Remember that effective ads can make the difference between selling or not selling an item. They can also make the difference between selling an item for a good profit and selling an item for an extraordinary profit!!!
To make your listings as attractive and effective as possible, you will need to use an HTML editor. These programs help you put your listing into a format that is attractive to people who will see your listing.
HTML is a computer language. The editor will help you translate your listing into HTML without you having to understand the computer language.
Some of the HTML editors that are available are:
· Adobe Dreamweaver – cost is approximately $400
· Microsoft Expression – cost is approximately $300
· SeaMonkey – it is free and the most user-friendly
I recommend SeaMonkey. To get it, go to www.mozilla.org. You can download it directly from this site. Once it is downloaded, go through the process of installing it on your computer.
Once you have download and install it, it will ask if you want to use SeaMonkey as your default browser. You don’t have to, but you can if you would like. This would make SeaMonkey your internet browser instead of Internet Explorer or Firefox or whatever you are currently using. If you want to try it out, you can click yes and then change it back later if you prefer your previous browser.
Tutorial Link:
The following link is for a SeaMonkey tutorial. I recommend going through it so that you can learn how to ad text, links, images, and tables to your property listings. In combination with the information in this module, you should be able to create an effective listing for your property.
http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/itd/tutorials/SeaMonkey
Create Your Ad:
When the program is open, go to the top right and click on “Window” and select “Composer”.
Design your ad in the window using the tools at the top of the editor page.
Start with a title:
It should draw attention and make the person want to read the rest of the ad. There is a great book called “The Irresistible Offer” by Mark Joyner. I recommend reading it because it will help you design your ads effectively. For now, the important concept is that the ONLY goal for your title is to get the person to keep reading. You only have about 3 seconds to communicate something intriguing that will keep your reader’s attention. So make it interesting.
Organizing the listing:
Place the selling points (amenities, activities, attractions) at the top section of the ad, then the legal descriptions and specs near the bottom. This gets the person excited about the property first and then gives them the details later.
Pictures:
Pictures are extremely important. This is what will sell the property. It will also help you sell it for a higher amount. eBay has done studies that show that listings with pictures consistently get higher sales prices than those that don’t.
Text tells, but pictures sell. Don’t forget that.
After the title, insert a picture. If possible, make it a picture of the actual property or another one that will help the potential buyer imagine himself/herself owning the property. Pictures are emotional for potential buyers. And people buy on emotion first and then will create logical reasons to support their buying decisions. So stir up the emotion by creating a vivid image in their mind of how their life will be better once they own the property.
If you need to, call a neighbor and ask them to take pictures for you. Offer to give them something in exchange. Say, “What would make it worth your time to take a few pictures for me?” Most of the time, a small amount of money or a gift certificate somewhere will be sufficient.
If possible, get pictures that include things like phone lines, phone boxes, and evidence of other utilities or services on the property.
Try to get a minimum of six or seven pictures. Pictures of the property itself are best. But if you don’t have them, use satellite imagery and parcel maps. You can use the following types of maps: Road map, Plat map, topographical map, Google Earth image etc.
Also, use pictures of the surrounding areas. Make sure that they are relevant. You can get some of these pictures by going to images.google.com. When you are there, you can type in the name of the area or city and it will bring up images you can use. Make sure the images you use are not copyrighted.
Try to include aerial photos (possibly from GIS) to give prospective buyers a bird’s eye view of the property.
Use pictures of the amenities and attractions. For example, if you want to market that there is great water skiing in that area, then show pictures of someone waterskiing. You can insert pictures of interesting things in the area, like golf courses, water or amusement parks or other attractions, major stores, etc. All of these things help people visualize life in the area.
Insert the pictures throughout the ad at different intervals. If you are selling raw land, you may want to include pictures of homes in the nearby area so they can see the types of neighborhoods that are close.
Put your pictures in .gif or .jpg format.Get an account with PhotoBucket:
If you don’t already have one, get an account at www.photobucket.com. The account is free. You can place all of your pictures in your account at photobucket.com and then include them in your listing on eBay.
You will simply insert the direct link for the picture you want to use into the ad and it will bring up the picture in that spot. (See the tutorial listed above for how to insert pictures.)
Text:
When you insert text, keep it brief. When people see long paragraphs, they skip over them or just give them a cursory reading. Each paragraph should only be 3-4 lines long, if possible.
For the human eye, the easiest combination of background color and text color to read is black text on a pale yellow background. Consider using this in your ads because the easier it is for the person to read, the more they will focus and understand your text. Don’t use red or yellow text.DON’T USE TEXT THAT IS ALL CAPITALIZED, IT IS HARD TO READ.Use tables and lists, etc. to keep it interesting.Make the ad very readable and easily scanned by dividing the ad into sections. (Amenities, Specifications, Contact Information etc.)
Tables:
When it comes to the detailed information on the property itself such as parcel number, property size, dimensions, legal description, zoning, etc., use a table to convey the information. People can easily read and understand tables and can find all of the important information to do their own research very quickly if it is in a table.
Put the following in a table:
APN (Assessor’s Parcel Number)
Legal Description (as given by the county)
Size of property (in acres, square feet, or both)
Zoning
Annual taxes
Utilities on the property
Improvements (buildings, etc.)
Appraised value
Links:
If possible, you will want to put links to the county website where your property is located. This will allow people to conduct their research easily.
If there is a neighborhood or HOA website, put that link in the ad as well.
