MLS listing without a realtor (Wilmington: lawyer, house, buyers)

[elizamary]

Originally Posted by maryCh

Wow rossc! You must have had it priced just right! Great job, and congrats on the sale! We have a few buyers here, some with closings soon. Perhaps the housing market is coming along afterall; at least here in DE!

Mary

I think in PA too. We just had another SM resident that just received 2 offers. So that makes 4 residents that sold their house in the last few months.
It is a buyers market and buyers should take advantage. Only problem, there are so many homes for sale. Not a problem for buyers but for sellers. A lot of competition out there.

[rdlr]

Congratulations, rossc! Definitely, your positive location is an asset. I'm sure you're anxious to move on, and I wish you the very best.

The market is picking up. Stats for Kent County, are as follows:

April 1, 2008 to July 4, 2008
358 properties sold and settled
393 pending, awaiting settlement
Average Days on Market - 89

Don't have time to check on Sussex County, but at a quick glance seems to be doing better.

[from PA]

I love hearing success stories. Rossc congrats on your sale and rdlr thanks for your positive statistics. Great news on both counts !!!

[anniebleu]

rossc, felicitations! (And you can put a French accent on that if you want to! ) Wow!

You mentioned, I think, that you had a few questions you used to screen potential buyers, so that you wouldn't have people walking through who had no chance of getting a mortgage. Can you share those questions here?

[rossc]

You just have to put yourself in the buyers shoes. What would be a deal breaker for someone buying your house. For us there were really only two...

-Financing: This is a mobile on leased land. If they think they can get financing, they are wasting my time and theirs. Must have cash or the ability to borrow against another asset.

-Kids/Grandkids: This is a small house. It won't work for a large family.

Other things such as liking the layout, neighborhood, etc. can only be answered by looking in person. If I had to guess, I'd say financing is probably the #1 reason why a buyer would not be able to follow through on a house.

[debbiekr]

I am a realtor and the company that I work for will not allow us to list mobile homes on leased land because it is not considered real estate. You have to have a "dealers license" to sell 10 or more a year. You are right about the financing, most lenders will not touch them regardless of the type of financing. Congratulations on selling!

[DEnative]

I have 2 FSBO stories.. First my home was a FSBO, and we found it by driving by. We bought it from the owner, used a real estate attorney, did get termite inspection etc, and since my husband is in construction, we did not need the home inspection. We did have a real estate agent, who tried to steer us to other similar homes in the same neighborhood, but none were as nice as the FSBO. So we told her, sorry but no thanks to the higher priced, not so nice house down the street.

Second, a coworker was selling her home FSBO and had a buyer who had a real estate agent. The couple loved the home.. the real estate agent started telling them all kind of negitive things about the area (they were from out of state ) and tried to get them to move on from the property. Once they would not move on, the agent actually called my coworker and tried to tell her she had to pay her a commission for bringing the buyers to the house. Needless to say, my coworker told her to try that lie somewhere else and hung up on her. She still sold the house at her price to the couple and no real estate agent fees to deduct.

People gotta make a living, but with the internet, sites like Zillow.com, Craigs list and
other FSBO web sites, all you need is a good Real estate Lawyer and a qualified buyer. Course these days, also a bank who is willing to do the loan.

I think the MLS is having more trouble competing and Real Estate agents only weapon is trying to scare sellers that they need an agent and the MLS or no one will know they are selling.

[iminer]

so many kind people

[jjmck172]

I learned recently on more than one occasion that you don't need a real estate agent to buy a newly built house (new build). In fact, 1 builder strongly discouraged us from using a realtor, while the other said that we could use a realtor 'if we wanted to', but then drew up the contract stating that there would be no realtors involved in the transaction, without asking us if we were going to use one.

I felt bad signing it, since we had seen homes that were on the market with a certain real estate agent. But was I supposed to stand up to a builder, stating that I wanted to use a real estate agent for a new build, when I had gone to a bunch of new home developments on my own, without a realtor present?

The whole thing was confusing, but since our realtor never had us sign a buyers contract, I guess nothing was owed.

I also heard that realtors DON'T have you sign a buyers contract, because without one they can steer you toward properties where they would make the most money, rather than looking out 100% in your best interest.

Just things I have heard. But I am no expert!

[protection4U]

Ross,

I am a Realtor and you can never,ever list your home in an MLS without a Realtor. Some advertise that and it is a scam like many other scams around now. There are Flat Fee Internet companies but they charge you an upfront inital fee and then refer the listing on to a broker who is licensed in the state where the seller's property is located.
The brokers who do what is called an "Entry Only" Listing takes part of the upfront fee you pay the internet company, and then that broker will list your home in the MLS. Many state real estate laws require the listing broker do certain functions and in that case a transaction assistance fee is required which may be .5% and then the seller can decide what percentage to pay the buyers agent. That varies usually between 2-3%. I totally recommend that you choose a listing broker who will do transaction assistance for it can cost you a lot more than you think you are saving if you do not. I would say pay the Buyers Agent 2.5% and the Listing Broker .5% for a total of 3% at closing and still retain the right to sell it yourself without paying any commission if you do find your own buyer. That way you are covering all your bases and you probably can still get the transaction assistance if you need it even if you find your own buyer and that is usually just .5% at closing.
You can always list it for sale by owner on Zillow.Com, infotube.net and other owner sites that are free BUT ALL MLS LISTINGS REQUIRE THAT A LICENSED REAL ESTATE BROKER OR AGENT WHO IS A REALTOR TO LIST YOUR PROPERTY IN ANY MLS IN THIS COUNTRY.