Follow a few simple guidelines, and marketing your own home can be easy. And it will save you thousands.

The recent property boom has a lot of people thinking of selling. Unfortunately, the costs of selling can really eat into your profit. There’s nothing we can do about stamp duty, but one cost we can avoid is real estate agent fees. By selling your house yourself rather than paying a real estate agent, you can save you around $20,000 on a $500,000 sale.

So what’s involved in a do-it-yourself sale? The two main ingredients are time and advertising. A quality ad and a couple of hours each week fielding phone calls and managing inspections can mean the difference between a healthy profit and disappointment.

Many people are intimidated by the marketing aspect of selling their home. But there’s really not that much to it. You just need to write a description of your property, organise photography, and place an ad. Simple!

Perhaps the most important thing to remember when organising your own sale is you’re not selling a building - you’re selling a home and a lifestyle. Here are 10 Tricks of the trade to get you started…

Jot down your favourite spots in the house and what you like to do in them.
List your favourite local restaurants, cafes, and beaches – especially those in walking distance.
Note any pleasant fragrances – plants like jasmine and gardenia, or evening sea breezes.
Mention your favourite spot for a morning coffee, an afternoon snooze, or an evening wine.
Write about 150 words.
Don’t include

Whether you do all the creative work yourself or employ a professional, you’ll still save thousands. What’s more, with great advertising, you’ll interest more potential buyers and maybe even sell your house for more.

The most important thing to remember at every step along the way is… Average advertising conveys a building. Quality advertising conveys a home.

* Glenn Murray heads copywriting studio Divine Write. He can be contacted on Sydney +612 4334 6222 or at glenn@divinewrite.com. Visit www.divinewrite.com for further details.