You may also want to consider links to the following two sites:
www.bestplaces.net
www.hometownlocator.com
Both of these sites give interesting facts and information about any area in the country. Go to the site and type in the property’s city or zip code. If you find information that might be interesting to a potential buyer, cut and paste the website URL from the interesting page into your listing.
Visualization:
In your listing, you want to get people to visualize the property and its surroundings. You also want to answer all of their questions in the listing.
Answer all potential questions in your listing:If, after reading your ad, the person still has questions, chances are they will not take the time to contact you to get the questions answered. They may just skip the auction completely. Give them EVERYTHING in one place.
Also, if they run across the ad just before it closes, there won’t be time for them to ask a question and have you respond. So you need to try to anticipate the questions a prospective buyer might have and answer them in your listing.
The goal of your listing is that after reading your listing, the person should feel comfortable BUYING your property. Include all of the information about the property that the buyers will need in order to make an educated decision on whether or not they want to buy.
Things to include in your item description:
When you create your property description, you will want to include the following:
Comparables
Parcel maps or links to parcel maps
Driving directions along with a map from www.mapquest.com
Add Your Documentation Fee:
I suggest that you include an additional fee with each auction to cover your costs. The idea of the document preparation fee is to cover your eBay fees, the recording fee (which the county will charge to record the deed in the new property owner’s name), notary fee and any other expenses that you have in selling and transferring ownership of the property. You don’t want to tell them it is partly to cover your eBay fees, but I mention it here so that you know.
For eBay, charge a “Document Preparation Fee” of $250 or so. If you are selling on www.bid4assets.com, you can charge a “Buyer’s Premium Fee”.You must disclose this fee in the listing. A sample of what to include regarding the document preparation fee is below in the disclaimer section.
Add Disclaimers:
You must have a couple of additional disclaimers on your auction to protect yourself. Of course, make sure that what you put in your disclaimer is true for the property you are listing. The following is a sample disclaimer (you will want to modify it for your purposes):
Due Diligence: Before purchasing any property, we encourage you to conduct your own Due Diligence. All properties are sold "as is, where is" and in the same physical condition as when we received them. All information on our properties comes from reliable sources such as Property Owner's Association (POA), county, state or other governmental agencies. The information provided herein is deemed to be accurate but cannot be guaranteed. Ask all questions before your purchase! All questions must be e-mailed or written. All correspondence is printed, logged and archived. Your bid is a legal agreement to purchase and indicates that you have completed all of your DUE DILIGENCE.
Payment: You are bidding on the FULL purchase price of this lot. This is Not a Down Payment Auction! There is a document preparation fee of $250.00 added to winning bid which covers deed preparation, recording fees, transfer taxes and notification to all relevant agencies. The time period for the deed transfer depends on the county, but we will do our best to have the deed delivered between 3-6 weeks after purchase. Payment must be made within 5 business days. Once payment is received and cleared by the bank, then a Quit Claim Deed will be issued and sent to the county to be recorded and then forwarded to you. We accept a cashier's checks, PayPal money, and credit cards through PayPal. There are no past taxes or fees due for this Property. All fees and tax amounts listed are correct to the best of our knowledge. NOTE: If you have a feedback rating below 90% and/or less than 5, then payment must be received within 24 hours through PayPal. The specific picture descriptions indicate whether the picture is of the actual property or of the area. Most of the pictures are, in fact, of the actual parcel.
Other things to remember:
State the type of deed you will be using (Quit Claim Deed).
Request the vesting information be sent to you from the buyer. Include a statement like: “The winning bidder must contact me within 24 hours of the end of the sale to give me all vesting information.”
Use Other Effective Ads For Good Ideas:Look at other people’s ads on www.ebay.com and on www.bid4assets.com.
Look at completed listings that sold for higher amounts and then look at those ads. Why were those ads effective? Try to learn from other successful sellers what you can do to maximize your profits through effective listings. Avoid things you see in other ads that are a turn-off to buyers. If it is a turn-off to you, it probably is to another potential buyer, too.
Also, with your original package, you got a disc that has a segment from Donny Chu, one of the many successful John Beck program graduates. He goes over the listing process and many of the things he has found to be effective. There aren’t many listings better than Donny’s, so watch this disc and get some good ideas.
Transfer Your Listing to Ebay, or whatever listing site you are using:
Once your ad is complete and you are ready to transfer it to eBay so your auction can start, you will need to do the following:
· Save the ad – click on “File” and “Save As” and save it to your computer.
· Then, in the bottom, left-hand corner of the screen, change from “Normal” view to “HTML Source”. This will show you your ad in HTML language. You need to copy and paste it into the “Product Description” section of your eBay listing.
· To do this, hold down the “Ctrl” button on your keyboard and simultaneously push the “A” key. This will select all of the text.
· Now hold down the “Ctrl” button on your keyboard and simultaneously push the “C” key. This will copy the text into temporary memory.
· Now open your eBay listing and put the in the “Product Description” section. Now hold down the “Ctrl” button on your keyboard and simultaneously push the “V” key. This will paste the HTML code into this section.
· Preview the listing and if it is correct, then save the listing and finish any other steps within the eBay listing so that the auction will start at the specified time.
Things you will want to find out from the County before you sell your property:
Are there any other documents required for filing other than the deed?
What is the recording fee?
How long does it take the county to record the deed and send it off to the new buyer?
