Day 1 — Pricing & comps
Pull 6–10 sold comps from the last 90 days within 1 mile of your home, similar square footage and bed/bath count. Sites like Zillow, Redfin, and Realtor.com are fine for this — what matters is sold price, not listed price.
Set a list price within 1–3% of the median sold-price-per-square-foot for your comps. Resist the urge to start high and 'see what happens' — overpriced FSBOs sit, then drift, then sell below where they should have started.
Day 2 — Repairs and staging
Walk every room with a notebook. Fix anything a buyer would flag in 30 seconds: burnt-out bulbs, leaky faucets, scuffed baseboards, cracked outlet covers, missing door stops. Average cost: $200–$400. Average impact on offer price: 1–3%.
Declutter aggressively. Rent a $200/month storage unit if needed. Empty surfaces, sparse closets, and clean kitchens photograph and show much better than 'lived-in' rooms.
Day 3 — Photography
Hire a real-estate photographer. $200–$400 nationally. They know lighting, wide-angle lenses, and which angles matter. Bad phone photos cost you 5–15% of buyer demand.
Get 25–35 photos including: front exterior, every room, bathrooms, key features (fireplace, deck, yard), and one twilight exterior if your home has curb appeal.
Day 4 — Listing description
Write a 250–400 word description. Lead with what makes the home distinct — location, lot, layout, upgrades. Skip the adjectives ('charming,' 'cozy'). Buyers read for facts: square footage, year built, recent upgrades with dates and costs, lot size, school district.
End with the financing terms you accept (conventional, FHA, cash, owner-financing) — this filters out unqualified buyers.
Day 5 — Paperwork pack
Collect into one folder: property tax records (last 2 years), HOA documents (if any), utility bills (12 months), seller disclosure form (state-specific), lead-based paint disclosure (if built before 1978), survey if available, and any warranties on recent work (roof, HVAC).
Day 6 — Showing system
Set showing hours and a single contact method. A scheduling link (Calendly, Showami) prevents the 8pm random call. Decide on showing rules: lockbox or by-appointment-only, deposits required for serious buyers, etc.
Day 7 — Publish everywhere, same day
Post to: your own MLS-syndication FSBO platform, Zillow FSBO, Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, your neighborhood Facebook group, and a yard sign with a QR code to the listing page. Many FSBO platforms also push to Realtor.com and Trulia.
Boost the listing on Facebook and Nextdoor for 7–14 days. $40–$100 of paid reach often produces more leads than the rest of the channels combined.