We are planning to sell our home. This is the 3rd home we have owned. We used a realtor to sell the 1st one but just put an ad in the paper and sold the 2nd one without a realtor. It was quite easy when we did it (summer of 2016) but not many people read the paper anymore so I wonder how we should go about advertising it. We live in a gated development so we will probably put up a for sale sigh out by the gate and may put an ad in the local newspaper anyway. What about on Craigslist? Any other sensible options?

Zillow.

There's your answer. May be the shortest post on the Campfire.

FSBO

Done two on Zillow.

Never use a realtor again.

Zillow and FSBO.

Make sure your purchase agreement is specific in all areas.

We have five high class rental houses in Asheville and Atlanta. The cheapo is worth $328K. We used to advertise only on craigslist.
These days, we advertise only on zillow. And so should you.

Thanks. I will look into the Zillow deal.

Zillow or FSBO both worked for us. Showing homes gets to be a drag but in my experience beats dealing with realtors...and the extra $$$ in your pocket afterward makes it worth it.

I've only used a realtor to purchase one house. Never used one to sell and don't intend to ever do so. When we sold our last one ~6 years ago we used Zillow and Craigslist and received hits from both, but I don't think Craigslist is nearly as popular as it used to be.

pros and cons of both approaches

I will say that around here, people are begging for homes to buy on social media because as soon as a house goes on the market, people are lined up to look at it and it sells within days.

all you'd have to do here is put your home up for sale on a social media site like a facebook group that is about your hometown.

that said, where the realtor comes in is making sure the person buying can get financing, setup appointments, inspections, etc - not to mention all the paperwork with deed transfer.

You guys must had chosen bad realtors, I'm not a realtor, but seems like you're stepping over a dollar to save a dime.On on probably one of the biggest financial deals of your lives the realtor's commission is very cheap insurance.Lots of of pit falls in real estate transactions. Do you trust your other financial transactions to free on line advice? Do you know what the real value of your house is, Zillow sure as hell doesn't! Can you evaulate best offer with all the ins and out of offers,. Hand shake or do you have a contract? These days hand shake deals or always trouble!

I don't trust FSBO's, and have avoided them in the past. I'm not the only one.

If you want a nightmare put it on Craigslist. You won't believe who will come to look at your house.

You use a lawyer for $1000 or a realtor for $18000+. Its your money, do what you want.

No doubt, Its not like your lawyer doesn't have the same boiler plate contract your realtor uses saved on his hard drive.

So it looks like even if I do a FSBO on Zillow I will most likely have to pay the buyer's agent a 3% commission (unless the buyer is not using an agent). I might initially list it on Zillow using their Make Me Move category. Any thoughts about the MMM?

Never ever use a realtor anymore. Absolutely no need and there is close to zero added value. You can do a $99 Flat Fee Listing on the MLS yourself and save all that realtor commission. You'll have the exact same exposure with the tool THEY USE.

But, you probably won't have to do the MLS listing if you:

1. Place an ad on zillow. Your 1st one is free. Works like a champ. Has text communications app built-in.
2. Place an ad on craigslist. You will need to bump the ad semi-frequently to keep it near the top. Just click on "Edit" and then just save again. You won't have to actually edit anything to bump your ad to the top. In my area, realtors will flag your ad to suppress it or get it deleted. They want you going to them to sell or rent your house. Just part of their game. In that case, you have to recreate the ad. No big deal. Have the text and pics stored on your computer. Easily recreated.
3. Get the cheapest 25 blank coroplast signs you can find and hand write a quick FOR SALE BY OWNER sign. Place them around the busiest spots in the area where your home is located. Have a pre-drafted text that describes the property in as much detail as you can get in the text without being too wordy (like this answer). Send this to anyone who texts you. When you take a call, you can also follow up with this text.
4. Place FOR SALE BY OWNER signs on stakes in the front yard and tied to any fencing that is next to adjacent roadway.

This is my current strategy for a sale or rental. Just used it to rent a house in 10 days start to finish and get $250/mo more than prior tenant.

