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Home sale, by owner, help & tips needed
truck-a-sauras
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm looking to sell my place and looking into options of doing things myself. I've found some websites that will provide a MLS listing for a flat fee, anybody ever try this?
Also what can an agent do that I really can't? My past experiences aren't great and it really seemed like all the agent did was put a lock box & key outside my home then just sit and field phone calls from people who wanted to see the place.
I had taken all the pics of my place, had to correct the typos and bad grammar in the agent put in our listing last time myself anyway.
I know this is the sign of a bad agent, but really I think I can handle fielding phone calls and setting up viewing times. Hell last time I tried this my craigslist ad I put up got more hits than the agent one.
Of course when it comes to paperwork, contracts, etc I will have a lawyer for that.
What am I missing/overlooking here? I know there is more to this, hence why I'm asking. I have the initial feeling I could do this myself, but don't want to get in over my head.
or if I do go with an agent for selling, any tips on finding something better than that 6% commission fee they want?
Also what can an agent do that I really can't? My past experiences aren't great and it really seemed like all the agent did was put a lock box & key outside my home then just sit and field phone calls from people who wanted to see the place.
I had taken all the pics of my place, had to correct the typos and bad grammar in the agent put in our listing last time myself anyway.
I know this is the sign of a bad agent, but really I think I can handle fielding phone calls and setting up viewing times. Hell last time I tried this my craigslist ad I put up got more hits than the agent one.
Of course when it comes to paperwork, contracts, etc I will have a lawyer for that.
What am I missing/overlooking here? I know there is more to this, hence why I'm asking. I have the initial feeling I could do this myself, but don't want to get in over my head.
or if I do go with an agent for selling, any tips on finding something better than that 6% commission fee they want?
truck-a-sauras on
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A good agent will actually do their job and use their knowledge of the area to market & sell your home. "In this economy" I wouldn't recommend trying to do it yourself. There's staging the place, posting it on real estate sites, marketing it correctly, taking good photos, setting up appointments and open houses, etc.
I think the cost is pretty standard and not a lot of options compared to when you're buying.
As long as you're willing and able to do the following, you're likely to have success:
* Constantly handle inquiries, especially when it first hits your MLS or if there's been an edit
* Deal with the terrible attitudes of Realtors who hate you for doing agent-less listing
* Deal with the terrible professional skills of people who are Realtors because they don't want to really work
* Thoroughly research recent sales around your property before you list and throughout the life of your listing
* Get a Supra lockbox through the listing company, which will electronically record access to your property
OR
* Make sure you or someone you trust can be available to show the property in person (and manually record showings)
* Endure a substantial number of inquiries from people who think they'll get a better deal because the listing agent is not getting a percentage (similar to people who cruise MLS-less FSBO properties looking for bargains)
Some of the conditions may have changed, as this was in Florida back when the bubble had not yet reached its apex, and flat fee listings were still a rather new thing. YMMV, of course.
Personally eventhough I've bought a house before I wouldn't try to buy a property without enterring into an agreement with a buyers agent who's only going to represent me. Even if the agent weren't exclusively representing me the agent could try to show me his properties first, but I'm free to check the MLS and pick whichever house I'm interested in and chances are very good my agent/broker will not be the listing agency. As an aside, the buyers agents I know are not keen on working with FSBOs unless the FSBO happens to be knowledgable in real estate transactions.
Commissions are outlined in the listing contract, and NAR says the average is around 6% total with about half going to the listing broker and half going to the selling broker (buyers side). But the commissions aren't set until they're put into the listing agreement/contract so it might be crafted to disproportionately incentivize the sellers agent or the buyers agent or bonuses for sale within a certain time period might be put in to further incentivize finding a buyer. Even after the listing contract is set various shenanigans can be done to adjust commissions to make a sale. I'd craft a listing agreement like this guy explains if I wanted to sell.
About has a lot of introductory information regarding selling a home, so I'd go there to get a rundown on how the process works.
I've never been a seller before, but I'd probably still opt for representation cause I wouldn't want the headache and any buyer is going to expect that an open listing is going to go for less $.
