Pure and simple: websites sell homes
With the mortgage fiasco and the downturn in home sales, it’s necessary to use all the available tools at your disposal to sell your home. Websites can be built quite easily and for a very small investment. All you really need is a little time and be willing to learn.
I use the web to sell a number of things from homes, to my mileageman1.com DVD for increasing fuel economy. I also use our websites to advertise our rentals and promote classes that my wife and I teach. A simple website can also drive customers your way and, when they visit your website, you can get paid paid residuals for ads, articles and even promote others. I’m in the process of putting up a site that will help artists get exposure while getting paid to show what they do.
If you want to sell your home but know that where you are it might take some time to do so, check into Google adsense or another similar type service and see if your site will qualify for click through ads. If it does, you can generate some income from the site while you’re waiting for the home to sell.
Once your home sells, you’ll have the expertise to change the site to work with other items you want to sell or promote. Since the Internet is worldwide, you’re not limited to local or regional items and can work with people from around the globe. The perfect buyer for your home may not live in the state or country where you’re located, but you have the opportunity to reach them through your website.
I work with realtors and use my website to do it. Here’s how. Realtors have to pay their bills just like the rest of us. When the housing market slows, so does their income and many are willing to work with you at this time. When I have a home for sale on the web, I contact local and regional realtors and tell them the URL, the web address. Some realtors don’t want to work with you on this basis because they think the buyer will go directly to you, get a discount price and they won’t get paid a commission. If you do that, how do you sleep at night? If your intention is to cheat someone, don’t bother to read further.
The way I work with realtors is; if someone comes in cold and they bring the prospect and make the sale, they get their normal commission. If we bring the customer in from our website(s), or other efforts, and the sale goes through, we use the realtor of our choice for filling out paperwork, and they get a reduced commission. The percentages have to be worked out between you and the realtor(s). You need to have your agreement with the realtor in writing so there are no disputes after the sale.
Having your own website is similar to having an MLS listing through the realtor, only it’s global. The realtor can look at the site and if anyone comes in and asks about a home that is similar to what you have, they can take it from there, as if dealing with a new prospect. Your site can be a lot more complete than any site you’ll ever get through a realtor, and that helps eliminate tire kickers.
We’ve sold homes in Hawaii, the Pacific Northwest and have one for sale in New Mexico, that we’ve had offers on but turned down, since we’re in a position that we don’t need to sell. We’re a cross between vagabonds and home bodies. We like to settle in for a time but also feel the urge to move on occasionally. If you do too, a website is the perfect tool
If you don’t have a website, or don’t know how to build one, it makes economic sense to have someone competent build you one for you. All you have to do is figure the difference between the cost of the site and a realtor’s commission.
You can use the website after your home sells to sell other items and make it pay by using web page ads from Kontera, Google or Yahoo. Or, you just want to use it as a family and friend site. I have one website server and a promotional service that I use exclusively and have links on my www.larryRmiller.com and other website(s).