Thinking about selling my own house, advice

Thinking about doing a for sale by owner on my house. Have any of you guys had any luck with this? I want to do an MLS listing with a web site but not sure who to go with yet. Outside of not having mass advertising/exposer with a realator are there any other major shortcomings? Yes, I plan on hiring a lawyer to review the transaction if it sells.

 

I am selling a home now by myself after getting fed up with a realtors. The showing part and negotiation is easy, it's the administration that's difficult. Expect to pay a realtor between $1500 and $3000 for the filing of all the paperwork, title, etc.. Just do this. It's a PITA to do it yourself, but nowhere near the 7-11% you pay for their fees.

Also, before anyone attempts to negotiate a price from you, have them get a pre approval letter and let them know they will have to present some type of eranest money.. It saves you alot of time dealing with the tire kickers. Also, know where you stand as far as closing costs and taxes. Some will try and sucker you to pay both.

 

selling

I have sold 3 houses FSBO. Its simple, sign in yard and several signs from main road. Ad in paper...I didnt list on any MLS..I sold 2 out of 3 in less than a week.

I reviewed the market for homes similar to mine and under cut the realators prices, but I still expected a litte flex of about $4k if needed.

You can find sales agreements online or ask your attorney for a contract. I got one from my attorney whom I closed with. In all cases it cost me right around $350 in fees....much better than 6 or 7 percent for the realator!

Good luck.....

 

I knew about the letter of pre-approval but the closing cost for the seller I thought was a set fee, something like 1% here in TN. So should I just use the realtor and forget about the lawyer. Didn't know a real estate office would do the paperwork for you without actually listing the house.

 

Chuck, I think I need your lawyer. My guy said $1200.00 plus I have to pay some state fee that is like $500. Which is still way better than the realtor fees.

 

7-11%!!!! You were getting ripped off. The highest we EVER charge is 7% and thats for a low priced listing that is difficult to service. Usually we charge 4-6%. I can understand wanting to sell it yourself with that kind of commission. Is it a down market or are the REALTORS out there just greedy?

 

Use a lawyer. They know what needs to be filed, taxes, etc. I sold mine by myself. I did use a service that listed it will MLS. They acted as the broker but only to list on MLS (didn't cost much) and put an ad in the paper. Sold in 3 weeks but that was before the market went all to crap

 

There are "closing attorneys" that specialize in real estate transactions. It cost me $600 or $700 when I sold mine 3 years ago in Collierville, TN. I sold mine in 2 days, but Collierville is a hot area.

When I sold in Cordova, 4 years ago, I used a realtor because that was a stagnant market and I needed the exposure that an agent can help with.

When doing FSBO I would have it as "move-in" ready as possible.
I would also price it agressively(since you would be saving thousands on real estate commission), but then not come off the price.

 

I sold mine last year and the people looking at it had a realtor. I paid her 1.5% and she took care of everything, just as if she was my listing agent. Most painless real estate transaction I've ever had.

 

Except that she probably, legally did not represent you. In PA, she would be the Buyer's Agent and you technically have no legal representation. In that case as a seller you should have an attorney.

 

We went through three different realtors her. All were associated with companies (Century 21, FC Tucker, Carpenter) and each failed miserably. Even had a situation where they left all of our lights on and the doors unlocked after an open house.

The market in Indy is so saturated with homes. For years all I heard was buy a home, build equity, stop throwing money away. That was my first home and I've already dropped the price $20K. So much for saving money...

 

The market is saturated every where. Things are still moving here in the Knoxville area but slowly. Seems like mostly new construction is selling. I have several fmaily members back in Maine that are contractors and they are dying. They both have great reps and currently have nothing lined up for the spring.

I am not even sure I should go out on this limb (selling the house)but I need to be closer to work...diesel prices are killing me on a 60 mile round tripper everyday.


Thanks for all the input.

 

My advice?

Don't do it. Maybe in a hot market, but never in a down market.