GLWS.

I’d say 8/10 realtors are near worthless. And that’s being conservative. The “better” ones are more akin to used car salesmen.

NO reason to use a realtor. You don't need them to do jack schit for the financing, appts, inspections OR any of the deed transfer paperwork. The title company will handle that.

If you're smarter than 90% of the Karens who are 'real estate agents' (which isn't exactly an achievement) you can sell/buy your own property. I've done it numerous times.

Zillow had our house on their site. We never listed it with them. Took months to have them remove from the site! We sold one withput a real estate firm, would do it again!

Depends on the market, FSBO nationwide tends to average 10-12% below what an agent closes at so the 6% saved from not using an agent is not really a gain. Again, depending on your market you can have an agent work at a lower percentage simply to handle the bids. In the Boise Market a selling agent will work for 1% simply because the house will be sold in a few days and they are basically being used to do all of the paperwork, sort through all of the offers etc.

This link discusses FSBO using Zillow and some of the pros and cons:

https://www.realestatewitch.com/fsbo-zillow/

And it discusses agent fees paid to the buyer's agent and suggests using Clever instead. Anyone have any experience with Clever?

"If your buyer is working with an agent, there will still be fees the agent will collect throughout the sale, typically around 3% of the final sale price. At the end of the day, even if you are selling FSBO, you will still need to pay some sort of agent fees.

To help out with these selling costs, work with Clever to get transparent pricing on the selling and closing costs. Clever negotiates prices with agents so you only pay 1% or $3000 to your listing agent."

I've sold a couple FSBO and bought and sold a few with RE agents. Much prefer to do it myself. Line up an RE attorney ahead of time to handle the sales contract. The boiler plate contract that RE Agents use is mostly designed to ensure they get their commission. I also had inspections done ahead of time to show to potential buyers. I do only scheduled showings and require a cell number and drivers license ahead of time. My general experience with RE agents is that they were dishonest and not nearly as good at showing the house as I was.

I've got a house set to close on Wed and my realtor was phenomenal. She offered less than 6% but I wanted her paid. The house is selling for 235 so 6% is not exactly a windfall. She helped me time the sale just right. 2 years ago when I was thinking of selling should told me to hold off. Would have sold for about 200 then. I am out of town owner 7 hours away and she was meticulous in getting the house ready to put on the market, deciding which updates were necessary and which can wait, pricing vendors, etc. No way I could have done that on my own from 6 hours away, and even local it would have been worth the time suck just to pay her.

I have another house in a different state that I am leaning toward selling later this spring. Will come in at twice the value and in a neighborhood that pretty much sells itself. I'm not excited about paying the 6% or searching for a realtor in the area. I may use my current realtor to find a referral. The house will need some work after tenants leave, also I will need somebody to help make sure their exit goes smoothely. Would not try to sell out of town on my own.

the problem with doing a for sale by owner is, for some reason every home owner thinks they are a real estate expert. just like you don't represent yourself in court, the same applies for real estate. buying and selling is an emotional decision for most people. The extra money a realtor might get may be far more worth the value spent. Its possible to negotiate the commission you pay them. In my area you can get your house listed by a realtor for anywhere form $750 to 3%, you get various levels of services depending on the agent and price you pay. I have flipped 3 houses and each one I tried to for sale by owner while we were working on it. knowing if I couldn't sell it for sale by owner I would list it when it was finished. I never had any luck selling it that way. We have a massive classified website in our area that is far better than most that everyone uses. didn't work. plus the people that buy a for sale by owner want you to take the commission hair cut and they keep the savings instead of you, LOL

find a local real estate licensee (a realtor is a left wing donator to NAR!) Ask them for a market analysis, with comps.TIP THE POOR BASTARD and list where it is legal to do so in your state/area. in many cases mls will be for members only (nar members)
and btw zillow sucks terrible inaccuracies

You use a lawyer for $1000 or a realtor for $18000+. Its your money, do what you want.[/quotI don't know where you can get a lawyer for $1000. guess you hen't used one in awhile. Go ahead and use craigslist, you have every Tom Dick and unqualified buyer in the area casing your property for a "return viewing". Lots of lookers no buyers.

