FAQs

We are LOCAL. Always have been, always will be. Our friendly staff will assist as necessary. We’re affiliated with LOCAL service providers who can assist you every step of the process.

We have a HISTORY OF SUCCESS. We’ve helped sell over a thousand homes since 1999. We maintain high Google placement for more search hits – this means higher visibility for your property online.

We have a BRAND. People know valleybyowner.com. We have bright, professional, and recognizable signs.

We provide FLEXIBILITY. You manage your page information, and change it as needed. Set open house dates and times.

We MAKE IT EASY FOR BUYERS to find your home. Multiple search options on the site are available for buyers to find your home. We also maintain a FACEBOOK page, and will post your new listing there too.

We have STRATEGIC SERVICE PROVIDERS (no obligation) who understand “For Sale By Owner”, and are ready to help you every step of the way. Attorney Norma Brink at Hoff, Bushaw, and Allwardt, LLC, can assist with your offers and counteroffers. Cherry Creek Mortgage can help get buyers pre-qualified. Fox Cities Title Company can close your deal.

SIGN UP NOW! HERE’S HOW!

Step 1: Create an account by clicking the round white icon at the top right of our front page. From here, you will also select your desired Package type (Bronze, Silver, Gold).
Step 2: Complete your Payment.
Step 3: Add your property. Title, description, advertisement contact information, specifics of your property for sale, map location, etc. Upload your Photos onto your web page via the Seller Login after you have completed Step 4: Upload your photos. You can also add a link for a property video.
Step 5: Submit your completed property advertisement and we will review it within 24 hours, and if "complete", we will publish your new property for sale listing on our webpage.

An appraiser is a person who is trained to put a price value on your home or property. A bank will hire an appraisal during mortgage or refinance procedures; so you may have one on record if you have done this recently. You could also hire a home appraiser for an up-to-date appraisal.
An assessed value is what the city/town values your property. An assessment is used to set your property taxes. While both numbers are helpful as a guideline - they don't often match and are often confused. An assessed value is often lower than the appraised value.

Some customers look at the city/town records for recent closings in order to see what similar houses sold for, then they compare that information with their property. You can also look at our web site and other web sites to make some comparisons. It can be helpful to figure out the price per square foot for comparison purposes.

You can also claim your property as the owner on Zillow which allows you to "tweak" what your property is all about. You will then have a more accurate but rough price estimate through Zillow.

We recommend only changing to "accepted offer" or "sold" online after all contingencies (inspection, other property sale, etc.) are met. We have several choices for "Property Status" available, including "Accepting multiple offers". We recommend keeping the post and sign up until the week of your closing in case something falls through. You can cover up your contact phone number with a plastic garbage bag if you prefer.

NOTE: Please give us at least one week lead time for sign removal. It is important to us that we remove any installed signs prior to the closing date.

Uploading your property pictures to your advertisement is fairly easy. Pictures should be in jpeg format. The best way is to upload your pictures directly onto your web page (after registering with us) using our Seller Login Upload Photo tool. If you are having trouble, you can send them attached to an email with the property address in the subject heading of the email. If need additional help, contact service@valleybyowner.com.

Simply call us or email us with this information by Monday of the week you want the sign picked up. We will remove the sign and depersonalize your property from the website on our "Removal day", Friday. We do need to keep the site as "by owner" which is an honor system so PLEASE let us know so we can pick up the post, stake, sign, and phone number plate.

There is no refund despite "selling", "going with a realtor", or "decided not to sell" within any portion of the 3 month time period..

Until the day we come to remove the sign, you can put a plastic garbage sack over your phone number plate. Please do not remove the signpost. (please review our policies and terms of service found on this website).

PLEASE don't put any kind of tape on the signs. Please call us to have us remove the signs ourselves so damage to the sign does not occur. When your property has an accepted offer, call us and we will arrange to pick up the sign at a time that fits your needs and/or closing date. We ask to have the sign at least a week before closing. You can read more detail, found on our Policy and Terms of Service web pages on this website.
If you wish, place a large garbage bag over the sign for the day or two before we remove the sign. Sometimes we have SOLD or ACCEPTED offer signs available for free use from our office; give us a call or email us.

You should also change your property status from "For Sale" to one of the other choices available like "Accepted Offer" or "Offer Pending".

