I read this startling statistic from two places in the last week, “One out of three FSBO sellers sell their house to someone they already know!”  Wow – this is huge!

So if you are selling your house for sale by owner make sure to put the proper energy into your grass roots, neighborhood marketing. Even if you are certain you want to list with an agent, it wouldn’t hurt to do this first for a week or two and see if you could sell your house yourself and save the commission.

So here is what I consider an effective grass roots marketing campaign that is virtually free, besides.

Word of Mouth Marketing

The easiest free advertising is to tell everyone you know.  Always mention and honor that you will give a $500 referral fee to whoever brings you a buyer (someone who actually buys your house).

Use Social Media Marketing

If you belong to any of the social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc., mention your house.

Change Your Phone Messages

Change any cute or unusual messages on any of your phones temporarily.  No kids, weird music, or jokes.  You need to sound professional so people will want to deal with you.  Change your voice mail greetings on your land line and cell phones to mention “If you are calling about my house for sale….” and leave a glowing description of your  house.

Do an Email Blast

You can send an email blast to your friends and family with an attachment of your great looking flyer and ask them to pass it along.  Offer the $500 referral fee here, too.

Add your marketing phone number, email, and website to your email signature, along with a quick blurb about your house being for sale so you don’t forget to tell anybody.

Property Information Flyers

Design an attractive property flyer and have flyers in your brochure box.  Pass this same flyer out to your neighbors, offering a $500 referral fee.  They may just make the effort to tell people they know for $500.

Have an Open House

Consider having a “pre-sale” open house.  Invite your people you know, especially your neighbors, before you put your house on the open market.  Neighbors love to visit these.  Even if they are just being nosey, they may know someone perfect for your house.  You can hire a neighborhood kid to pass out flyers for you.  Increase your attendance by having refreshments.  You can make it an early going away party for yourself!

Put Up Bandit Signs

Besides the professional sign at your house, you can also put up bandit signs at highly visible spots in your area.  This type of sign is very effective.  They aren’t supposed to be beautiful, but they sure attract a lot of attention.

There are three sources for these – if you are in a hurry, you can buy white coroplast signs from hardware stores for about $10 each.  Personally, I wouldn’t spend this much money on them.   I get them online for about $1 each.  It’s OK to use the inexpensive H-wires for these.  Get a jumbo width permanent marker.  Plan on 10 minutes to write each sign.  I use a sites online where you can order eye-catching bandit signs that look hand written but aren’t.  This saves you the trouble of printing up extra signs. If you live in an area where there are enforced anti-bandit sign laws, skip this idea.

Put Up Some Handmade Posters

Buy some neon colored, 8 ½ x 11 paper and make a poster. These are the “lost dog” type of signs.  They need to have big, readable lettering, no pictures.  Put these on light poles and telephone poles, and at bus stops, with duct tape, push pins, or packing tape.

Go around your local area with some pushpins and tape in hand and put your flyers up on bulletin boards in grocery stores, coffees shops, where you work – anywhere you can post.

Advertise in Local Newsletters

Does your workplace, church, club or membership organization have a newsletter or other printed communication?  Advertise there for sure.  People love to deal with those who are part of their community.

Whether selling FSBO or using an agent, why not do a grass roots marketing campaign before listing on MLS?  You can market aggressively for a week or two and see what happens.  You might just be one of the lucky one-in-three that can sell their house this way.  What have you got to lose?