Presently around here one can simply put out the word they're thinking of selling and a home will be gone in 1 to 2 days. Have a neighbor that's come into some money, and listed homes have been gone before he gets a chance to look at them.

Wish I could talk Cookie into selling right now.

Whatever means gets the word out there for the sale.

I've sold two homes in the last few months by just hanging out a sign.
My lawyer is far smarter than any realtor out there when it comes to the in's and out's of a real estate transaction.
I'm paying 1200.00 bucks a house which includes the title search.

Only use for a realtor is if you just don't have the time to do it yourself.

I am a semi-retired Realtor. A lawyer is certainly qualified to read over a contract and tell you if it is what you think it says. However, a lawyer knows nothing of your area real estate market trends, home warranty coverages and prices. Lawyers know nothing about marketing properties nor will they make any attempt to do so. Lawyers do not, as a rule, research and see to the issuing of property tax issues and HOA regulations, fees, transfers, etc. What about any required or desired insurance for the property? What about any flooding potential? Again, not a lawyer's area of expertise. Lawyers know nothing about arranging financing for the buyer. You may think that is not an issue for the seller, but you would be very much mistaken. Basically, this is the buyer's responsibility, but just because a buyer says they want to or say they have the ability to buy your property is meaningless. Furthermore, just because they say or even if they have a lender say they have financing arranged, do they really? A good Realtor will research this. Realistically, even then financing may fall through. Many lenders will give a letter saying that a buyer is pre-qualified for a loan. This is a perfectly legal document that a lawyer would find no problems with. However, don't be fooled, it actually only says that the buyer has spoken with them. It does not say they will do a loan. I have actually had loan officers send me a pre-qual form letter and tell me to just fill in the buyer's name and the amount needed for anything I wanted and they would figure out after a contract was accepted and negotiated if they could do the loan. By the way, I have always refused to do so as I consider this to be unethical at best and fraudulent at least. A good Realtor will try to establish if a buyer actually can qualify for a purchase, even if the buyer is represented by another Realtor. I, as a seller's agent, have several times arranged for a buyer's financing on a transaction that the buyer's original lender was unable to complete, saving the transaction. Lawyers simply do not do any of this. It is not their expertise. As an example, I have a good friend who is a well experienced lawyer who just closed the sale of his home this past Friday. It was a $400K+ transaction. He gladly used a local to him Realtor and paid full commission. No, it was not me as he lives 6 hours away and in a state that I am not licensed in. Some suggest Zillow. Let me tell you something: Somethings on Zillow are accurate. Much of it is not. I have on several occasions had people come into my office and want to see a property they saw on Zillow. I would look up the property and find that not only was it not currently on the market, but it had last sold 4 or 5 years ago. Two such buyers got extremely irate and accused me of being grossly incompetent as they showed me on Zillow the properties. I tried to explain this to them respectfully to no avail. I finally told them to go to the properties, knock on the door and ask whomever was living there if I was lying or not. Never heard from them again. You see, Zillow would pull property listings from the local Multiple Listing Service and post them on their site. That's fine and dandy, but they never would update the site when a property sold or went off the market, making it look like all these houses were available on Zillow. This also led people to believe that the prices for properties that were on the market 5 or 6 years ago were current comps for the area. Not true at all. Another example of misleading Zillow info is that they would give an estimated property value by comparing the general area building size prices per square foot sales or tax value and calculating this to determine a building's value. Well, this is fine and dandy IF you are comparing comparable properties. Zillow does not look at properties. I had a potential buyer contact me from west Texas who was wanting to buy a property that he was convinced was a steal that he found on Zillow located in Galveston. I went and looked at it for him and he was not pleased with what I told him. The property would cost him more money to demo and clear the lot than the lot value would be. It was unfit to occupy and dangerous to enter. But, according to Zillow, the property was worth multiple 6 figures. So, yeah, I've a pretty low opinion of Zillow. Zillow is OK if you can find something that is accurate and current. The problem is, finding something that is current and accurate. On the other hand, if you have someone to buy your property and have the expertise to work with a title company to handle the closing documents, escrow funds, arrange for inspections and negotiate any resulting repairs needed, arrange for any survey that may be needed by local authorities or arrange for an existing one to be approved, tax required documents and tax pay offs, do lien and judgement research, can get a sales contract legally and properly prepared and executed, arrange for and negotiate any home warranty and any repair negotiations, arrange for any HOA transfer documents and approvals, arrange for any financing needed, etc., etc., then by all means do so yourself. Some transactions are relatively easy. Most all will have unexpected surprises, even when purchasing a new home. Sorry for the long post, but there is a lot to these real estate transactions than what meets the eye. Some, a LOT more so than others.

