{"id":8922,"date":"2019-02-22T13:18:12","date_gmt":"2019-02-22T21:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=8922"},"modified":"2025-11-12T19:03:38","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T03:03:38","slug":"selling-a-house-on-craigslist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/selling-a-house-on-craigslist\/","title":{"rendered":"Selling a House on Craigslist: The Case for and Against Using this Internet Throwback"},"content":{"rendered":"

Craigslist is kind of the OG of internet classifieds. What started as an email listserv from a guy named Craig now gets more than 50 billion page views per month<\/a>. Good news for people who want to buy and sell stuff!<\/p>\n

However, the case for using Craigslist to buy or sell a house has just as many naysayers as disciples. Here\u2019s the case for and against selling your home on the site, as well as some smart ways to make the most of your property listing should you choose to go the Craigslist route.<\/p>\n

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Source: (Christina Morillo\/ Pexels)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Case Against Using Craigslist<\/h3>\n

In an article on Entrepreneur<\/a>, writer and Craigslist expert Shanon Lewis writes:<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/i>There’s no question that Craigslist is one of the most powerful marketplace websites in the world. You can buy a car, hire a new employee and rent an apartment in the same place.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

So that makes it the perfect place to sell your house too, right? Well\u2026 not exactly.<\/p>\n

Lewis notes: \u201cHowever, just because Craigslist is capable of doing a lot of different things, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the right format for your business.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Craigslist isn\u2019t ideal for regular real estate sales<\/h4>\n

Many agents are coming to this conclusion too, in terms of selling real estate. \u00a0They say Craigslist\u2019s heyday has come and gone. \u201cCraigslist is a great thing to sell a refrigerator, but don\u2019t use it to sell your house,\u201d says Sandi Pressley<\/a>, top-selling real estate agent in Albuquerque, New Mexico<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Michael Winslow<\/a>, top agent in Colorado Springs, Colorado<\/a>, echoes this sentiment. He previously used Craigslist but stopped. \u201cI never once got an interested, qualified individual and closed on a property. Never,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Craigslist has a scam problem<\/h4>\n

Pressley previously used Craigslist to market properties as well, but forced to field too many scams in recent years, she\u2019s stopped using the platform completely.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had a renter show up with a moving truck at one of my listings!\u201d Pressley tells the story of someone who was scammed into renting a house that was never for rent in the first place. This is a common problem on Craigslist. One that has lots of red flags<\/a> but one that still happens all too often.<\/p>\n

Craigslist presents liability and safety concerns<\/h4>\n

Pressley also doesn\u2019t like Craigslist because of safety concerns. She says there is too much liability and exposure.<\/p>\n

Opting to sell your house without an agent, or marketing heavily on Craigslist means you\u2019re vulnerable to non-qualified buyers. Agents have the tools to weed these people out, which means you don\u2019t just have random people walking through your home every day.<\/p>\n

The Case For Using Craigslist<\/h3>\n

Though Pressley and Winslow choose not to use Craigslist to market the homes they represent, it doesn\u2019t mean everyone who is selling their home should completely dismiss the use of this classifieds trendsetter.<\/p>\n

Craigslist may be good for certain<\/i> real estate sales<\/h4>\n

Certain homes\u2014along with your lugnuts and your toaster\u2014may be a good fit for life on Craigslist. Houses must pass certain standards to take out a mortgage on them, so if a house doesn\u2019t meet these standards, Craigslist could be a good alternative.<\/p>\n

Houses that are uninhabitable, condemnable or can\u2019t be sold to a standard buyer in a retail market make good candidates. Sellers are likely to find buyers looking for inexpensive fixer-uppers or flippable properties.<\/p>\n

Craigslist has unbeatable traffic<\/h4>\n

Despite the fact that the Craigslist website still looks like the beginning of the internet, the site is ranked among the top 20 most trafficked websites in America, according to Alexa. And the top-trafficked classifieds site<\/a>, according to SimilarWeb.<\/p>\n

For comparison, OfferUp, another popular classifieds site, is ranked 467 in the United States. Apartment.com is rated 291.<\/p>\n

Craigslist.org gets about 478 million visits each month with the average visitor viewing 11 pages. Though Craigslist isn\u2019t specific to real estate, this is far more traffic than Zillow<\/a>, which gets about 176 million visitors each month with the average visitor viewing 12 pages.<\/p>\n

Craigslist is one more way to market<\/h4>\n

Winslow argues that marketing on Craigslist isn\u2019t worth the effort. But though he doesn\u2019t personally use it, he knows many brokers who do. \u201cThey say never leave one stone unturned,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

These Realtors argue if they\u2019re going to spend money marketing their properties everywhere else\u2014Zillow, social media, Realtor.com and the local newspaper, why would they skip Craigslist which has great traffic? The site may attract a different kind of buyer but that\u2019s not necessarily a negative thing. A buyer is a buyer if you\u2019re willing to sift through those who aren\u2019t serious.<\/p>\n

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Source: (Alex Tan\/ Death to the Stock Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Listing your home on Craigslist: A handy step-by-step for sellers<\/h2>\n

If you decide to go ahead and try to sell your house on Craigslist, here\u2019s a tutorial and some tips:<\/p>\n

First, visit Craigslist.org<\/a>. On the top of the left sidebar, select \u201ccreate a posting.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Source: (Craigslist<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Narrow down your location.<\/p>\n

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Source: (Craigslist<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Then indicate your intentions.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Source: (Craigslist<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
Source: (Craigslist<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You\u2019ll be asked to agree to some terms. Abide by them unless you want your post to get deleted.<\/p>\n

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Source: (Craigslist<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now, you can write up your post.<\/p>\n

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Source: (Craigslist<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Build a good headline.<\/h3>\n

There\u2019s no secret sauce for creating a headline, but to get web-surfing potential homebuyers to click, it\u2019ll have to catch their eye. Neil Patel, marketing guru, offers tons of tips<\/a> here. Among them are these three important ones:<\/p>\n