Selling? Prepare to Pre-Market

Today’s Wiki Wednesday Feature: How to Pre-Market a Home

So, maybe you’ve decided to put your home on the market and decided on an agent, but you’d like to give your home a little boost before it’s actually listed. Or, you haven’t quite decided if you’re going to use an agent or go FSBO, and you’d like to test the waters. What’s the key to sucess in both cases? Pre-marketing.  

Whichever situation you may find yourself in, you may want to check out How to Pre-Market a Home, a Zillow Real Estate Guide article that outlines the dos and don’ts of pre-marketing. One “do” is to tell everyone — friends, neighbors, co-workers, relatives, acquaintances — that your home is on the market. Why would you go around broadcasting that your house is for sale? Because you never know who might know someone who would be interested in your home. You should especially target the “chatty Kathys” — the people who will make the word travel faster and further. 

Your neighbors are also invaluable. They may have secretly had their eyes on your house (and would jump at the chance of buying it), or they may know someone who’s always wanted to live in the neighborhood. As the article says, you might want to consider hosting an informal open house (but not too informal — everything should neat and orderly) for your neighbors.  

Besides an open house, other ways to pre-market include putting up your own for sale sign (until your agent — if you’re using one — puts one up for you), creating a Web site for your home (especially if you’re working without an agent), and posting your listing on various home sites, including Zillow! 

One “don’t” the article points out is don’t be coy about the sales price. If you decide to pre-market your home, you and/or your agent should have arrived at a sales price by this point. It’s the first question everyone will ask. And you should also be ready to entertain offers if they do end up coming in. 

Not sure if you’re ready to take the plunge yet? If you’re waffling on selling, remember that posting a Make Me Move price is a great way to test the waters without actually putting your house on the market. The MMM price could be the approximate price you think your home will sell for, or it could be your dream price. After all, you never know!

Ed: Wiki Wednesdays is a weekly feature that highlights helpful or interesting articles from the Real Estate Guide.