Requirments to become a Real Estate Lawyer
Complete a Bachelor's degree,
Pass the Law School Admission Test,
Complete a 3-year graduate program at a law school accredited by the American Bar Association
Pass the bar examination in the state where they will practice.

Requirments to become a realtor
Be at least 18 years of age
High school diploma or equivalent
United States Social Security number
Complete 63 hours of approved pre-licensing instruction within the last two years
Pass the state sales associate exam
Pay the $89 fee and get fingerprinted
Submit the application.

I was selling the first log cabin that I had built, at 136 Old Plantation Trail, Milledgeville Ga. I had listed it with a realtor that I knew, I had gone to college with him.
At that time I was working in Atlanta, living with my girlfriend 2 hours away.
I went down there one Saturday, the For Sale sign had fallen over in the yard. I called William up and told him that sign needed to go back up and right quick. He said, Yes, of course.

I went down again 4 days later, the sign was still down in the yard. I called up William and fired him. We were in the middle of a 90 day contract so I wasn't sure if I could fire him, but I did.

Second realtor, also a friend, I told her what happend to William. So she was sure to at least keep a sign in the yard. And that was all she did. She was going to hold 2 open houses, and also run an ad in the Macon newspaper with one photo. This was 1996.
She never had an open house and she never ran an ad. It did sell right at the end of her 90 day contract, but it sold because a couple was driving down the road going to look at another log cabin, and they happened to see the sign in my yard, and they liked mine better.

Two realtors, both friends of mine, both lied to me every chance they got and I would have sold it just as quick with a For Sale by Owner sign in the yard.

You get a good lawyer he will check all the paperwork for you. You don't really need a realtor to do all that.

There are good realtors and I have used one on another deal but there are some real lying BS artists "working" as realtors. Working as little as they have to.

If I ever sell my house(or property) I would tell the realtor..... Hey, this is what I want, you get anymore, keep it.

Be sure and check out prices that other homes are selling for in your area .

In a lot of places new home building hasn't caught up with demand . Homes are selling for thousands more than appraisal.

Open houses are for realtors, not sellers.

Pretty much any Realtor is going to check the comps and price your property accordingly. Most properties won't exceed current comps by very much at all. Even if someone offers a price that's higher than the comps, the banks won't finance it for more than the comps indicate it's worth.

As for "for sale by owner" houses, it depends on the market. If the house is in a hot market and you want to handle it yourself, it could be a good idea.

If the market is "ho-hum", you're going to get a lot more traffic by listing it with an agent simply because none of the agents will show your property to their buying clients unless you agree to pay the agent 3%.

Of course, you don't have to. But you lose all access to the buyers who have hired a Realtor to handle their purchase.

Unless there’s a bigger cash down.......Around here offers that come in over are common and almost always all cash quick close. These are $700,000+ homes so it’s not just a little bit of cash. My dad sold the family home after mom died and it was all cash, no inspection, quick close. My buddy just sold his last 6 homes here and everyone came in way over asking (comp+) and every one was all cash. He started to list the minimum asking and begin accepting offers that he’d open and review after a predetermined amount of days (5-10 days). He was able to go through and accept the one that best suited them....all cash quick close. It was worth it to him to accept an offer that was $10k less than the highest offer but more than asking if it was cash.

