So you’ve made all your repairs and spiffed up the landscaping now you’re ready for the spring market!  What’s next?  GET THE WORD OUT!  How are you going to let people know you have this great product to sell?   One of the biggest lead generators and marketing tools is Craigslist.  If you do it right your phone will ring.

Here are a few simple things you can do to make your Craigslist ad stand out:

1. Photos- Take pictures of some of the rooms in your house. Kitchens and bathrooms are most the most important rooms to photograph, but make sure to highlight some other features as well. Fireplaces, built-in’s, hardwood floors, and other things of that sort will entice people to come and see your house for themselves.  The pictures are one of your best tools.

2. Listing- Set up a postlets account on postlets.com. Postlets is an online service which will provide a  nice template to make your own listing to attach to Craigslist.  It walks you through a headline and description area,s and loads your pictures so your ad will look professional.   There’s space to put your contact info so you can get showings and an area to put price information.  Very easy to use and looks great.

3. Catch Phrase- Get them to click on your add by coming up with a great title on Craigslist.  Ask your self who is going to want to buy my house?  Appeal to that market by coming up with a catchy line.  Some of my best phone ringers have been, “Mom’s Going to Love This!”  for a senior living condo listing I had.  Or “Find Your Brother a House!” for a listing I had on a busy road near a lot of industrial buildings.  What are people looking for that might be in your house or area?  If you use something like, “3 bed rooms 2 bathrooms in MN City” your ad will get passed by.  You want potential buyers to click and see your great listing and pictures.

Once your phone starts to ring you are on your way to a potential sale, your first sale is online once they get to your house you can take it to the next level and close the deal! Now its time to show of the improvements you made and let the place SELL!