When selling your home for sale by owner, you will be handling your own marketing. This leads us to the issue of what you put in your marketing materials in relation to your home. Truth In Advertising for FSBO Sellers
The real estate industry is somewhat like the used car industry when it comes to certain areas. Each is known for using terminology that could be considered to perhaps stretch the boundaries a bit. “New paint job” in a car add can often be translated to “new paint job because the car was damaged in an accident.” When it comes to real estate, a unique set of terminology also applies. “Cozy” is often a term interpreted as meaning small. “Very cozy”, of course, means a home that is basically two closets hammered together!
As a FSBO seller, you need to give some thought to the terminology you will use when marketing your property. I am not so much referring to legalities as I am to common sense truth in advertising. It is tempting to list the possibilities of a home despite the fact the property offers no such basis for doing so. Such phrases I often see are things like “potential for view” without mentioning the buyer will need to add two stories to the property to get a sliver of a view! In my opinion, such advertising is a bad approach.
When marketing your property for sale, it is important that you be accurate. Yes, you can use terms that promote the strengths of the property. You should not use terms that are not based on how you use the home. If you have a two bedroom property in which you sleep in one bedroom and your child in the other, language regarding a home office, game room and such is probably misleading unless you have other rooms that specifically are being used for that purpose.
The problem with stretching the boundaries with your marketing has to do with expectations. If a potential buyer reads your ad and thinks it matches what they are after, they expect to see the attributes when they arrive. If they do not, they certainly will not be making an offer. This will lead to negative commentary among buyers regarding you and your home. You should never require a buyer to have a vision of the far reaching possibilities of a home.
As a FSBO seller, being accurate in your marketing materials is critical. Yes, you may get fewer buyers visiting your property, but you will get a better quality of buyer, to wit, a buyer more like to make an offer. At the end of the day, that is the point after all.
Raynor James is with FSBOAmerica.org - real estate articles on selling your own home.