Well, sure. If you've got cash in hand you can pay whatever you want for anything. But full cash purchases represent a very small percentage of real estate sales.

What is a paragraph Alex?

I found my house through Zillow,but realtors were still involved.

Putting a sign in the yard is the cheapest and many times productive. I've used them with success before, but again, realtors were also used.

I have sold two houses that we only needed a lawyer on with a sign in the yard. For one I wrote a contract and for the other the lawyer did.

I’ve always used a realtor but two years ago after my wife resigned her position to help me run the business I convinced her to get her license. Even if she just lists and does nothing else, she still gets 2.5%. Helps cover the cost of her running our office and managing property.

She’s hands down the best investment we ever made in our business.
I married way the fugg up. Smart, beautiful, best mother ever, work ethic, driven.... the commission she makes being passive income allows her the luxury of actually being an ethical realtor. Probably the only one I’ve ever met!

Exactly what we are seeing around our property in north Idaho. Cash buys above listing.

Appropriately priced houses around here aren't staying on the market a week. Clients contact my wife wanting to see a property and my wife tells them "let's go today". They usually have to lose two or three houses before they understand that they can't put it off for a day or two.

One of her clients made a full price offer today on a house that had been on the market less than 24 hours. He lost a chance on one house because he didn't want to go see it Saturday,..as she recommended. It sold Saturday afternoon. So the buyer was ready to buy this house today. One offer had already been made when they got there to view it this afternoon.

Some of the sellers don't understand the current market. They want to put their house up for sale and they haven't located a place to live. Of course, there's usually a month lapse between an offer being accepted and the new buyers actually moving in. But if you put your house for sale around here right now, you need to have a good handle on your next residence.

Housing market near everywhere is fairly frantic today. It's the result of 10+ years of nearly free money.

10 -15 years ago it was Denver, Seattle, Oakland, etc.....Today it's every little schithole in the country. Get a loan at 2.dick interest for 40 or 50 years and all a sudden everything is affordable.

It won't turn out well.

Bought and sold 12 properties in the past 20 years. If I know the market, no need for an agent. If I don't know the market, I'll get an agent involved. Just depends.

They won't sell for thousands more than appraisal if there is any financing involved, cash buyers are different story, but cash buyers don't have the cash because they're stupid!

People that have cash are usually not stupid and may pay a little above market, but not much. Everybody thinks thinks their house is the best, but the market says different in most cases. The want over asking when they buy and then want to low ball when they sell. This is just the same as buying rifles here on the "Fire", most everyone thinks their rifles are worth much more than they are. This really shows up in custom guns and houses.

PNW is awash in Chinese money.

List a house around Seattle and some executive from Huawei that’s trying to move his money out of China is gonna pay list+ in cash. Its gotten ridiculous.

I will be selling a home in Prince William County Virginia here shortly as well as another in Stafford County Virginia. Both of these counties are in the top 10 wealthiest counties in America.

I plan to land contract both of these properties to the hard-working totally committed to family dedicated illegal immigrants of America with a 20% downpayment.

The Democratic libtard communist racist neighbors of mine that tell me I hate Hispanics and blacks will have the opportunity to fully embrace 12 Buicks up on cinder blocks add a family occupied by no less than 30 people each.

Glorious days ahead for my neighbors who embrace the Democratic Nirvana

The last home we sold convinced me that a good real-estate agent is just like any professional, if they are great at what they do they are worth every penny and then some. We hade done it before and were just getting ready to sell it ourselves. We paid for an appraisal to get an idea what to ask. We were having a yard sale to get rid of stuff before advertising , at the sale a lady introduced herself as the leader of the best property sales team in the state and ask how much would we like to walk away with. I told her with the way things were selling we would like around 20,000 over appraisal. So bottom line she said we were not familiar with and or kept up with the market and if we could give her a chance she could get us a very large amount over what we wanted and she would only take a percentage if she got over that amount. That was the second to the last weekend we owned the home. We had absolutely no hassle's to deal with it was a great transaction. I think every area produces figures showing the most successful sales people, also I think every sales person has one or more buyers on the hook all the time. Without a professional we were prepared to leave laying on the table what is most likely turning into a nice cabin for us.