The good ones will make your house look like a freshly build display house. The best agency could also give it that that look, but still retain the feel of being a home (if not for the fact that most of their properties eeked just outside my price range, they could have got me to buy any of them).
Key points on presentation:
- Get a storage unit. Move all your crap. All of it. Anything but the bare essentials should go.
- Remove your personality. Put it in storage. If it would look out of place in a furniture showroom, get it out.
- If your furniture and appliances aren't awesome, into storage as well. Rent some nice (but bland) stuff.
- If you have open inspections, clean the place top to bottom the day before. Ideally, go stay somewhere else for the night, especially if you have children.
There's much more to getting that feel right, but you really want to present a blank slate that people can project their own ideas into - they need to be able to imagine the house as THEIR home, and that's very difficult to do when it's your home. Having an agent to show people through will help - ideally you shouldn't be in the home - having you there also hinders people's ability to imagine the home.
Understanding that you want an agent that might help you do the above things will help you find a better agent. If your market is heavily serviced by buyers agents, self-selling will probably be a bad approach (a good selling agent will have contacts with buyers agents). Even with a bad agent, taking on the above advice should make your property easier to move.
Note well: If you think you're likely to be selling to investors rather than as a place to live, you can tone down a lot of the above.
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All this. Plus, fresh cookies! Just make sure they're peanut, gluten, protein, wheat, dairy, apitoxin, GMO free, in case anyone is allergic.
So. Tasteless cookie dough, gotcha.
I keed, this is a good idea. Make sure they're nut free in general, most people probably wouldn't feel comfortable taking cookies from someone elses home though.
I'm meeting with agents monday and discussing them selling. Already got a hit from some early web stuff I put up.
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What I mean is... if he's hoping to save a full 6% by self listing, I'm not sure he's going to realize that gain. If the buyer has their own agent, he'll likely have to comp the buyer's agent 3%.
Some people will tell their agent to fuck off after finding the property for them, but that's in bad taste and it will make it hard to find a realtor in the future.
You're exactly right.
You're also going to run into the issue of the realtor is going to help you price your home appropriately. Whereas you might get undersold if you don't know what similar houses in your area are selling for. Or, never sell because you think a double wide is worth $250,000.
When you're dealing with the one of the largest transactions you're likely to make in your life, people get pretty damn particular when something looks off. Same with coming back to you for "unknown issues".
This is just one anecdote, so I have no idea if it's actually a factor for others.
I bet realtors love you. :P
This wasn't something I really talked about with any realtor
Having never actually sold a home, I may very likely feel differently when the time comes. 3% of what my home will likely sell for isn't chump change
The person selling without a Realtor should realise between a 6-7% savings, as the Realtors normally (both Buying and Selling agents) split the percentage that comes out of the total paid to the Seller. If he sells without a Realtor, he won't have to pay anything for the Buyer's Realtor.
Like, if they are smart, they are going to factor in closing costs to what the total cost of the house is. If they have to spend an extra 4-5k on realtor fees, they will likely either ask you to comp some/most of that in closing as part of their offer, or offer 4-5k less.
So basically if you could have sold your house for 200k before, youl likely only be able to sell it for 194k if the buyer has to pay their realtor 3%.
I went with a flat fee MLS company in Chicago (www.kalerealty.com) to sell our first home.
Buying the property only 4 years ago we knew the price we needed to get to sell and it wasn't that hard to make the home look nice- (Declutted, removed personal items and be available for showings) our Kale Realty agent- Kevin did the rest.
He marketed the property and answered all our questions all we did was show the property and a couple months in we got a low offer but after some time and with Kevin's help we were able to meet with the buyers in the middle and we closed last month. We also saved about $8000 in commissions- not bad!
As an aside about the so callled 'dual agents'. A Buyer's Agent is legally obligated work for the buyer's best interests. A Seller's Agent is legally obligated to work for the seller's best interests. In a market where every price is negotiable, knowing what both parties limits are can create some nasty conflicts of interest. This is why a lot of Realtors will never serve as both the buyer's and seller's agent on the same property.
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