Tips and Cautions When Using Craigslist For Sale By Owner

Why do some home sellers use Craigslist?

Most home sellers that use Craigslist do so in an attempt to avoid paying agent fees, often both listing agent and buyer agent fees. However, some sellers choose Craiglist to have more control over the sales process, to limit the number of people who come through the house, or in an effort to sell faster.

How do I post a home listing on Craigslist?

Craigslist provides illustrated instructions on its website, and its platform walks you through each step to post your home listing on its site. However, the process is pretty simple and looks basically like this:

Step 1. Access the homepage, craigslist.org
Step 2. Click “Create a posting”
Step 3. Select a category (housing offered > real estate – by owner)
Step 4. Enter a title, location, and description of your house
Step 5. Review your text and click “Continue”
Step 6. Upload photos
Step 7. Review your post
Step 8. Confirm your post via email

If you need a more visual guide, check out this HomeLight guide that has a detailed and illustrated step-by-step.

What is trickier than creating the listing is ensuring you’re following the best practices and tips to ensure your listing attracts attention from serious buyers and not from scammers.

How can I make my Craigslist post stand out?

Craigslist has hundreds of FSBO and agent home listings, but making your FSBO listing stand out isn’t that hard. Follow these tips to make your listing better than most.

Write a good headline

Catch a reader’s attention by appealing to emotions and being descriptive. When possible, include numbers or data to boost scannability.

Write persuasive body copy

Be direct and write with the reader in mind. Give them the information they’re looking for as quickly as possible. Tell them where your property is located and if there is anything nearby that makes it extra appealing, like being near the beach or a park, or a great school.

Price it right

Pricing a home right can be tricky but is essential to selling FSBO. Do your research to ensure you’ve priced it in line with the market and your area, so you can more easily weed out the tire kickers with the logic behind your numbers and ensure you make enough money to justify the sale. Consider a pre-sale appraisal or contact a real estate agent for a comparative market analysis (CMA). Some agents provide a CMA for free or for a small fee.

Upload great pictures

Great (but accurate!) photos will make it easy for the reader to imagine themselves in your home and determine if it’s a fit for their needs. Most people skip right to photos, so the better they are, the more likely the rest of your post is to get attention.

Post and repost

While you’ll want to post and repost to ensure your listing is easily findable, reposting the same ad every time actually keeps you from reaching more potential buyers.

Santiago Valdez is a HomeLight Elite agent in Skokie, Illinois, with 21 years of experience and nearly 1,000 real estate transactions under his belt. He explains that sellers should “post it once every two or three days and change it up a little bit every time to feature different aspects of the property.”

6 real estate scams to avoid on Craigslist

As with any public classified ad platform, scammers will try to deceive and steal. Craigslist has become infamous for scams that have made headlines over the years. There has been such a wide range of different scams on the platform that even the FBI has warned of the spike in rental and real estate scams.

These are the common red flags and warning signs to look out for with your FSBO listing on Craigslist.

1. Scammers pretend to be you and sell your home

As a seller, you may be susceptible to identity theft. Scammers can use the information you provide in your listing to target you. They could go as far as stealing your mail to obtain confidential information and forging signatures or other documents to assume the title or deed for your property. They could try to take out a loan against your property.

While you can usually get the problem fixed, it’s an expensive and difficult process, especially if they’ve successfully sold your property before you discovered the issue.

2. Scammers pretend to be you and rent your home

As with the fake seller scam, because your home is listed on Craigslist, a scammer will have access to your address and photos, which they can use to rent the property as well. You may not discover this scam until someone shows up ready to move in.

3. “Accidental” overpaid earnest money scam

Also known as “reverse scams,” this is a common scam for all kinds of purchases, even homes.

The earnest money payment will be higher than necessary, and the buyers will ask you to refund a portion of it using a wire transfer right after you have deposited the check. They’ll claim that they didn’t intend to put that much down on the house.

Because you get to keep a portion of the check, you’re less wary. But after a few days, the check will bounce, and you won’t be able to recover the refund you sent them.

4. Scammers rob you during a showing or tour

It’s always a risk when you invite strangers into your home. A qualified real estate agent is trained on how to hold showings and handle appointments. They know what information to collect and are vetting potential buyers before allowing anyone into your home.

