I have done 90% of my advertising on the Internet. I think it works because I continually sell it. (Buyers actually being able to get a mortgage is another story.) We've created a website and chose a name that people would be likely to search for when looking for this type of property in this area. I thought, "If I was looking for a place like this, what would I type in?" We get a lot of action on the website. I also advertised on all the sites I thought people looking for this type of place would look. It's a horse farm, so places like Land and Farm, Horse Clicks, my local equestrian site, etc. I also advertised on every single free site that I could find. I don't care if it's a site that doesn't get any activity--if it's free, I put my ad on there. You never know. I put it on Craig's List now and then but I never get anything from there except people fooling around. But again, you never know. I consider it my job selling this place so every day I sit down and figure out where I can put ads. I also paid a flat fee agent to put it on the MLS and Realtor.com. I got NO action from there even though I offer agents the same commission they'd get if they brought one of their buyers to any other agent's listing. Think of your "customer" and where they'd look if they were looking for a place like yours. I don't know how many people look in newspapers nowadays. I put a couple of ads in my local newspapers anyway, plus a couple in some regional horse publications. The horse publications did well. In fact, I think that's where I got a couple of buyers. You have acreage. I suggest that you focus on that a little bit: "This could be the farm of your dreams! Bring the horses!" If you have any fencing, that's a big plus. If you have actual pasture, even if it's unfenced, that's major. I'd play that up. Hope these ideas help.

Here is a link that might be useful: Smith Mountain Lake Horse Property

SouthEastOhio - would you like us to critique your website?

Yes, please critique the website.

I won't comment on your house much. It looks very clean and neat--great!

I will comment on your webpage as I have some design experience. The first thing that really, really stands out is the font size. It's too small. The page is filled with too much text and unimportant information eg--window treatments stay, or the bit about parking or telling me the wires are in the walls or this
"Thumbnail pictures and captions are shown together" Most people know to hit a thumbnail or will try to do so.

The biggest mistake people that try to sell their own place make is emphasizing and valuing things that are not important to others.

You should create categories of information eg--utilities, you have a foundation which is a crawlspace not a basement, Exterior and interior finishes (although the bit about the drywall can be seen in the photos--I would expect drywall so there is no need to tell someone UNLESS that's very unusual in your area)

Instead of just stating Living Room--tell me the size of each room

The photo on the left of the page confuses me. What am I seeing here? Not really making me want to see more of the house.

You might also consider the use of bullet points and creating a two column page. Definitely change the font size. I would take one look at that and move on to the next thing.

As far as sites like Zillow and Trulia, in many areas the MLS has an agreement that will allow those sites to pull listings directly from MLS. The MLS in my area feds into dozens of sites. Realtor.com also pulls all the MLS listings, but agents/brokers must pay extra for "enhanced listing" with more than 5 pictures and extra text. Many agents aren't even aware of this. I would choose an agent that subscribes to the enhanced listings.
I know many agents that post on Craiglist, and usually use a free flyer service like Postlets for a more professional appearance. With Craigslist the agent must manually update the ad at least weekly so that it will stay at the top of the Craigslist page.

I agree with the previous poster that the font on your site is way too small, and details that are relatively unimportant to buyers are highlighted. I haven't looked closely at all of your pictures, but I would definitely "de-pink" the master bath.

I think that individual homeowners can use Postlets (which is owned by Zillow). When you publish a Postlet, it automatically will go to Zillow, Trulia, Front Door, Oodle, etc.

Your website will be an adjunct to the websites like realtor.com that will supply a lot of facts about your house. Your personal website, IMO, needs to take a more emotional approach.

Your website should make me fall in love with your house. The photos should draw me in, the words should paint a picture of how wonderful it would be for me to live there. The first page should grab me with a good-sized really great photo of the outside. I want to see *some* photos on your website, but not so many that there is no reason to visit.

I don't know what your website creation abilities are, but maybe you could find someone else's site and use it as a guide.

Thank you guys for your critiques on my website. I made some changes but I should probably make more.

terricks, thanks for the info on postlets etc. I have passed on the comments that you and others have made about the pink master bathroom to my wife.