I didn't realize there was this much stupid here willing / dying to throw their money away.

I've bought and sold over a hundred houses. Seems it was a waste of time describing in detail how to do that.

Feel free to throw your money away on realtors.

You are vastly overstating the value of a huge percentage of realtors out there these days.

And you are also ignoring the reality that most everything a good realtor could offer in the deal, can be had for far less and with far better results by hiring people as needed such as a real estate lawyer to creat a buy sell and do a title search etc.

Henry, you just validated those of us who loath realtors. In your long response you say the phrase, " a good realtor" and you also describe how there are opportunities for anyone that is a real estate agent to misuse the system including pre-qual paperwork. This is akin to referencing a good-democrat. They are few and damn far between.

reality is, most real estate agents are a waste of space. They have no interest in working. No interest in getting deals done. they are simple copy editors for advertising. They don't want to do anything put create an ad and place that ad and wait until a person shows up with $ and then take their duly earned percentage.

Sorry to say this, but I believe I have met 3 decent real estate agents over the past 30 years. And I have looked at hundreds of properties and bought and sold quite a few as well.

You and I have that in common.

Selling on your own just scares some folks that's never done it.
So, whatever it takes to make them feel warm and fuzzy.

I see it much like buying or selling a car or boat, do it all the time.

I read the real estate listings 2 or 3 times a day just looking for that property that I feel I can turn a buck on..

All the good deals are sold within a week, gotta move fast.
My offers are most always well below asking price, all cash, wave the home inspection and close in 7 days.
That typically gives my about a 50/50 chance of a seller biting or coming back with a counter offer but a 100% chance I'm gonna make some good money if I buy.

If it wasn't for the comp's the banks and realtors go by I'd make far less money in real estate

I could careless what the comp's are, if a place has unique qualities such as amazing views or stronger than your adverage features I'll sell for well over the comp price. I don't mind being a trend setter.

There are enough cash buyers out there to move a property for over comp. Banks will finance for over comp, they just require more out of the buyer, they can put up a second home, stocks or whatever collateral they might have to cover the distance the bank won't go on a property.

I don't entertain weak buyers when selling.
I don't care where they get their money as long as they show up at closing with a check.

Typical tire kickers all sing the same song, "when we sell our home, we'll buy yours" they'll be fishing for closing in 90 days and expecting 5K to hold the property until they sell theirs.
I just tell them to hold onto their 5K and come back and see me after they sell.

I close on my sells in 30 days and entertain every back up offer that comes along during that 30 days.
Buyers should hit the market ready to buy.

I keep blank buy/sell agreements in my center counsel, I fill them out on the hood of my truck once we strike a deal.

Realtors seem to spend a lot of time trying to shoehorn marginally qualified buyers into homes, maybe it's what they have to do to stay in a pay check, idunno, I just don't use them.

Great info and perfect outlook. My long-time friend and I were just discussing how valuable it is to keep a folder in your vehicle with contracts, land trusts, quit claim deeds, memorandum of purchase and sale agreements to protect your deal (what is essentially a lien), etc.

I've bought and sold a lot of houses signing contracts on the hood of my truck in a t-shirt, cargo shorts, and a baseball cap. You don't have to be pretty, just fast.

They write deals like that.

I would use a Realtor to help sell my home or property.

I just listed it as a For Sale by Owner on Zillow. We will see how this goes.

Just know what it is really worth before you put it up for sale. Lots of old folks are living in the past and don’t have a clue how things have appreciated in the housing market. We bought our last one off Craigslist for full list the same day that the ad came up. Best 3K we ever spent was having a buyers agent real estate friend nail it down that afternoon with a signed contract. What the property tax assessed value is isn’t what it could sell for. Ours was under valued and we knew it.

Also having the right real estate company is important too. When I listed my up north property with a local to the property company, they sat on it for a year with no result. I then listed it with another company and sold it in a week.