You may not have the time or know-how to do the same when letting strangers into your home, potentially to grab a few valuable items out of your house. If you want to keep all your valuables, it’s important to properly vet anyone before you let them into your house.

5. Fake escrow company scam

A scammer may try to give you a false sense of security by using what appears to be a legitimate escrow company. But the fake escrow company is just a way to get your financial information on record as part of the home sale process. Once they have your information with the fake escrow company, they’re able to use your social security number, credit card number, or bank account information.

6. The overseas or foreign buyer

This buyer contacts you, ready to buy your home. They explain that they’re overseas and won’t be back in the States until a certain date, but they really need a place to live. Then they offer to send you a cashier’s check to secure the house.

Once the check clears, they change their mind and ask for their money back, less a small amount for the inconvenience. There won’t have been enough time for the cashier’s check to bounce, but it will! Often a few days after you send them back “their” money.

Should I sell my house on Craigslist?

If you’re debating whether or not to sell your house on Craigslist, Valdez recommends that you educate yourself as much as possible and “make sure that you have an attorney by your side that is ready to do the whole transaction…talk to brokers about pricing, marketing presentation… and maintain yourself continuously educated on the market as you go forward.”

Pros of selling FSBO on Craigslist

• Saving on agent commissions is the most common reason people choose to FSBO on Craigslist.
• Total control of the sales process is also appealing to sellers who don’t want to have an intermediary.
• No listing agreement enables you to do whatever you want with your listing, include whatever details you choose, put in on whatever platforms you like.

Cons of selling FSBO on Craigslist

• Vetting potential buyers can be a huge time, and energy sucks.
• Limited buyer pool means not reaching every potential buyer or even most of them.
• Weeding out scammers will also take a lot of time and energy.
• Offers under asking price will be common due to the platform and the fact many buyers are looking for a deal.

If it feels like a lot of work that you’re not sure you have the time for, using a top agent instead may be a better choice for you. Valdez has worked with many sellers who tried selling by owner and then gave up, opting to use an agent instead. However, by going the FSBO route first, they lost the advantage of having a perfect first impression of their home’s listing as some buyers saw and dismissed their home due to their FSBO listings, even when the listings were improved by an agent.

What are some alternatives to selling a house on Craigslist?

If you want to FSBO your house, Craigslist isn’t your only option. Here are some alternatives:

• Post your listing on Zillow: Most other major real estate sites don’t allow FSBO listings, but Zillow does.
• Post your listing on paid FSBO websites:  FSBO.com and Houzeo.com are popular options, though others exist. There are pros and cons to paying for a FSBO listing you may want to explore before committing the money.
• List on Facebook Marketplace: As of Jan. 1, 2023, Facebook business pages can no longer post real estate listings to Facebook Marketplace. However, you can still post real estate listings to Facebook Marketplace through your personal profile.
• Get a cash offer from a “we buy houses” company: There are several national companies and likely a few local ones you can get offers from before choosing this route.
• Use a low commission or discount agent: If saving on broker fees is your primary reason to FSBO, going with a discount agent could be a good compromise.
• Use a top agent for top results: For top dollar, speed, trust, and selling experience, going with a top agent will generally give you the best results.

Sellers who want to avoid all the repairs, preparations, showings, and commissions can get a no-obligation, all-cash offer from Simple Sale, a HomeLight platform that connects sellers with the largest network of cash buyers in the U.S. Fill out our online questionnaire and receive your offer in as little as a week. If you accept the cash offer, you can close in as few as 10 days with no showings, no repairs, and no open houses.

FSBO on Craigslists – yay or nay?

While selling FSBO can seem appealing, it is a lot of work. You not only need to figure out pricing, take photos, manage the listings and open houses, negotiate the deal, and close, but you’ll also likely lose time with tire kickers and weed out potential scammers.

When you have so much on your plate, every little bit of help is huge. HomeLight’s Agent Match can connect you with a top agent in your area, whether you just need some expert insights about your sales price or want their help selling your home quickly and for the best possible price.

Header Image Source: (Feverpitch / Deposit Photos)