How To Write A FSBO Ad Twelve Tips For Writing A FSBO Ad
W ho knows you have a house for sale? You need to advertise. You need to write an ad for your For Sale by Owner house but you don’t know what to say. W e know how you feel. We’ve felt that way m any tim es and what we’ve found are a dozen tips to help you breeze through the ad writing dilemm a. W e’ve been there and it’s tough: • • • • You’ve got a great house. You’ve staged it for the m arket. You’ve priced it just right. No one knows about it.
The Twelve Ad Writing Tips Are:
1. Know Your Target M arket You need to know who to target in order to write an effective ad. Buyers are your target m arket. Target buyers who are represented by an agent and those who choose to buy with no representation. Target buyers who are m oving into your area. These buyers will pick up local newspapers and thrifty ad m agazines to look for houses. You need to advertise in both types of publications. Buyers look for: • • • • • Location Price Term s Features Benefits
2. Create A Killer Headline For Your Ad Grab the buyer’s attention. Select the best feature or benefit your house has to offer. Use that as your headline. Is your house: • • • • • • • Beachfront? Mountain view? Lake front? Priced under appraisal? Are you offering owner financing? Is it zoned for horses? Close to open space?
Get the idea? Select the best feature or benefit for your headline. Lim it the headline to eight words or less.
3. If You W ant A Call - Don’t Tell It All Give buyers just enough inform ation to grab and hold their attention. Rem ember. Your ad is a teaser not the entire m ovie. The buyer will lose interest if you tell them everything in a long ad; there’ll be no reason for the them to call. 4. W hat Are The Best Four Or Five Features? • • • W hat attracted you to this house? W hy did you buy this house? W hat’s your favorite feature?
Tell the buyer about these features. Then list four or five benefits. Why would they buy this house rather than one down the block? Sell them on benefits and features. List features and benefits in short com pact sentences. You pay for ad space by the word. 5. Create Desire Create desire by using feature and benefit lists. Avoid trite phrasing and long descriptive dialogue. Flowing dialogue does not create desire. It does create boredom . It can actually drive the buyer away. Crisp clear sentences are the best 6. A Picture Is W orth A Thousand W ords Use as m any photos as your ad budget will allow. Photos grab attention far better than words. Phrases tell - Photos sell. 7. The Buyer M ust Be Reeled In by Your Ad Create a headline that grabs their attention; one that holds their interest and stim ulates desire. To do that: • • • • • • Em phasize your features and benefits. Com pose your entire ad in short concise sentences. Use photos. Ask the buyer to call. Urge them to take action. Create a sense of urgency.
8. Use Action Phrases Use phrases that suggest: • • • Your price is only valid for lim ited tim e. A quick closing - Quick possession An open house only this weekend.
• • •
They shouldn’t m iss this opportunity Take action. Call today. The Asking price is less than the appraised value.
Urge buyers to take action. 9. Get The M ost Exposure For Your Advertising Dollar Internet space is cheaper than classified advertising and has real potential to reach several hundred tim es the num ber of buyers a hard copy ad will reach. Search on line to find sites that specialize in advertising FSBO houses. Online advertising is supplem ental advertising; it does not elim inate the need to advertise in newspapers and thrifty m agazines, 10. Give Buyers Lots Of W ays To Contact You • • • • List a phone num ber or two Give a cell phone num ber Give an em ail address Give a fax num ber
Make yourself available to answer calls. You’d be am azed at the num ber of For Sale by Owners who run ads and then are not available to take calls. Respond prom ptly to all inquiries. Do Not have a voice m essage recorded by your children. People will hang up. W hile the house is on the m arket the voice m essage m ust be an adult 11. You Should Alw ays include: • • • • • Your asking price. The num ber of bedroom s. The num ber of baths. The num ber of garage spaces. The lot or acreage size.
You want to elim inate calls from unqualified buyers. If a buyer needs a four-bedroom house and yours is a two-bedroom ; do yourself a favor, elim inate unnecessary calls by listing pertinent inform ation in your ad. 12. Sum m ary Points Your ad should contain three key points which say to the buyer: • Here’s what it is. • Here’s what it can do for you. • Here’s the action you need to take. EXAMPLE: • For sale by owner ads offer you exposure to hundreds of buyers. • Your ad will help you sell faster.
• Take advantage-run an ad today.