These days, selling a home in Lakewood Ranch, Florida can be a daunting task, to say the least. Lakewood Ranch homes are now selling for over $100,000 less than just 2 years ago. This is great news for anyone buying a home in Lakewood Ranch (the offers are outrageous), but it is devastating for those trying to sell a home in Lakewood Ranch.

However, it is still possible to sell your home in Lakewood Ranch, but only if you go above and beyond… only if you go above and beyond what every other home on the market is doing.

First, however, you must understand this basic concept… Selling a home is like selling anything… it’s a business… and like any business, you want to bring as many customers to that business as possible. This is called “driving traffic”. Regardless of what you sell, the best way to make a sale is to generate the most amount of traffic for your business. No traffic = no sale. The same goes for real estate, especially in this tough market. If you want to sell a home in Lakewood Ranch, you need to direct traffic to that home.

Here are several tips to help you build traffic and sell your Lakewood Ranch home…regardless of whether you are a FSBO (For Sale By Owner) or using a real estate agent.

1. get listing ~ Obviously, if you are using a real estate agent, then the agent will list you on the MLS. However, if you want to sell your home in Lakewood Ranch, you MUST be listed on BOTH Sarasota MLS Y Manatee MLS. This will greatly increase the number of real estate agents who will see your listing and therefore increase the amount of traffic you get. If you are not If you use a real estate agent, you can use a flat fee listing service. You can find a flat fee quoting service that will get you placed in both the Manatee MLS and Sarasota MLS for just $299. Remember, it’s all about traffic…if you’re not listed in MLS, you simply won’t get the traffic. Don’t stop there though… make sure you’re listed with other places people might be looking for homes too, like Craigslist, Yahoo Real Estate, Zillow, Truila, Sarasota Herald Tribune and others…

2. Use a signature file ~ A signature file (short for “signature” file) is something you can add to the end of EVERY outgoing email you send. Each email service will have a different way of setting up a signature file, but once set up, you’ll never have to think about it again. If you’re using Outlook Express, just go to tools>>options>>signatures and then type something about selling your house, like “Sit by the pool and drink margaritas while your friends up north freeze. Buy my house at Lakewood Ranch and get a free golf cart.” You can even add a photo of your house. This is a great passive way to promote your home. Every time you send an email, your message will automatically be attached at the bottom. You can set this up for your home email as well as your office email. If you’re one of those people who sends (or forwards) jokes, just think how many more people will know that your house is for sale.

3. Create a website ~ Setting up a website these days couldn’t be easier. It costs next to nothing and makes it so much easier to promote your home. Just think, for any ad you create, you can add your web address, like “Buy this house @ www.[Insert Street Address].com.” Now anyone can visit your website. And once on your site, people can easily add their contact information.

1. Think outside the box~ What other ways are there to generate traffic? How else can you get people to notice your home? How can you stand out from all the other homes for sale in Lakewood Ranch? Here’s an idea… try giving something away with the sale of your home. How about a new barbecue? Don’t want to spend money on a new barbecue? Don’t worry… Both Lowes and Home Depot have a 90-day money-back guarantee. Go find a new rack and park it in front of your house with a “free with sale of house” sign on it. If no one buys your home in 90 days, simply return it for a full refund. This type of “outside the box” thinking will make your Lakewood Ranch home stand out and drive more traffic to your home.

Once again, when it comes to selling a Lakewood Ranch home, the old ways, while good, just don’t cut it anymore. If you truly want to sell your home in Lakewood Ranch, you MUST stand out from the crowd, you MUST drive traffic to your home. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket…everything helps and it’s the people who go the extra mile that can sell a Lakewood Ranch home.