How to Sell Real Estate On Craigslist

By Editorial Team

Updated September 28, 2017

For many real estate owners, Craigslist can be an ideal place to sell property, land and developments. It's free to post an ad (with a few exceptions), and you can repost weekly as needed until you sell. Here's how to sell real estate on Craigslist.

Post Your Real Estate Listing

Go to Craigslist (see the link in Resources below) and click "Post to Classifieds."

Select the "Housing" link.

Choose "I am offering housing."

Click the "Real Estate for Sale" link. Other categories you may opt to select include "Office & Commercial" or "Parking & Storage."

Complete the required green fields for your ad, including a title, description and email address. Be sure to include relevant fees associated with your real estate sale.

Sell Your Real Estate Faster

Add a picture to your posting by clicking the "Add/Edit" Images button in the post dialog box.

Include colorful yet accurate descriptions of your property to entice buyers. List square footage, upgrades, yard size, landscaping, swimming pool, parking accessibility and other amenities or unqiue features. The more detail you include, the more likely you will have success.

Avoid listing semi-negative characteristics such as "fairly busy street" or "view is limited." Such things may not bother potential buyers so there is no reason to focus on them when you can emphasize the positive aspects of a property instead.

Be available to show your property in person to serious buyers. If you are slow to respond to email or phone inquiries, you will likely lose a potential sale.

Tips

Most real estate ads on Craigslist are free with the exception of brokered housing listings in New York City, which will cost you $10.

Warnings

Beware of using discriminatory language in your ad. You are prohibited from referring to the ethnic makeup of an area or building (for example, you can't say "mostly Chinese neighborhood") nor can you use exclusionary language (for example, you can't say "no inquiries from college students"). Using discriminatory language could result in your being fined $10,000 or more, so be sure to review the Craigslist fair housing page for details before posting (see the link in Resources below).

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