| You may like the idea of selling your own house | | | | At the bottom of each of your articles you will have |
| without hiring a real estate agent. This is | | | | what's called a "resource box" or "author's bio" area. |
| understandable, as it will save you roughly 6% in real | | | | It is here that you will write a sentence or two about |
| estate commissions...which can easily be more than | | | | your home with a link back to your website. You will |
| ten thousand dollars. For example, if you sell a home | | | | then submit your article to the many different articles |
| for $250,000 you would traditionally pay your real | | | | directories on the Internet. There are many to |
| estate agent $15,000...the buying agent gets 3% | | | | choose from and, of course, there is software you |
| ($7500) and the selling agent (your agent) gets the | | | | can buy or paid websites you can join that will submit |
| other 3%. The buyer never pays any commission. | | | | your article to many different directories, but you |
| That burden falls completely on the home seller. | | | | can always submit them yourself for free. The three |
| Therefore, it is easy to see why you would want to | | | | main article directories I would use are |
| sell your own house without a realtor and save on | | | | EzineArticles.com, GoArticles.com, and |
| that commission. | | | | Once you have submitted your article you will want |
| However, before we go any further let me make it | | | | to bookmark that article just like you did with your |
| perfectly clear that there is a reason why realtors | | | | blog posts. |
| make a 3% commission...they work for it. If you try | | | | **If you don't feel comfortable writing articles, you |
| to sell your own house without using a realtor, you | | | | can always hire someone to write articles for you. |
| too will quickly learn that selling a home is hard work. | | | | You can usually find someone to write a 250 article |
| Fortunately, the Internet has completely leveled the | | | | for as little as $5/article. |
| playing field making selling a home without a realtor | | | | 4. Create a video for you home. This is really easy to |
| easier than ever before. | | | | do. Simply create a slide show using the photos you |
| Unfortunately, most home sellers simply do not know | | | | have taken to advertise your home. Use iMovie, or |
| what to do in order take advantage of all the | | | | Windows Movie Maker (or any popular movie making |
| Internet has to offer. | | | | software) to save your video as .mov, .mpg, or |
| Below is a step-by-step guide on how to sell your | | | | .wmv file. Again, if you struggle with this you can |
| own house by using the Internet: | | | | easily find people to do it for you at roughly $10 |
| 1. Keywords. First things first, you need to do a little | | | | video. Once you have your video you will submit that |
| keyword research before you start. Keywords are | | | | video to the top video directories on the Internet |
| the words people type into search engines when | | | | such YouTube, Veoh, DailyMotion, Viddler, Revver, |
| doing research on the Internet. You want to find | | | | Yahoo Videos. And of course, you will want to |
| keywords that people are searching, but do not have | | | | include your keywords in both your title and |
| a great deal of competition. For example, it is going | | | | description. And, make sure to include a link back to |
| to be impossible for me to rank anywhere in the | | | | your website/blog in the description as well. |
| search engines for a keyword phrase such as "real | | | | Once you have submitted the videos you will also |
| estate" or even "real estate for sale". It will be | | | | want to bookmark those videos just like you did |
| significantly easier to rank for a keyword phrase such | | | | with the blog posts and articles. |
| as "Lakewood Ranch real estate" or "Lakewood | | | | 5. Get listed in your local MLS. This could be the most |
| Ranch real estate for sale". There are plenty of | | | | important step of all. The fact of the matter is 90% |
| keyword tools on the Internet that can help you | | | | of all home sales in the United Sates are listed in MLS |
| with flushing out good keywords. Google's free | | | | (Multiple Listing Service). Unfortunately, the only one |
| keyword tool is a good place to start. Do NOT | | | | who can list you in MLS is a licensed realtor. |
| underestimate this step! You will be using your | | | | However, that does not mean you need to pay out |
| keywords in nearly ever other step of this process. | | | | a 6% commission. These days you can pay a flat |
| 2. Create a blog. You can create a website, but | | | | fee listing service to put your home in MLS for a |
| these days a blog is much easier to set up and much | | | | one-time flat fee. This fee usually ranges from |
| easier to rank well in Google. You could always set up | | | | $299-$799 depending on the company. Just make |
| a free blog with Blogger.com, but there are many | | | | sure to do your research because not all flat fee |
| search engine advantages to creating your own blog | | | | listers are created equal. |
| with your own domain name using WordPress.org. | | | | 6. Add your listing to other top real estate websites |
| So first step...buy a domain name through a company | | | | including Craigslist, Realtor.com, Point2Homes, Google |
| such as This will cost you roughly $10 for the year. | | | | Base, LiveDeal, Cyberhomes and AOL Real Estate, |
| Try to include your keyword phrase in your domain | | | | Truila, Zillow, Oodle, Homescape, Vast, HotPads.com, |
