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speedingpenguin

Craigslist posting experts??? NEED HELP!

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Anyone here post ads on Craigslist regularly with any success?

Do you do it yourself or hire a VA to post for you? What's a fair rate?

What type of ads (for buyers) seem to work the best? Picture ads? Text ads? Ads that look like you're a business or just someone offering their home rent-to-own?

 

I'm getting frustrated with my lack of results from Craigslist lately... Being limited to posting 1 ad / day so I don't get ghosted, and not getting NEARLY as many calls as I did.... maybe it's just because it's winter?

 

What are you guys doing that seems to work best for you?

:angry:

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Well I am by no means an expert on this. I have watched quite a few videos and read up on marketing and I think there was some very good tips and techniques that I have learned. Maybe you already know many, or maybe all of these but I thought I would share so maybe others who haven't heard some of these could get something out of it. I have not personally tried these because I am just starting and getting everything set up right now, but they seem like some pretty good common sense ideas when you think about it.

 

Time of Day: Depending on your market area this might vary, you also will want to split test and see which works best. But as you already know CL is just a running tally of ads posted with the most recent post on TOP. Depending on your area and population your ads might get buried under everyone else's posts very quickly, or it might sit near the top for a couple of hours. But you want to keep your ads at the top of the page when the traffic to CL is going to be at the highest levels. So the usual times most people will be surfing CL will probably be during lunch time, right after most people get off of work, as well as after dinner when people are winding down from the day.

 

So instead of just posting all of your ads in the morning and saying I am done with my marketing for the day. Pop in during these high traffic times of the day so your ads are as close to the top as possible. Just like google or any other search engine, it is statistically proven that (most) people will only click on the first couple of options and be done with it. Of course when someone is looking for a house or rental then they will more likely do a little more research. But how far are they willing to go down the list before they give up? So maximize those high traffic times to get the most possible eyes looking at your ads.

 

Also with different seasons it might bring different times to post. During the winter people are not out as late as during the summer. The sun goes down earlier and its colder. So that might change up your times of posting with the seasons as well.

 

Post More Than One Ad With marketing the key is always the more the better, as well as staying consistent. With CL you have a time standard as to how often you can repost the EXACT same ad. So the key is to make variations of ONE ad that will turn it into 3-6 different ads. Now you don't want to over do it and end up getting "ghosted" or flagged as spam or overposting. Some of the ways that you can post the same ad more than once in the 48 hrs or whatever it is, is to mix it up and make variations. Change the heading, change the price, change the text, use different pictures of the same house, use an html ad instead of just a text ad. Now I don't mean change the price so people are confused, I am saying that in one ad you can have the purchase price. In a different ad you can have the rental amount, or the option fee. Just change everything up and post the different ads at different times of the day.

 

Over time you will be able to see which different type of ads are getting the best results. You will also see what times of the day you are getting your most traffic. So you then switch it up to use your BEST AD during the HIGHEST TRAFFIC time of the day generating hopefully better and better results.

 

Using the Google Keyword Tool If you haven't heard of this tool then hopefully this will intrigue you. The keyword tool (which is absolutely free) can be utilized to help you do some keyword assessment of your local area and what they are searching for. It can be used for pretty much anything. So lets say that on the header of your ad you put in there [3bed, 2bath close to downtown] or whatever most people do. But lets say you use the keyword tool and figure out that in your area tons of people are searching for "rent to own" or "rent to own (insert your local city and state)" so lets just call it "rent to own miami, fl". Then in your heading for your ad you put in [rent to own, 3bd/2bt 1800 sq]. Not only will you be getting people who will click on your ad who went specifically to CL to view ads. But you will also get people to your ad that searched for "rent to own miami, fl" using google, yahoo, or whatever other search engine they used. CL has very good search engine optimization as well as backpage, which in turn CL and backpage ads will rank high on different search engines. Getting you high amounts of traffic and more eyes on your ad.

