Congratulations! You have made a smart choice by selling your own home and saving thousands of dollars in real estate commissions. We need your help in accomplishing our common goal – selling your home by owner. The following are some of the most important things a home seller can do in assisting with the home marketing process. Let’s get started now.

Photograph the Front of Home
Most homebuyers begin a home search online, so good photos are essential. Listings without a photograph or with only an exterior shot are often passed over and ignored. Buyers are visual. Follow these tips and your house photo will look ten times better than the competition's:

• Remove vehicles from driveway / front of home.

• Shoot up-close & angled photos.

• Avoid shade on the house.

• Clear away vegetation blocking front door or path to door.

• Remove bikes, and toys from view.

Exterior Photographs
If you own a condo or town home without a yard take one photo of the building (if possible) and photographs of the clubhouse, pool, spa or tennis courts and other amenities that you enjoy. If you have a yard, however, buyers will want to see it.

• Emphasize space and shoot long.

• Mow the lawn & trim bushes.

• Remove evidence of pets.

• Put away children's toys.

• Avoid shooting into the sun.

• Remove all trashcans and bags.

Interior Photographs
Take photographs of every room. Even if you suspect the room won't photograph well, shoot it anyway because the photo quality just might astonish you and be useable.

• Open drapes & blinds

• Turn on lights.

• Focus on interesting details like the condition of a wood floor, a fireplace mantle and unique room design.

• Kitchens. The #1 selling feature in a home.

• Remove trashcans and close toilet lids in bathrooms.

• Use floral arrangements in kitchens & dining rooms.

• Avoid shooting into mirrors because your image will reflect.

Virtual Home Theatre Presentation
All SellByOwnerListings.com property listings include a slide presentation feature. All you need to do is upload (up to 50) home photographs and buyers will have their choice of viewing a movie of your home or just click one photograph at a time for casual viewing. It’s very simple and takes a few moments. We cannot emphasize enough how much buyers enjoy this feature.

Print Advertising
Print advertising reaches more buyers. Using for sale by owner service such as SellByOwnerListings.com is a very effective and affordable way in helping you to get your home sold. However, it is imperative that the sellers participate in ‘spreading the word’ so to speak. A good one, two punch is the combination of a quality ad in a local newspaper or other local media. Read our Secrets For Writing Successful Classified Ads.

Open Houses
Not every home is suitable for an open house due to location or other factors, and sometimes the only way to determine that is to try it. If nobody comes, that's probably a good indication. However, if your home is located near a high traffic area where buyers often swarm, then it's a good candidate.

• Place open house signs throughout the area directing buyers.

• Advertise in the newspaper.

• Advertise open house times online.

• Invite the neighbors; they're going to come anyway and some of them may have friends or family looking to move in the area.

Let your visitors tour your home without being followed around. This will have them leaving in no time. Have valuables? Remove them.

Agent Options
Notice that on your professional listing page you will have the option to allow an agent to contact you (buyer’s agent) or make it quite clear that you don’t want to be contacted.