| name. Depending on your keywords, it may be | | | | CLRSearch.com, Clickable City Directory, |
| difficult to find an available domain so you may have | | | | WorldWide-RealEstate-ForSale.com, House.com, |
| to get creative. For example, the domain name | | | | TheHousingPages.com, CityCribs, VideoHomes.com, |
| "lakewoodranchrealestate.com" will not be available, it | | | | BEATyouThere.com, NTXHouseHunters.com, |
| is more likely that the name | | | | LandWatch.com, and .. |
| "bestlakewoodranchrealestate.com" or | | | | Of course...bookmark those listing pages with your |
| "greatlakewoodranchrealestate.com" or even | | | | keywords |
| "Lakewood-ranch-real-estate-for-sale.com" will be | | | | 7. Backlink, backlink, backlink! One of the most |
| available. Again, get creative, but try to include your | | | | important things to do in order to get a high ranking |
| keywords in your domain as best as you can. | | | | in Google is to place "backlinks" to your website from |
| Once you have chosen your domain, you will now | | | | other websites. This is usually done by placing |
| need to host it with a reputable web hosting | | | | comments on blogs, in forums, as well as setting up |
| company. There are many to choose from but the | | | | profile pages on various social networking sites...there |
| most recommended are or Personally, I use Bluehost | | | | are literally hundreds of thousands of these sites (and |
| for all my web hosting needs. The cost is roughly $7 | | | | that might be an understatement). However, to this |
| month, they have all the bells and whistles you will | | | | right you need to find websites that not only allow |
| ever need, and their customer service is second to | | | | you to place links on their site, but also have what's |
| none. Anytime you have a problem you can call them | | | | called a "do follow" tag. Without getting too technical, |
| up 24/7 and talk to a real person. | | | | a "do follow" tag simply means that the website |
| OK, now that you have your domain hosted with a | | | | allows Google to "crawl" through the site and "follow" |
| reputable host you are ready to install you blog. If | | | | the outgoing links thereby giving your site a boost in |
| you went with Bluehost you will simply log into your | | | | the search engines. There are many ways to go |
| account and click on the WordPress icon and follow | | | | about finding these sites, but the easiest thing to do |
| the simple directions to install your blog. | | | | is buy Angela Edwards backlink package for $5 |
| Once your blog is set up you will devote all your blog | | | | month. In this package she provides 30 high ranking |
| posts to information about your home, your | | | | "do follow" sites that you can easily add your backlink |
| neighborhood, your schools etc. And of course, make | | | | to. There are other packages you can buy as well, |
| sure to include your keyword phrases in the titles of | | | | but Angela's is a great place to start. |
| your posts and several times throughout the posts | | | | When placing your backlink you will use your |
| as well. | | | | keyword phrase as your "anchor text". |
| I suggest making one post per day. After each post | | | | Do NOT underestimate this step. Of all the search |
| make sure you bookmark the post using the top | | | | engine optimization I have done over the years |
| social bookmarking sites on the Internet such as | | | | nothing has even come close to giving me the results |
| Digg, Mixx, reddit, Delicious, Evernote, Google | | | | that "backlinking" has...it is part of my every day |
| Bookmarks, Google Reader, StumbleUpon, and | | | | routine. |
| Twitter. These social bookmarking sites have the | | | | OK, at this point you may very well be overwhelmed. |
| potential to drive a great deal of traffic to your | | | | I told you this was going to be work. Just remember, |
| website/blog. Also, sites such as Facebook and | | | | you can always outsource what you do not want to |
| LinkedIn work great as well. And of course, when | | | | do yourself. In fact, every single step listed above |
| bookmarking your sites use your keywords | | | | can be outsourced and can be done so with very |
| whenever possible. | | | | little money. Think of it this way. If you were to sell |
| **Note: there are many ways to optimize your blog | | | | your house with a real estate agent and it sold for |
| in order for your posts to be found easier in the | | | | $250,000 you would pay out $15,000 in |
| Google search engine, but I wont get into them here. | | | | commissions...so why not just take $1,000 of the |
| Just do a quick search for "SEO plugins" and | | | | money you save by selling your own house and hire |
| "permalinks" to get more information. | | | | people to do all the steps above. |
| 3. Article writing. The next step is to use article | | | | By following the above steps and consistently making |
| writing as a way to drive traffic to your site. Don't | | | | blog posts, writing and submitting articles, creating |
| get nervous...it's actually very simple. You are going to | | | | and submitting videos, bookmarking everything, and |
| write short articles (250-400 words) about your | | | | getting listed in your local MLS. The chances of selling |
| town, neighborhood, schools etc. Again, make sure to | | | | your own house are much more likely and you can |
| include your keywords in the title of your article and | | | | do so without paying a Realtor 6% of your selling |
| roughly once per every hundred words within the | | | | price, thereby saving yourself thousands of dollars. |
| body of your article. | | | | |