When we have something we need to sell, where’s the first place we usually turn? Craigslist, of course. But in this case, you have a house for sale. So you’re most likely asking this question: “What chances do I have when selling my home on Craigslist in McAllen?”
What are your chances, then? Well, they can be pretty good actually. After all, Craigslist gets 50 billion page views every single month. But you have to get some critical elements of your ad exactly right.
What Chances Do I Have When Selling My Home on Craigslist in McAllen
Headline
Eight out of 10 people will read the headline of a piece of website content, but only two of those 10 will go on to read the rest. In addition, six of 10 social media users who share a link never actually read the article whose link they shared. The point? You simply have to get the headline of your Craigslist ad exactly right.
You need to write a compelling headline, but you should never lie about your home or exaggerate its features. One effective tactic is to use numbers, especially odd numbers. Here’s an example: “5 Reasons You Should Check Out My Townhouse in McAllen (Hint: Number 3 Is Five Minutes From Shopping and Schools)” Just make sure you give them a reason to take the next step and click on the ad.
Body
In the body you need to explain what you promised in the headline; a short description of the property and its advantages. Use short paragraphs, lots of space, and lists where appropriate. And, of course, proof read the add so you avoid using poor grammar or run-on sentences or misspellings. People may become suspicious of the quality of the house when they see spelling mistakes.
Also, make sure you include all the relevant keywords your target shoppers might be searching for. Craigslist serves up ads based on what people type into the search bar. If you feel that your ad isn’t getting the traffic it should, make some changes to the description or try using different keywords and change their location.
Pictures
Pictures are just as important as the actual ad copy for selling a home on Craigslist. Most people, though, make the images too large, which not only looks unprofessional but makes the page take longer to load. Most people just hit the back button if a page’s loading time is too long.
Take pictures of entire rooms or areas. People don’t need to see a picture of the stove or washer. If an appliance, say, a refrigerator, has been recently updated, you can mention that fact in the body of the ad copy.
If you use a digital camera, make sure not to leave the date and time stamp in the bottom right corner of the image; it does not look professional and if your house takes a while to sell it can hint that there is some underlying issue with the property and that’s why it is not selling.
Posting Times
Many of the Craigslist experts advise posting an ad between 10:00 am and noon on weekdays. After 5:00 pm on weekdays also works well (which is what I would do if I were selling my home in McAllen on Craiglist – in order to present a fresh ad to all those shoppers browsing Craigslist right after they get home from work.) And if you wait until the weekend, morning is the recommended posting time.
Selling my home in McAllen on Craigslist? It’s a real possibility if done right. But if on the other hand, you don’t want to bother with all that after all, we have a much easier solution for you.