You've heard the usual home selling tips. Clean the place up, get the help you need and price it right - all good advice. But what about the more direct part of the sales process: advertising, marketing and talking to prospective buyers. Do you know what to say in your advertisements, flyers and in person?



You should tell buyers almost everything. Of course don't reveal your motivations, how low you'll go on the price, or anything else that hurts your negotiating position. But tell them everything else they might want to know.

If you think about this for a moment, you'll understand. Do you prefer shopping where the products have no prices on them? Of course not! And if you were looking at a list of vacation packages, you might pass over those that neglected to name the destination, right? It is no different in shopping for a house.

Of course, you may have noticed that real estate agents sometimes advertise homes with no price, or fail to say where a home is located. Why? Because the agent wants curious people to call. When a $130,000-buyer calls on an ad for a $250,000-home which listed no price, the agent hopes to sell him any house he can. If a buyer thinks an advertised home is in town, he can be steered to one that is.

In other words these are just tricks that help the agent. Of course the sellers of the homes advertised lose potential buyers, because many people like myself won't waste time on misleading ads, or those that list no price. Usually there are enough other houses advertised with prices and decent information to look at.

The first of these home selling tips then, is that more information is better (except perhaps in expensive pay-by-the-word ads). With decent information, a buyer either knows you have something they might want, or they don't waste your time. Essentially, they prequalify themselves for you. What information do they need then ?

Home Selling Tips - Information To Include When Selling

Always mention the price and terms (if any) in written information, as well as the location, style, square footage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms and school district. Look at newspapers and real estate guides from your area to see what things others are advertising. Try for as much information as you can fit in a given ad or listing.

Have additional information ready for interested buyers. You want to remove as much uncertainty as possible. If the buyer will need to replace the roofing in a year or two, for example, have a quote ready. A buyer might accept a poor roof - if he knows what he's getting into. He'll likely walk away if the cost of this is unknown. Nothing kills interest like uncertainty.

Of course, hiding problems can be illegal as well as unethical. It is better to either resolve them, or get quotes on what it will cost to resolve them. Once again, it is a matter of resolving uncertainty. A buyer is less frightened by the idea of paying $1,900 for new carpet than by the idea of paying an unknown amount for it.

All of this probably fits your own experience. You are more likely to buy a house or anything else when you have more information, right? You may even pay a little more for less uncertainty. Most buyers will, so why not put this home selling tip to use and have that information ready?