This business began in 1999 as a locally owned, service-oriented business when there was a need identified from both the buyer and seller perspective for a "For Sale By Owner" website like ours. We try to treat each customer like family; understanding the selling/buying property is sometimes a stressful situation. We also strive to make this advertising process as simple as possible. We know first hand that our website is well known by buyers and sellers, and frequented daily by realtors.

When selling 'by owner,' you are marketing your property, taking the phone calls, showing the property, running the open houses, negotiating directly with the buyer, and handling the paperwork independently (many individuals hire an attorney to do this part when selling 'by owner'). You can tailor your plan of action to your own needs - and you save the commission of 2.5-7% otherwise paid to a realtor.
In contrast, when you list with a realtor, not always, but typically, they generally market the property for you, or at least put it on the MLS system. You are relying on them to advertise the property in the papers, take phone calls, show the property, run open houses, and many realtors are involved in the negotiation process and paperwork process.

We have 3 packages that we currently offer.

Bronze Package $194.95:  includes a 3 month listing, unlimited images of your property, email capability, and has a $30 renewal fee per month after the initial 3 months are up.  Please note that bronze package does not include a yard sign.

Silver Package $219.95:  includes a 3 month listing, unlimited images of your property, email capability, a posted sign in your yard, and has a $20 renewal fee per month after the initial 3 months are up.

Gold Package $244.95:  includes everything in Silver package, plus an Open House sign, and a directional (arrow) sign for your use.  There is no renewal fee when the initial 3 months are up in the Gold Package.

Listing on MLS is expensive and, since we are already one of the lowest cost alternatives, we can't justify the expense. Currently, everyone can access and see our properties publicly. Our web site is available to view by all people, all over the world as long as they have Internet access. We know first hand that our website is frequented daily by realtors. If you are interested in having realtors contact you, we recommend writing "Real estate professionals welcome" on your listing on our website.

No, Our fee schedule is based on the amount of work put into each property at the beginning of service. So if your house sells after a few days, we have still performed the same amount of work as if it had been on the site for the entire 3-months.

Updates and changes to your page, including open houses & photos can be made four ways:

1) Click on the "Seller Login" area, which is on top right of our web site. Changes made here go into effect as soon as you click 'save" or "update". There are no charges if you change or add items yourself.

2) Emailing us, including your name and property address in the email with information you'd like added or deleted. If minimal changes, then no charges. If you need help often, there would be a nominal charge of $20 for each occurrence.

3) Calling us. Please provide last name and address. If minimal changes, then no charges. If you need help often, there would be a nominal charge of $20 for each occurrence.

4) We will fill out your property advertisement for you with the information you provide for us for $35.

Search engines and directories have become complicated beasts in the last few years. Unlike a phone book, just because a business has a web site does not mean it will appear on a search engine. We hire experts in the area to work on keeping our web site highly visible in search engines and directories, to give you the most exposure possible.

Cities and towns do not allow signs to be placed in this strip of land. The City of Neenah has informed us that their street crews have been discarding a large number of 'by owner' signs found in these areas. If you use these smaller corner signs to draw people into your home you'll want to keep track of them and if they are for an open house especially, pick them up before the weekend is over.

Within the City of Neenah, any sign advertising property for sale must be located entirely within the boundaries of the property to which the sign applies. Such signs shall not exceed 32 square feet in area. If a sign advertising property for sale is placed within the street right-of-way the sign shall be removed and disposed of by City employees. Because of liability concerns, no sign which has been removed will be returned. Open house signs must be installed and removed the same day of the showing. We also ask that they be placed in such a way as to not impede or interfere with the safe passage of vehicles and pedestrians.

We do offer "Open House" signs and "Directional Arrow" signs. These come with thin metal rods used to place the item in the ground.

We offer 30 foot Yellow and Blue Pennant Flags for sale.

We also offer a clear plastic information box that is attached to the post which you can place property information sheets.

Gold Package customers receive 2 of the 4 items, typically the Open House and Directional Arrow signs if you need them as part of the package. Please let us know which ones you want if you indeed want them. These would be dropped off at the time of your sign installation.

If you are a Bronze or Silver package customer and would like any of these items, you can notify the office and we can arrange payment and drop whatever you want off on our Friday installation day. A single item is $20. Two items $30. Three items $40. Four items $45.