I would appreciate any comments forum members have on the effectiveness of having info and pictures in postlets, zillow, trulia, etc. At this time I am thinking that I do not want a Realtor who only posts to his / her own website, realtor.com, and the local MLS. This might be done because they do not know how to post to these other sites or because they do not want to be bothered with it. They might say they feel these sites do not sell houses.

I would hate to rule out good Realtors because they do not post to these sites, if the sites are not really effective.

Thanks again

SouthEastOhio

Here is a link that might be useful: South East Ohio Home

The website is more readable with the larger font, but you really need a large picture at the top of the page to grab people's attention.

You need several pictures on the first page to grab their attention. People like to look at pictures more than they like to read, so get them hooked in, and then they'll want more details.

Agree about the pictures. Also, I don't think everything needs to be in a bigger font & double-spaced. For example, the address could be single spaced. In the Web world, many people do not want to scroll down... put the important info "above the fold" (visible on the screen).

Are the windows original? "Double paned" is unclear, and not a selling point if they're old.
Why state yearly property taxes by the 1/2 year? Is the other half the same amount?
120 ??, 220 volts?
3 full baths?
Specify age of septic, and/or last pumping.

I really wouldn't include this statement as it's info you, as the seller, are providing. If you don't know something to be true, don't include it.
The information given above is believed to be correct but is subject to errors, omissions or revisions, and is not warranted.

Any realtor should be able to tell you where they list.

For example, one woman we were talking to mentioned that any listings go to MLS, realtor.com, the realty agency's webpage/look book and Trulia. She was able to clearly explain who was probably looking at what type of listing and present a case for this combination putting a house in front of a wide spectrum of prospective buyers.

For your webpage, I think the list structure is a bit confusing. I don't have a sense of the information being structured. For most online listings, there is a simple paragraph that hits the highlights and then some additional details in a second paragraph or a click-through. Think about how easy that is to look at/print out vs. a long list of text.

Also, I agree with what others have said about putting the pictures first. One other thing to consider, if something needs a label to explain what it is, I don't think I would use it. If the picture isn't "worth a thousand words", it's not pulling its weight.

Very cute house. However I would do the following:

Declutter. We got a storage space for about half of our decorative items, pictures, etc. Put away aything little on the walls, i.e., the red veggies/fruits on the wall in the kitchen, tools on the wall in the kitchen, bandanas on the table. Declutter the kids rooms, no plastic storage bins, no dry erase board, minimal everything. i know it is tough, but your home looks crowded and all the personalized touches take your eyes off the beautiful paneling and country charm of your home.

Get a realtor who has a professional photographer. I would also eliminate the picture of the young lady in the swimsuit. You never know who is looking at the website and they know where you live.

Just my suggestions, good luck!

One web site that I used when searching for my current home is GoogleEarth.com. I checked out the back yards of neighboring properties to be certain there weren't any junk yards or hoarders, old cars hidden from sight, close proximity to dumps, streams or rivers nearby, etc. We learned the hard way that what you see is what you get, that if your neighbor has a dumping ground, it may get worse and not better. It was a Godsend to have GoogleEarth this time around. I am so pleased with my neighborhood. It doesn't mean someone won't move it and start junking up the neighborhood, but it certainly reduced the chances.

I also agree about putting at least one pic on the front page. Also like the suggestion of using Google earth to check out the back yards of neighboring properties to be certain there weren't any junk yards or hoarders, old cars hidden from sight..

We did that too. At one place we spotted what looked like an ATV track behind one place we were looking at. Another property had a ridiculously low price for the 12 acres it was on. It was next door to a gun club.

Do any of your neighbors have horses? When I was looking for horse property, I tried to find properties where others had horses. I avoided properties that looked like they noisy neighbors with hunters, teenagers, ATV's, etc.

I map-quested your address and see that you are not far from a college town. Have you considered posting your ad at the University where faculty will see it?

We sold our townhouse without the realtor FSBO. We put adds in Zillow (small fee), Craigslist (free), a couple of FSBO websites, and we paid for a MLS and realtor.com listings ($400). We sold it in two weeks with about 12 showings. A couple of people came from FSBO websites, one or two from Zillow, and most found our add in MLS and realtor.com. But the people who finally bought our townhouse found our add on Craigslist of all places! The neighbor sold her townhouse on Craigslist too. We had to pay 2.5% to buyer's agent, but it is still a lot less than 6%. Good luck with your sale.