In today’s real estate market, a home-built website, an ad in the local newspaper, and a yard sign with directional signs on the corner are not enough. For most homeowners for sale (FSBOs), there is little incentive to invest the time and effort to create a meaningful web presence, and the long-term upfront costs of running ads in local newspapers to promote your property are impractical.

Unless you’re lucky, illogical strategies like “I’ll try it out on my own for a month or two and then turn it over to a real estate agent” are doomed to fail. Such strategies illustrate a lack of confidence as well as a coherent plan to market your property effectively. It takes both to be successful, and sadly, many For Sale By Owners (FSBOs) start out with strategies like these.

Whether it’s a first-time homeowner (FSBO) or a seasoned real estate professional, buying, selling, or renting property requires commitment and hard work. If you don’t have time, don’t kid yourself. Hire a real estate professional. Trying to market your property on the ‘cheap’ usually offers little reward. In most cases, you will end up wasting valuable time and money. But if you really want to go it alone, do some research to understand what you’re up against and how to avoid common pitfalls.

Fortunately, most of the information you’ll need is readily available. You just need to take advantage of the many For Sale By Owner (FSBO) resources currently available on the web. Since much of this information is written by real estate professionals, it’s pretty comprehensive. These resources cover all aspects of the owner-sales process, including preparing the property, determining and setting the sales price, the advertising process, negotiating between buyer and seller, and understanding the process. closing. Even the contracts and forms needed to close on a property are readily available, and best of all, many of these services are free!