I will not say that realtors 'can't help'........... but the guy that'll keep you out of trouble is the closing attorney.... have one there on YOUR side........ and they charge a whole lot LESS than 6%...

realtors CAN find you buyers that you may not reach, and if that is worth it to you then go for it....

IMHO

Are you going to be heading back to the PNW?

405wcf

I haven’t sold a house in 30 years.

Figured you hadn't been out of yours in 30 years

Keep in mind the type of house contributes significantly to the speed at which it sells. Smaller homes in good neighborhoods sell much quicker than larger homes in rural locations.

At least around here.



P

I sold a house and 10 acres a few years ago. Get an appraisal they said. I got an appraisal. 190k they said . I thanked them paid the 500 bucks.
Get a realtor they said. I talked to 3 . They all wanted to list at appraisal.
I put a sign out. I talked to people. 3 days after appraisal of 190k i sold at 325k. This property is 30 miles from the nearest town. 2 of the 3 agents i talked to wouldnt even come out to view the place.

I worked as a land buyer for 20 years. Average purchase price for our sites was 1.75 mil. We used a one page contract for purchase and avoided agents if we could.
I have seen agents whip out a 50 page sales agreement. I would whip out my one page. We always used the one page.

Zillow removed the Make Me Move feature a while ago. Just for fun I picked the highest dollar per square foot sold price in my area, multiplied it by my square footage, and added $50k. Listed as fsbo. About $250k over the Zestimate. Let’s see what happens.



P

Got a call 8 minutes after I listed. Some lady, a buyer, is coming over to check out the outside.

Funny.

Asking $899,659



P

I sell homes on lease-to-own contracts to deadbeats with strong down payments.

'Sold' the same 6 houses at least 40 times altogether. No, I don't need a realtor.

There are some good realtors out there, that can more than make up for their fees and plus you let them deal with all the headaches. It sure was nice not having to even speak to the buyers. Lets just say they were Warnock voters but that was to be expected in my neck of the woods. I honestly didn't want to deal with them. Certain prices ranges are gonna have you dealing with fha and va loans and everything that goes along with them. We had 6 offers in two days on our house (this was our starter house in a lower middle class neighborhood). Only one was conventional and it was the lowest offer. We ended up taking an fha offer that was well above asking and buyer paid all of closing. Plus my realtor had a contractor on speed dial that was able to get a sagging sunroom roof braced up with beams and posts and trimmed out nice within a week for me for an awesome price. I got lucky and inspections went well even the fha, fha didn't advise for any repairs! I also used her to buy our current home, she made it happen in a market where every time you called to look at a house, it was already under contract. I got it for well below asking and appraisal, she also got them to throw in some expensive waterproofing and new 5ton carrier hvac system.

Neither has Windfall.

^^^^


Here's somebody that gets it.

Yep Greg, since arriving here, we have bought 2 houses & our business & sold our first purchase, all by private sale !

Saved enough, by not paying commissions, do do north of $60k in renovations to the new place, which at the time, we financed.

Once work was completed, get the new home & property apprasied, go back to the bank with the new $ & remortgage for 80% value, gaining $55k of our funds back, to reinvest.

Good Lawyer is all you need !

Listed my house in GA on Zillow.................realtor calls 'you know your asking too much for your house???' Really?? WHY? 'Well it's only a three bedroom and two baths' Really??? Well I live here, I can count 4 bathrooms and 5 rooms that qualify as bedrooms...... 'Well that's not what the tax record says'................ So, you know nothing about my house or what it is worth, do you want to buy it or list it?????

She did neither.......

I did sell it for asking price...............

Not all realtors are the same.

That's a great story, Paul, and you're exactly right. All you need is a good lawyer to do the title work and closings for you. You pay for what you actually get there. Not a bunch of spendy realtor fees for someone that does nothing more than throw your property on the MLS, which you can do yourself for $99 or less.

Good to hear!

Muffin, good for you.

Right off the top of my head, I can think of at least 3-4 houses I currently own where the county records are wrong.. including the one I'm sitting in now. Lol.

