Other Home Selling Channels

April 4, 2012 6:02 PM

People trying to sell their houses are still facing bloated inventory and falling home values. And I know businesses like YouSellIt are an alternative to realtors to help sellers get their homes on the market.

What about using social media, like Facebook and listing services like Craigslist? Is there a process for selling a home more quickly in those places? What are the advantages vs. the drawbacks?

posted by CollectiveMind to home & garden (5 answers total)

At the end of the day, I'm pretty sure you still need a realtor to sell your house.

Those "other" channels are good marketing channels, though.
posted by b1tr0t at 7:14 PM on April 4, 2012

I do know people who've sold their houses on their own (usually using some variation on one of those for sale by owner services that help with paperwork), putting up signs and sending out emails, etc. So it's definitely possible. Whether it sold any faster, or for any more money, would be a much harder question to answer in any particular situation.
posted by Forktine at 8:25 PM on April 4, 2012

You don't need a realtor to sell your home and yes, social media is a great way to market your home.

"Social media" has always been a real estate strategy; if you think of the traditional Sunday Open House, those aren't initially so much about securing a buyer that day for the property as they are for getting all the neighbors to see the house to then tell their friends....) It's pre-internet social media!
posted by lstanley at 7:08 AM on April 5, 2012

You will probably want a lawyer or other legal service to help with the paperwork, make sure the contract is okay for you, etc. A realtor isn't strictly necessary. My favorite photo lighting blogger sold his house a few years ago by using Blogger to put together a site with all the info on the house. Seemed to work well for him.

If it were me I'd put together a site with all the detailed info and lots of pictures, then use Facebook and Craigslist to get the link to the site out there. Don't forget the yard sign, and make sure you include flyers with more info (and a link to the site) on the sign.

I think the main advantage of realtors, from a seller's point of view, is a) they can help with paperwork, and b) they can handle the actual showing of the house, so you don't have to take time off to do tours.
posted by echo target at 7:08 AM on April 5, 2012

We just bought a house without a real estate agent. The sellers knew we were interested; we worked out the details; and our title insurance company handled all the paperwork. We paid, I think, total of $1,000 for the closing costs on a multiple-hundred-thousand-dollar transaction (not including the price of title insurance).

I would try social media/word of mouth, but if you want to hit people who aren't in those circles, what you want is a way to get listed on the MLS.
posted by dpx.mfx at 8:21 AM on April 5, 2012