You don't know what you're doing, and can be easy prey for any number of tricks. This market has brought out all kinds of scammers.

Do you know what these terms mean, and the possible pitfalls?

Escrow money
Assignable contract
As-Is contract, subject to inspection
Lease-puchase
Doc Stamps

Look at it this way. Would you recommend that a friend who knows nothing about bikes buy or sell a used bike on Ebay? What about a $100k bike?

Would your friend know enough not to take a "certified check"... or know the difference between a GSXR 600 and a GSX (Katana) 600? Would they know enough not to fall for a scammer's story about a "rebuilt title" bike?

You can hire a sharp, hard working, experienced Realtor for 5%. They will get you more for your home and protect your interests. Yes, thay will get you more for your home... because people buying from FSBOs always discount their offers "since you're not paying commission".

That's all.

Yes, I'm a Realtor.

 

It took us a while to sell our house in WI. Our realtor would show the house and then do nothing for a few weeks. Then she'd come in and tell us to lower the price. We got fed up and complained that we listed the house at the price she suggested...not even the high end because we wanted it sold. She takes no responsibility in being wrong while we continue to pay mortgage and taxes while the house sits. Eventually we took it off the market and renegotiated with her to sell it in the spring. This time we did a sliding scale. We let her decide what a good selling price would be and then gave her 1 month to sell it at 5% total commissions. If it took 2 months, then it would go down to 4% and so on. Suddenly there were ads in the paper, she was calling all her leads, an open house every other week, etc. The house sold in 1 month and a week. She took 4% and we were both satisfied.

In some areas, realtors are spoiled because it's a sellers market. Especially here in Seattle. They just sit around while buyers try to outbid each other laughing all the way to the bank. I'm not saying all realtors are this way. It's just become so lucrative that Joe Anybody will get their license and make the easy money. You just got to find the right one. We've used a realtor the last couple times and had to wade through a lot of crap to find a good one. Realtors are people too...they need incentives to work hard for your money. Gotta find ways to motivate them.

 

Don't want to hi-jack this thread, but the biggest problem with most Realtors® in this market is that they are afraid to be blunt with people.

The worst agent you can have right now is a smiley, power of positive thinking person. Luck will not get it done. Price AND good marketing sells houses in this market.

 

That and having a house someone else wants.

 

I recommend these web sites if you go the FSBO route:

owners.com

and

americaschoice.com

If you're lucky, you MIGHT find a good real estate agent (no offense to the agents here). If you're lucky you MIGHT find a good lawyer (no offense to the lawyers here). Do some comparison shopping on the lawyer and agent (if you decide to hire one). Some may charge less for their services and be more hard working. Check out lawyers.com and do a search if you don't know anyone that could recommend an attorney to you in your state/market area.

No, I'm not a lawyer or a real estate agent.

In our area most FSBO properties sit on the market for a long time (months and months). But we have a lot of desperate people all trying to save money selling their houses for too much money. We also have a property right next door to us that is being sold by one of those "high energy" real esate agents. This property has been for sale for going on 2 years now. So you could go either way depending on the market in your area.

Check out realtor.com and do some market research on how fast homes are selling in your area before you make a decision.

 

We have moved a couple of times and both agents we used were great. One of them also said that she doesn't like to show clients FSBO's because the owners most of the time are a pain in ass to deal with. If that is the prevailing attitude, which to be honest would make sense, I can see that selling it yourself could take longer.

 

For the most part that's true. Delaing with FSBO's is a pain in the ass. You usually end up doing twice the work for minimum commission. The seller usually has no idea what they're doing and to make the deal close for my buyer I usually end up getting all the title work done, ordering the seller's deed, etc etc.

There is a local broker in town that does MLS listing only "listings." Most of her "listings" don't sell and those folks usually end up listing with a traditional brokerage.

 

I have mine FSBO now and have had several calls and a viewing or two. I've had it up about a month now. I'll probably list with a realtor after next week.