 

Use the keyword tool and find out what term or keywords are the most popular. Is it lease purchase, rent to own, lease option, rent to purchase? You get the idea, whatever is ranking the highest or maybe the two or three different keyword phrases that are being searched for the most. USE THEM! You will get more FREE traffic to your ads, generating hopefully better results.

 

I don't really know what would be better between showing that your a business or just a regular person. But with being able to post more than just 1 ad a day then you should be able to split test it. You could also try getting another CL account. I know you have to verify over the phone but you can always use a different number like google voice or some other free phone service to verify. That way not only can you run more than one variation of an ad but you can run quite a few more ads and all of their variations. Just don't go overboard and get your account shut down. That way if you do get flagged by someone, or get ghosted by CL then you have more than one ad out there that people are able to view.

 

Like I said before I have not used these and I am not an expert. I have heard and seen these tips from others and they seemed to be some of the best tips I have heard about posting on CL or backpage. Or literally any other ad posting website out there. I think if you use these principals and figure out your area, you should have some pretty decent results.

 

If I am wrong on anything here please let me know.

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Chris, a few comments.

First, you're in the northeast. Historically, winter is the death of real estate up your way. So that needs to be factored into the equation.

Second, we are in a weak real estate market and a weak economy. It's not only you who is experiencing a slow down.

Third, Craig's List has definitely lost some of its drawing power and appeal. Too many Agents, too many scammers, have turned what was once a great resource into a shell of its former self. Still, it is free and you need to use it to your advantage.

Any ad for a property you are trying to move must include photos. No photos, no calls, in my experience. I also think it is imperative that you include the terms of the deal: rent, rent credits, etc. Otherwise you'll find yourself talking to folks with an $800/mo budget for an $1,800/mo house. Weed out the unqualified and the tire kickers from the get-go.

Finally, with the barrage of Agents advertising on Craig's List, I prefer to advertise as an individual homeowner. I think prospective t/b's and tenants prefer this.

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Good stuff guys! Thanks!

 

Smitty, great info! I try and post around 10am 'cause I had read on a few sites that 10:00 is a hot time for Craigslist (people at work settling down to get some REAL work done during their coffee break, haha), but after all of my accounts started being ghosted I'll post whenever I can, but it's usually mid morning.

I had about 5 PVA's but wound up with almost all of them ghosted and eventually the password reset error that Craigslist does to keep spammers off (have to re-verify with a phone number). Google Voice and other VoIP phone services (my TossableDigits for example) don't work with Craigslist, which is a royal pain in the ass. I've got no problem buying PVA's though, they're ~5 bucks, I just want to figure out the best way to use them without getting them booted before I start blowing money on them.

 

Michael, you're right... It's cold as ^%#$ up here (lucky you, in Florida...) and with snow on it's way (not yet, but soon I imagine.... ugh!) I was expecting a slow down. But to give you an example, back in July I could throw an ad up and I'd get several emails and phone calls within a matter of hours pretty much every time I posted...

I've been posting one property I've got which is a pretty good deal number-wise, every other day for about a week, and still not a single call.

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In my main farm area Craigs List had 20 owner ads today! yee ha!

 

(8) investors

(2) selling land

(2) mobile homes

(6) FSBOs

 

out of the six (2) where good for the first email. :angry:

It 's the holidays.

 

But I will say yesterday, I did get a call from a post card I stuck on the side of a mail box about a week ago and it was a real estate agent. Turns out he has a bunch of investment properties he wants to dump. He says (40). Well three of them he wanted me to look at to L/O. And three short offers went out today. I figure to get (1) maybe (2).

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Chris, I always say there are only two reasons why a property doesn't generate interest. Either no one knows about it, or they are rejecting the terms. But it isn't that cut and dry anymore. Factor in the time of the year and the great unknown of this economy and where it's headed, and it's no surprise that replies to our marketing is less than we are accustomed to.

