Just like on a blind date!

Can potential buyers easily find your house? Make sure you have house numbers somewhere obvious that are large enough to easily read. Make sure the house numbers can be read at night, too.

Is your front door area welcoming? The front door itself should be freshly painted. If it goes with your house, a red door is particularly inviting. Consider replacing and upgrading your front door light fixtures and door hardware. If not, at least make sure what you have is clean and in good repair. You want the first impression to be that the house sparkles and shines.

Get an attractive new welcome mat - when you sell your house you can leave it as a present for the new homeowners. If you have a porch, get rid of the kids’ bikes, dead plants, and the plastic chairs.

Have a beautiful pot of healthy flowers, or something seasonal, such as a pumpkin in the fall. Keep it tasteful and simple; don’t overdo. If you have space on a front porch, put a nice chair or love seat there, so your buyers can imagine sitting on their new front porch, sipping lemonade, and relaxing with their new neighbors.

The rest of the front of the house should be looking its absolute best too. Is your mail box rusty? Does it open and close properly? If not, paint it, fix it, or replace it. Are the gutters clean on the outside as well as the inside? Are your shutters and garage door freshly painted?

Your windows should sparkle. If you’re selling your house in winter in a cold climate, consider removing the screens and storing them. It makes the house look brighter from both the outside and inside.

Make sure you have cut your grass, raked your leaves, weeded the flower beds, and trimmed your trees and bushes.

One of my pet peeves is overgrown bushes covering the front windows, or huge old evergreens in the front yard that hide the house. You want people to see your house, not your bushes!

Overgrown shrubbery makes the house seem dark and uninviting from the inside too. And it screams “project!” before your buyer has even stepped foot in the house.

And don’t forget to mulch! Mulch is the great gardening “cure-all”; it’s “duct tape for the yard”. Unless your yard is under snow, mulch around the landscaping in at least the front yard. It offsets your plants like a beautiful frame offsets a painting.

Now that the front of your house is looking fantastic, make sure your “for sale” sign looks as good as the rest of the house. If I had one piece of advice to people selling “for sale by owner”, it would be: DON’T SKIMP ON YOUR “FOR SALE” SIGN!

When I see one of these red and white plastic signs or the signs that some FSBO listing services provide flapping around on their flimsy wire frame (you know which ones I mean), it screams to me that:

If the sellers skimped on their sign, what else did they skimp on?
Have all their home repairs been based on the lowest bid, done with the cheapest materials?
The sellers might be desperate.
I might be able to get a really good deal on this house.

Enough said? There are alternatives!

There are online services where you can design a great looking custom sign for under $30 in just a few minutes. Get the standard 18” x 24” size in corrugated plastic. When designing your sign, be sure the main emphasis is on your house for sale and your phone number. No need to emphasize that your house is for sale by owner.

I recommend buying a 6’ metal post that lets your sign hang from a cross beam - this makes your sign really stand out and looks very professional. These only run about $30. Or you can hire the same services that put up signs for real estate agents to install a post and add your sign to it for usually around $50.

When selling your own house, there is no reason not to have an impressive and professional looking sign, all for under $100!

Creating a great first impression will go a long way in helping you sell your house quickly.

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Deane Alban is a real estate investor and creator of the first "FSBO 2.0" home selling system. Today's technology lets any frustrated homeowner bypass their realtor and even do a better job. Learn how with The Truth About FSBO - a “total realtor replacement” system. It's the only home selling information product that offers vital personalized support. Get more details – sign up for free daily "FSBO 2.0" Selling Tips.