"Potentially" Selling A House - Curious..... (Auburn, Jackson: for sale, rental)

[ABM]

Real quick. What if I were to simply advertise it on Craigs List? Nothing risked there, correct?

I mean, we really don't have to sell it, I'm just curious as to if we'd get any bites. Who knows, perhaps it would even sell. I'd certainly price it modestly. I wouldn't even put a "For Sale" sign up in the yard. IMO, the FSBO signs look tacky.

What say you?

(PS: I'm already anticipating the realtors on this board to tell me the 101 reasons I should never do this. Trust me, I already know all that.)

[atlantagreg30127]

I've known only one person who ever sold their house on Craigs List successfully, and they waded through a ton of crap to do it. Lots of calls at 2am, people who speak languages you've never heard of, emails from "foreign investors", yadda yadda. They did wind up selling it to a normal family who saw the ad, and the ad was free, so in the end it worked out, but they again, went through a lot of junk to get to that point, and the wife said they would definately use a realtor the next time they sold a house.

So, unless you SERIOUSLY are out there to sell your house and need to explore all avenues of advertising to get the word out about it, I don't personally see a reason why you'd want to do it just for the heck of it to see if it "could" sell. Besides the above-mentioned crazy stuff you'd have to deal with, it's not fair to the actual GOOD potential buyers who might see the ad with high hopes of, "Honey, look! This is the house for us!", only to find out the "sellers" weren't really that serious about it.

[ABM]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

I've known only one person who ever sold their house on Craigs List successfully, and they waded through a ton of crap to do it. Lots of calls at 2am, people who speak languages you've never heard of, emails from "foreign investors", yadda yadda. They did wind up selling it to a normal family who saw the ad, and the ad was free, so in the end it worked out, but they again, went through a lot of junk to get to that point, and the wife said they would definately use a realtor the next time they sold a house.

So, unless you SERIOUSLY are out there to sell your house and need to explore all avenues of advertising to get the word out about it, I don't personally see a reason why you'd want to do it just for the heck of it to see if it "could" sell. Besides the above-mentioned crazy stuff you'd have to deal with, it's not fair to the actual GOOD potential buyers who might see the ad with high hopes of, "Honey, look! This is the house for us!", only to find out the "sellers" weren't really that serious about it.

My thought was to not provide a phone number. I'd simply use Craigs List as a contact liaison. If interested, potential buyers would be screened via meeting (by appointment only) at local coffee shop, or such. Then go from there.

Oh, we'd be "serious" about selling it all right. What I meant was, we're not in a position where we HAVE to sell. That said, though, should a reasonable offer come in, it would be good as sold. I wouldn't play with people in that way.

[JPD]

My friends in Jacksonville tried unsuccessfully to sell their house using the traditional methods.

Then they put it on Craigslist and it sold almost immediately. I don't know the specifics, but they seemed very happy with the experience.

[sweettea1]

you have nothing to lose so you might as well give it a shot. I always look on CL for FSBO listings. Pictures are very helpful.

[ABM]

Originally Posted by sweettea1

......Pictures are very helpful.

Yep. I plan to have a couple on the main page, along with a link to a wide selection of shots.

We'll see how it goes. Yes, I am aware of the potential hassles/dangers of marketing in this manner. I plan to take it wisely.

Oh, and the house had already been listed with a qualified realtor for half of last year without success.

[Jomaark]

If you have a realtor why don't you have them post it on craigslist? Now a days realtors should be posting on the web or they are missing out on another audience.

[ABM]

Originally Posted by Jomaark

If you have a realtor why don't you have them post it on craigslist? Now a days realtors should be posting on the web or they are missing out on another audience.

Had a realtor. She moved to Auburn. Not really interested in going that route again.............at this point.

Nonetheless, I'm still internally debating all this. More or less was fishing to see if anyone had any success with CL.

Thanks!

ABM

[LoufromNewYork]

Congratulations on deciding to sell your home! It can be troubling but I'm confident that you'll make it out okay. If you're looking for the "free" way to market your home to people, there are a lot of website that will give you exposure.

-Craiglist.com
-Kijiji.com - (Ebay version of Craigslist)
- Postlets.com (Will automatically list your information on about 10 sites for free)
- House.info

As a last resort, I'd suggest Iggys House. They actually allow you to list your home on the MLS for FREE instead of using an agent. The bad part is that any calls go to an 800 number instead of being directed to you. I used this to sell a condo in Maryland and it worked really well. Once again, I'd recommend it as a last resot.

Lastly, I'd also recommend taking a bunch of pictures and posting them on Flikr (a photo sharing site) and taking video tours of the house and put those on Youtube. This way anyone searching for a home will be sure to see something relating to your house.

Best of luck.

[JennySells]

I say give it a try - I found a rental home for someone on Craigslist and it all worked out great. But please be careful of letting strangers into your home - I am not trying to scare you - but atleast when your home is listed and a realtor is showing it you have a better chance of the realtor knowing who that person is, if they are prequalified, etc. Just make sure if at all possible you are not home alone when showing the property.