You say you've checked and your terms are in line with the market. Then you'll need to step up your marketing beyond Craig's List. What else are you doing to attract t/b's?

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I put up 12 bandit signs around the house yesterday afternoon, got one call this morning...

 

I'm not really sure what else to do. I'm going to put together some fliers and go back down there (about 45 minutes away) this week and hit up all the laundromats, I've had terrible luck with fliers at grocery stores around here (Put 'em up, grab some groceries, and by the time I leave they're already taken down), I've blasted the property out with SellPoint and Postlets, and the homeowner is sending me a video tour of the house so I can get it up on YouTube as well

 

Any ideas for other ways to get the word out?

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Chris-

 

For me it has been local traffic. I would say about 80% of calls from potential tenant/buyers are coming from signs right now. For me between Thanksgiving and January is a slower time, but there are still tenant/buyers out there. One of the big "oh that's awesome" comments I get are from offering great rent credits and advertising the rent credits as a big "to-do!" If you can offer 50%, 75% or even 100% in rent credits many times you will get a bite and real them in. Another thing which is the reality of the economy is that no one wants to pay retail. If you can get rents down below market, followed by below market price it will help to get your phone to ring. You may need to work on the seller's motivation to get a lower rent amount. Or, which I hate doing but it works, offer the seller part of the option consideration as "prepaid rent" spread out over 1 year and lower the rent amount to the tenant buyer.

 

On a side note: I am thinking more about trying to do some Pure Options if I can find the equity. Discounted foreclosers and shorts sales is whats moving now it seems. I have a property I own and am selling it 10% below market and I will pay all closing cost and I am getting showings.

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I have been thinking about different ways over the past couple of weeks on how to get my name out there to t/b. I was thinking about one of the suggestions in the manual about apartment complexes. People there are already renting and would probably much rather be renting a home than an apartment or townhouse/condo.

 

I know its not free marketing and I don't know how much of a budget you have right now. But I would think that it would be worth it.

 

I was planning on using door hangers instead of flyer's or direct mail. The problem I think will direct mail to these complexes would be to actually get someone to open your letter instead of just throwing it in the trash. With a door hanger there is no opening and your advertisement is in plain sight where at least you would have a better chance of them reading it. Maybe some of them would throw it right away but I think it would be more successful than a letter. Plus I think the door hangers would be cheaper. (Don't know for sure)

 

You could put a good message about why rent when you can rent to own for the same price or maybe even less than what they are already paying. Put your website and phone number on there, most people would at least check out your website so make sure you at least have one house on there before you put these out. Even if they are not interested they might know someone who would be. You could also put on there some kind of referral payment of $50 or something. (Of course only pay the referral when the t/b they referred actually pays you)

 

You could probably have a local company print them up and then go around and do it yourself to save some money. I have heard a couple of guru's say that they contacted local delivery restaurants that are always going around and putting out flyer's and door hangers and pay them to take yours with them and put yours up along with whatever they are putting out. Or you could put an ad on CL and have someone do it for you. Pay them like 10 cents per door hanger and if they did 500 they would get $50. Or you could figure out your own numbers, just throwing something out there.

 

Another problem would be that a lot of people renting an apartment aren't exactly in the right financial situation to pay the option fee and first months rent. (or even have good enough credit to qualify) But I think if you focus on the higher end apartment complexes and condos then it would be more successful. You can look up their websites and they usually have their monthly rent figures on their website to see what people are paying to rent there. If they don't have that info on the site then you could make a quick call and just act like your looking to rent and just ask for their prices.

 

If you were to have someone else do this for you, you would probably want to either have them take pictures or you go drive around and confirm that they actually put them out. Has anyone else done this and had any good results?

 

What do you think? Anything I am missing here or need to change in my thinking?

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Smitty, the first thing that comes to mind is that most apartment complexes will point you to the exit if they catch you soliciting on the premises. So this may be a one shot deal if you decide to try.

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