When a call comes in on my property, what happens? Who handles the call?
The Change My Street program is entirely flexible, giving you the ability to retain as much control as you like. You can take ownership of all showings, questions and subsequent transaction items if you like. The program also provides an affiliate agent at your disposal that can help with some of the paper-pushing aspects of a real estate transaction and take any burden off of you that you like for a small fee.
Why is For Sale By Owner a good idea?
We have compiled information sheets that can help you determine the advantages of a for sale by owner. Click here for reasons to sell by owner and click here for reasons to buy for sale by owner properties.
How do I get started?
By following this link you can immediately begin the process by going through the process detailed there. You will create your ad in its entirety and when you are finished, it will be added to the millions of other homes we service, ready for exposure to our sites stream of visitors.
What amount of traffic can I expect for my listing?
ChangeMyStreet.com has long been a market leader in the for sale by owner field, ensuring that your listing will be seen by thousands of visitors. Through ForSaleByOnwer.com, a slew of visitors will come to your ad and easy-to-use reports will tell you just how many came to your property’s listing. Web directories all around the Internet feature our listings and recognizable names like Yahoo, ATT, Military.com, USAToday.com and others will give you even more exposure for your listing.
Note: The amount of exposure your ad receives is dependent upon the plan you choose.
Do I need a real estate attorney for this?
Typically, the answer is no. Title companies throughout the United States are customarily able to handle the various aspects of a real estate purchase or sale that you will need to go through. ChangeMyStreet.com of course helps with this process, offering a list of reliable title companies in your area. Check that list here.
Of course, in any transaction that is so important to your personal dealings, many users do retain attorneys just to make sure everything goes as it should. That real estate attorney can handle things like a review of your sale or purchase contract or escrow when the time comes. Every area of the country has countless attorneys, but find one that is experienced in real estate transactions.
I’ve heard about the Sign Package. What is that?
A sign package will provide you with signs that you can use to publicize your listing in your area. Each sign package includes a 24” by 18” sign that you can place in your front yard. Two 24” by 9” signs are also included that can be used to direct traffic to your property. Each sign can be relied upon to last for the duration of your listing and well beyond as each is made of a strong plastic that is designed to take all kinds of weather conditions. UPS will ship your signs directly to you five to eight days after completing the sign package order, giving you the immediate ability to publicize your listing. You can see examples of each sign here:
Is there a privacy policy for my email address?
ChangeMyStreet.com has a strict privacy policy that keeps your email address safe from spammers and other organizations that you don’t want to have your email. Email addresses are solely used for critical ChangeMyStreet information and are never sold. Other competing sites do make a practice of selling their email database, something ChangeMyStreet.com has pledged never to do. Any emails you may receive will be from ChangeMyStreet.com and no one else. Any instances of suspected abuse should be directed to abuse@changemystreet.com.
How can I hunt down For Sale By Owner properties that are for sale?
By using the Buy A Home link on the ChangeMyStreet.com front page, you can access thousands of homes that you might be interested in. By entering in your zip code, city and state or listing number if you know it, you can immediately access relevant homes. As those properties come up, you will be given three distinct ways to search by property.
One option will take in your city and state information and give you the option to specify a distance from that location that is the maximum you want to see listings for. This would allow you to put in a city like Denver, Colorado, and only see listings that are within 50 miles of the city. These searches can also cross over state lines, giving you the ability to see listings anywhere in the proximity of a particular metropolitan area. Additional options are also offered to further narrow your site.
Second, by putting in a zip code you are afforded the same opportunity to specify a proximity of homes to search through.
Third, if you know the listing number of the property you are interested in, that search method will take you directly to the home. If you see a property in a newspaper or by driving around, you can use the listing number if it is supplied to go directly to the listing, a helpful step.
How successful is Change My Street?
The nature of the ChangeMyStreet.com site makes it difficult to track sales as we not allowed to be a part of the actual real estate transaction because ChangeMyStreet.com is not a real estate agent. That lets you avoid commissions, but also precludes us from tracking every transaction on our site from beginning to end. However, through a variety of polls we offer periodically to track customer satisfaction, responses have shown sale levels between 40 percent and 85 percent, depending on the particular metropolitan area. Location, as always, matters greatly in real estate.
No site can sell a poor home at a high price in an unattractive area and every site can sell a cheap home in great shape in great area. Every real estate agent, just as every for sale by owner site, holds true to that strict tenet.
However, what ChangeMyStreet.com can guarantee is a tireless work ethic designed to bring your property in front of as many prospective buyers as possible. Advertising is a key part of the way ChangeMyStreet.com accomplishes that goal and each month thousands of dollars are spent around North American to bring consumers to the site for your listing.
As a rule of thumb, in most metropolitan areas, ChangeMyStreet.com has roughly the same success rate as traditional real estate agents (without charging a traditional real estate commission).
Does ChangeMyStreet.com operate other sites as well?
Yes. ChangeMyStreet.com is a partner site with ForSaleByOwner.com and operates both ByOwnerSales.com and SaleByOwner.com. Though each is part of the ChangeMyStreet.com family, only use the specific site you signed up with for all of your transaction needs.
How do I choose the perfect photo for my property?
As with all types of real estate marketing, you want to make a potential buyer take a second, third and fourth look at your home. Generating interest is the key goal of any photo and showing a beautiful shot of the front of your property is the best way to do so. Curb appeal is a very real phenomenon and conveying your attractive yard and front façade will make a buyer want to know more about your home. If a front shot of your home is not sent as part of your listing, ChangeMyStreet.com will go through the photos you provide and select the one that gives you the best possible chance of landing the most possible interested buyers.
Do you sell my email address or send spam?
Of course not. Your email address is never sold and spam is never sent. Habeas, one of the internet’s most trusted email certification sites, has approved of ForSaleByOwner.com and we conform to all internet standards in regards to emails. With a listing on the Habeas SafeList, a collection of trusted sites, ChangeMyStreet.com and its family of sites maintains a trusted standing along with thousands of the other trusted sites on the web.