I can't even remember how many I've sold that were wrong.

How does one list their home on the MLS without using a realtor? We were told that it could not be done.

Yeah, but.

It can differ state by state.
Read up on your states regulations on "for sale by owner" MLS listings.

There are brokers that specialize in assisting with such a listing for a flat fee, typically a few hundred bucks.

Then...

Some realtor comes along and has a buyer that wants to purchase your property, somebodies gonna pay them their 3% commission to do it.

Anything can be negotiated into a sell.

My lawyer gets 1200 bucks to close a contract for me, I split it with my buyer, 600/600. <hint

Word.

Realtor yearly professional fees and MLS presence are expensive.

There are other ways other than a flat fee listing to gain an MLS presence.

Hint.

Idunno about his state.
Don't wanna mislead

My wife also listed it on Facebook Marketplace on Sunday
and some of our neighbors in the development shared it. A friend of one of the neighbors is coming to look at our house this evening. Fingers crossed 🤞.

Good luck sir!

We showed our home to a 3rd couple today and they made a full price offer. Hopefully it will appraise for at least that amount. I listed it on Zillow and Facebook Marketplace for $30,000 more than the realtor that helped us buy the house suggested we list it at and not paying the realtor $20k or so has me pretty pleased at the deal. Hoping for smooth sailing through the rest of the process.

Congrats

That's generally what research has shown.

Congratulations on the offer, hope you move on to a smooth and seamless closing.

Good for you, well done !

Sold our home in Illinois on our own. Real estate attorney handled all paperwork and it went very smoothly. Sounds like the OP just saved a chunk.

Yep, he'll grossed $50K over and above what dealing with his realtor might have brought him, minus a couple grand for attorney fees.

Realtors aren't for everyone..

I fully agree with you as I did the same. Here’s the one thing you screwed the pooch on as you didn’t have it appraised. This can go two ways, You could of priced it too damn low in which you are out. You priced it too damn high to where the buyer can’t get a mortgage without paying the difference. Then since you had it appraised for a mortgage the appraisal stands for 5 years after. We paid 500 bucks for an independent appraisal that was confidential, then priced 5 grand over. Buyer thought they got a deal when we split the price difference.
Good luck on the outcome.

Have done with and without. Most realtors aren’t worth .1%. Some are, but those are few and far between

If your adamant about using one in a market like now. Tell them your not paying 5/6/7%. Tell them 3% or you will find someone else. They either take it or you find someone else. Always hungry realtors out there.

But like said above. Attorney and title company cheaper meaning more cash in your pocket

So the realtor that helped us buy the house said he wants 1.5 percent to handle the paperwork which comes to more than $6000. I paid $500 for that service to a realtor in Washington State when we sold our home. Might need to contact an attorney.

Yep, you need a real estate attorney, should of contacted one from the start.

I use mine often and he charges $1200.00 per closing which includes the title search. I split his fee with my buyers. 600/600

I'd guess you might find one charging around 2 grand give or take.

There are flat fee services that put your property in the MLS . But you’ll be expected to pay a buyer agent premium. You do not NEED a realtor , but will help get more showings if you do. All you need is a reputable, local RE attorney to prepare the closing documents.

In 2020 , (like they needed anymore paperwork) COVID disclosures were added to the standard RE paperwork . I wouldn’t care if real estate agents went away .
L
O
L

I reached out to my former boss and he hooked me up with the realtor he has used. That realtor is going to handle the paperwork etc for a very nominal fee- he said "just buy me dinner" but I will probably pay him about $1000 if he will take it.

Contract is signed to sell our home and my former boss's realtor didn't charge anything. What a blessing.

Congrats

Thanks for the encouragement folks. One of the things I really appreciate about this forum is the vast knowledge and experience of the members here.

Cheers Mate !

Bourbon 9aul!

So the listing price was $435k and the appraisal came back at $440,000 and the inspection was all good. Just waiting on the radon test results. Sure glad I did not hire the realtor who wanted 5% and a listing price of 405k!!!