Isanti - Sherburne - Wright - Anoka County Minnesota Real Estate Blog: Successful Craigslist Ad

Chuck - What kind of ad did you place on Craigslist?  That certainly seems to be the go-to place for many buyers looking for something different.

Chuck Craigslist has been long used by Fsbo's and lately has been used by realtors to sell their properties. Its my understanding that most fsbo's and people looking to rent or sell on Criagslist are doing it themselves to save paying a realtor a commission. My only problem with Craigslist that it seems that an ad will be view for a couple of days or maybe a week and then will be lost among the long list. It seems to be a hit or miss opportunity. Glad it worked for you!

Hi Stephen,

The ads do get lost.  I did also get a good buyer lead too this week.  So I would say its worth the 5 minutes it takes to post something.  Off to put another home on Craigslist now.

Chuck - I have had lots of interest from Craig's list but must admit that I haven't used it for my listings. Thanks for the tip!

Chuck, I really do think that Criags List is propbably the most effective of the sites that let you place ads. In the past, I have used backpage.com and while I have not gotten any leads from it I see very little postings on there as well...

Chuck I got a lead today from my listing on Criagslist for my open house. Ill let you know if it turns out to be a good lead or not! Chuck how or what do you use (Postlets) to post to Craigslist or do you do it freestyle?

Hi Chuck,

Thank You for encouraging words on my post today!

I feel that there are many benefits to Craig's List.  You proved it!

I have used Craigslist and have found a lot of prospects. I'd say it is good if you have lower priced houses, not high or averaged priced homes.

We utilize craigslist a lot, loading all of our active listings on the site every 3 days. This brings a lot of traffic and leads to our real estate sales site but it seems to be much more effective in bringing results to our rental department ( we also load rentals). Craigslist seems to be best for advertising rentals and properties for sale that are on the low range. That correlates with finding buyers for "rent to own" situations as these are typically broke buyers with poor credit. Good job thinking to advertise for those types of buyers on craigslist, I'm sure you have many inquiries. I don't really know where else to advertise that would be more effective. Are you having any luck finding "rent to own" buyers with a significant down payment? It seems that those are few and far between in our area. The best scenario we can seem to manage is a larger deposit, maybe a little non refundable option money and a higher monthly rent. In the end, 1/4 of these buyers close in our area making it far from the best use of my time. Good luck!

I also use Craigslist a lot, and promote all of my active listings 2 - 4x per week, so they are always towards the top of the search results.  I usually try to create 2 or 3 versions of my Craigslist ad, so they don't flag you for repeat ads. 

Based on my experience, I would say that Craigslist is best for homes under $400K, foreclosures, short sales and builder-close-outs.  Craigslist viewers are there looking for a good "deal".

craiglists does work if you are persistent with your postings....

Glad to hear that  Craigs list worked for you. I need to really incorporate it in my marketing.

It's great to hear a success story from Craigslist.  If you don't mind, please share the ad you used, or at least the strategy in building the ad.  Thanks.

I typically use postlets for my CL ads.  Don't forget that CL post do well in Google searches.  Someone might Google a neighborhood and see the CL ad on page 1, then click on either your website that is there or on the ad itself. -Mark

I can't think of any other websites to direct you to as CL seems to be "it". 

I have had some success with CL marketing loans.  I've gotten some doozies responding to my ads though too!  Best of luck - JENNIFER

I have tried some others, but Craigslist is the only one that has panned out thus far. I have actually gotten a listing through there also. If you are going to focus on classifieds this is the place to be.

http://www.ownerwillfinance.com is a potential farm area.

If Craigslist if a great source for those types of buyers maybe there is a way to find the type of seller that will do Owner Financing.  Is there a way to work with a Title company to produce you a list of people who own second homes and have no recorded mortgage.  Then you could put together a marketing plan for these sellers and let them know the benefits of selling by owner contract or lease option.  Just an idea.

I found Craigslist to be an excellent source for Buyers about 3-4 years ago. I actually sold several properties to clients who originated from Craigslist.

Over the last year or so I've found fewer serious clients using Craigslist - but placing ads on Craigslist definately improves your "Google-Juice".

I too am using Craigslist for "google juice" - my ads for open houses generates a little interest but anything priced over $350K gets virtually no responses and an e-mail box full of spam.  Glad it worked for you tho.

We have had tremendous success with Craigslist postings.   Many of our seller clients are very happy that we post their listings there.  Also, we have obtained many buyer leads as a result as well.  It is time consuming.  We even have an assistant who posts the Craigs List ads twice a week.  For us, it is well worth it.

I also have success with craigs list.  I sell many of my own listings using craigs list to attract buyers.

I did posted in Craiglist, but most of the time, is more about the price of the property, but is good to know somebody gets better result than others, thanks for the info.

I never trust the people i have found on CL. Not sure if they are for real or not. Plus it is scary to meet people on line....

Craigslist is a great source, but like many people commented.... I seem to get a lot for calls/leads on the lower priced listings. I've closed multiple deals from craigslist. You can't go wrong. Free Postings + Closed Deals = You're crazy not too list.

Sharon.... you definitely need to get with the times. You've got to be on the web or you'll be missing a big piece of the pie.

Craigslist is the best an most used, but Google has a new website out to rival craigslist. Kiji I believe it is called. I haven't really posted anything to it...because Craigslist is by far the best. Good luck!

Also check out Backpage. 

sometimes I do great on CL and other times I dont get any leads?  I have not clue why yet

I add everything to CL but I have yet to get an inquiries.  Congrats to you, however.

I guess I need to get on a better schedule of reposting my listings every few days.  I'm glad to hear that CL can help with Google juice.

Craigslist is just catching on here on Cape Cod...I used it all the time when I was in CT/NYC..the turn over was much faster...less people check criagslist here on Cape, but your posts also stay up longer..

Craigs list works for me and now they have separated the properties for sale into two groups - for sale by broker, for sale by owner.  I suppose they felt that was a good business move but I don't like it.  I have noticed the inquiries have slowed though.

About 3 years ago I seen a seller on CL everyday and I asked him to list time and time again.  After about 6 months I got the seller to list and I posted a ad on CL and I found a buyer for him the same day! LOL  too funny but it worked!

I am using Craigs list and getting a lot of lookers on my property videos, no buyers yet. It takes time and repetition.