You’re ready to list your home. There’s only one option: call a real estate agent, right? Not so fast! Some of the best tools used by agents can be accessed by owners selling on their own. That includes Zillow.
Even if you do want to work with an agent, you should still know the pros and cons of each potential marketing tool.
Zillow Sacramento is one of the most popular places to advertise a home for sale in the area. But is it the best place for you to list your property? Let’s talk about that, and address some other options.
Should You Advertise Your Home on Zillow for Sacramento?
There are pros and cons to listing on a major real estate site, whether it’s on your own or with the help of a licensed agent. For Zillow, those include:
Pros
Visibility — If you list your property with professional photos on Zillow, you could reach millions of people. Almost anyone looking to buy in your area is bound to do some online searching, and having a Zillow listing means they’re likely to find your home.
No Fees — You can list your home for sale for free on Zillow. They make their money through advertising and a premier listing program. The average agent or for sale by owner “FSBO” listing can be posted gratis.
Trulia Syndication — Most Zillow listings are also posted to Trulia, another popular real estate marketplace. That gives you access to even more potential buyers.
Autonomy — Like we said, you don’t need an agent to list your Sacramento home on Zillow. That means you can post it for sale whenever you want, adjust the the listing as necessary, and pull the property off the market on your own schedule. No waiting for a real estate agent to handle this stuff for you.
Cons
High Competition — It’s true that you can reach millions of people using Zillow… but so can everyone else. You’ll be competing with nearly every other property on the local market and it might be hard to stand out.
Unmotivated Buyers — While Zillow gets millions of visitors per year, not all of them are motivated buyers. People browse available properties for fun, to snoop on their neighbor’s listing, and to get an idea about what type of upgrades they should make to their own home. You could end up with a ton of listing views that don’t amount to anything.
Zestimate Accuracy — Zillow provides a home value estimate for every property on its site (even those that are not currently listed for sale) called Zestimates. The problem is they’re not always accurate. So you could list your home on Zillow and be competing against neighbors with inflated Zestimates that don’t reflect the true market.
What are Your Other Options?
What if you don’t want to deal with the major real estate sites when it’s time to sell your home? Selling by owner is challenging, because you probably won’t have as many leads or professional connections as a real estate agent would.
If you are selling on your own and you decide Zillow is not for you, you can always turn to traditional yard signs and community sites like Craigslist. This might give you more leads from people who are actually local and looking for a new place to live (as opposed to late-night looky-loos who browse listings for fun).
You can also sell your home to an investor. At California Family Homebuyers, we buy homes in any condition. You don’t have to create a listing, worry about fixing up your home, or deal with real estate broker fees.
We simply make you a fair offer and we close in as few as seven days. If you’re looking to sell your home fast, selling to a company like ours can often be the best solutions. We have helped people selling inherited homes, those looking to avoid foreclosure, and people who need to relocate quickly and have a home that requires major repairs.
Contact us today at 916-496-3737 to see if we can help!