Tom,

You wanna play in the FSBO market?

#1) If you hurry, you can secure the domain

www.FSBO-Sidney.com

#2) Start promoting the heck out of it.

#3) Get some "FSBO-Sidney" business cards printed and get 'em out ANYWHERE you can. (Building supply companies are GREAT)

Just my 2-1/2-Cents worth.

Pete

My site got me a call from St. Pete, FL last week.
We're "negotiating" the price right now.

> I would suggest adding more value than just
> a website.

> About a month ago, there was a bit on TV
> about a Melbourne couple that had started up
> a For Sale By Owner company, offering a
> complete service to potential sellers.

> They supply assistance, a check list of
> things to do (get 3 realtors to look at your
> property to price it, make sure you have a
> legal contract before advertsing etc.)
> They supply a large professional coroplex
> For Sale sign, web site with pics etc.

> The complete package goes for $995.
> Don't underestimate the fact that the
> average person is clueless and does not know
> the best way to sell their property. An
> agent is generally the path to least
> resistance.

> The story was news worthy enough to make it
> on Prime Time TV.

> It is always better to offer a complete
> package.
> It dramatically improves the value of your
> product, allowing you to charge more.

> Most people that are thinking of selling
> look thru local papers to price similar
> properties etc, so this would be the ideal
> place to place an Ad.

> Also, if you can add value that a real
> estate company can't easily do without
> getting in outside help, such as Virtual
> Tours, that's a bonus.

> I just sold my property without an agent and
> created my own virtual tour. It generates
> interest to passerbys when you have the URL
> on your For Sale sign.

> Depending where you live, it can be
> extremely difficult to sell Realtors the
> idea of joining your portal, if you go that
> way.

> See this forum at Slashdot where they
> discuss selling a listing database to
> realtors.

>
> http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/08/06/2043214&mode=thread&tid=126&tid=156
> To list realtors on a portal, in my
> opinion, will depend whether you live in a
> large city that has a competitive market. In
> Sydney you would not have a hope in hell of
> creating your own Real Estate portal that is
> viable.

> The Real Estate agents are virtually all
> locked in with major portals like
> http://realestate.com.au It is too late for
> that.

> If you would like a few pointers in Virtual
> Tours as an extra bonus for a Sale By Owner
> website, feel free to drop me a line.
> Check out my site too if you like:
> http://insideouttours.com Good luck.

> Tom B.