SELL/RENT THE PROPERTY
Now that all the hard work is done, it's time to sell or rent the property.
This article will mainly focus on selling the property. If you are going to rent the property, you would start the Property Management Lifecycle.
There are two ways to sell a property:
- Sell it yourself
- Hire a real estate agent.
If you are just starting out, I recommend hiring a real estate agent to sell your properties, at least in the beginning.
The biggest reasons for doing this are:
a.) You get to tap into their extensive buyers network (the MLS) and
b.) You can free up some of your time to start focusing on the next deal.
Just make sure you have accounted for their commission and other various closing costs in the "Analyze the Deal" step if you choose to use a real estate agent.
First, I will cover selling the property yourself.
SELL IT YOURSELF
Selling a property yourself can save you money on real estate agent commission fees, and more, but it's not as simple as most think.
The main disadvantage to selling the property yourself is missing out on the power of the agent's network and their ability to post the property on the MLS for other agents and buyers to see.
Pre-Marketing
If you are going to market the property yourself it starts with building your buyers list. Like most lead types, this is something that you should be starting well in advance of when you will need it. The best time to start this is during the rehab process as the property is starting to come together.
I recommend doing this four ways.
1. Sign in the front yard
This will include information about your company and some sort of CTA (Call To Action), preferably to 'text in' or 'call in' for more information. Leadflow provides a tool called Moby, which allows you to set up property pins and automated SMS and voice messages. This enables you to build your buyers list overnight, even while you sleep. You should also have property flyers available. They can include basic information without pictures until the rehab is finished. These can be in a standalone box or in a box attached to the sign. The great thing about these flyers is they are always available for anyone who passes by the house, or lives in the neighborhood. If they're interested, or know someone who may be interested in the property, they're easy to grab on the go.
2. Post it on your website as Coming Soon
Posting the property on your website creates a great lead capture tool for all of your online (and off-line) marketing efforts. It's important to have a "waiting list" call to action and tie that to some sort of automated follow up to keep your leads engaged. I recommend setting up an auto responder series like the Dream Home Buyer Ebook & Auto Responder series above. You can generally set them up through any of the email providers like iContact, MailChimp and Constant Contact. If you use Leadflow, we have these already built in to all of our websites.
3. Pick your neighbor campaigns
This is a simple, but powerful, concept. Desirable neighborhoods often have a lot of pride of ownership, which means that the people who already live there are very vested in who moves in across the street. "Pick your neighbor" campaigns simply ask people in the neighborhood, or surrounding neighborhoods, for referrals of people who may be interested in the property.
You can do this by door knocking, putting out door hangers, or my personal favorite, direct mail. You can get a list of all the people in the neighborhood, and surrounding neighborhoods, from the USPS Every Door service.
Once the property is complete, you are going to want to market the property anywhere and everywhere. Start with the Property Marketing Checklist above to get a step-by-step action plan to launch your property to the masses! I've also attached a quick Property Flyer sample to help you get started.
HIRE A REAL ESTATE AGENT
The easiest way to sell your home is to hire a real estate agent in your area.
You might be thinking, "I don't want to pay a commission fee..." but if you have already accounted for that in your offer price, then it won't affect your bottom line.
There are additional costs associated with the sale of your property that could add up to what you were going to pay the agent anyway. For example, if the house sits for a long period of time, the holding costs associated with the property will quickly add up, and could surpass what you would have paid an agent in commission to sell the house.
When hiring a real estate agent, network at local events, or even pop in to local open houses. You want someone who knows the area and has recent home sales under their belt. You can research them online and see how many properties they have recently sold on sites like Zillow and Realtor.com.
DISCLAIMER
These documents and information contained herein are designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter being covered. It is given with the understanding that the authors and distributors are not engaged in providing legal, accounting, real estate or other professional advice.
If legal advice or other expert or professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person licensed in your area should be sought.
