Marketing a House to Flip

Spread the Word

Just because you build it does not necessarily mean they will come. You will need to advertise to bring potential buyers to your home. Whether you're selling the home yourself or through a listing agent, you have a common goal: to sell the house in the shortest amount of time for the highest possible price.

To accomplish this goal, you will need to reach the greatest amount of potential buyers. You will need to answer two questions:

1. Where do home buyers look to find homes for sale?

2. Where do you find homebuyers likely to be interested in your property?

In recent years, Internet advertising has become the most effective way to reach the largest number of people. Sites such as Realtor, Zillow, and Trulia are where you will see extensive listings of homes by area. The majority of these are posted online by real estate brokers through the multi-listing service (MLS). Many newspapers subscribe to the MLS and download the latest listings online.

There are several websites where you can post your online ad for free. Sites such as vFlyer, Point2, and Postlets have great free options. These sites could also post for you on other frequently visited sites.

Print advertising, including newspapers and magazines, is no longer an effective vehicle for advertising your home for sale. Direct mail, however, can be useful if you can target your audience properly. For example, if you are trying to sell a log cabin in the woods, it would be a good strategy to buy a list of customers from a nearby outdoor equipment store and send them the information.

Your target buyer might also be someone with a certain income level, age group, religion or marital status. See if you can identify other places that might have a mailing list that you can use to contact potentially interested buyers through direct mail or email.

One of the most effective offline advertising options also happens to be the simplest. Putting a "For Sale" sign in front of the most visible part of the property will encourage shoppers to call you or your agent.

If your property is not very visible, it's a good idea to ask a neighbor to put a sign on their property, that points to your property. Remember that it never hurts to ask.