Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I had a very reputable realtor who sold my home in 2 months last summer for 3 1/2 percent I actually had to choose from 3 contracts. He marketed it very well I was really happy. The market is not really doing well and the realtors are very negotiable at this time.
I tried the 3.5% to buyers agent and I did get a few more showings..no buyers yet but it did increase the number of folks coming out to see my place. I may try again before the spring season hits..see what happens. Are you listening Judith : )) Bring um on out to Warren Co. : ))))))
I had a very reputable realtor who sold my home in 2 months last summer for 3 1/2 percent I actually had to choose from 3 contracts. He marketed it very well I was really happy. The market is not really doing well and the realtors are very negotiable at this time.
The market is not doing well, and it's harder to sell a house than it was a year ort two ago. It takes more effort, more marketing, more time, more work. And as a result, you think home sellers should look to those agents most willing to lower their fees? Well, ok, I guess that's one strategy. I'd suggest you look to the agents with the most comprehensive marketing plan. The agents that are still moving properties, even in this tough market, and who aren't so desperate for a transaction that they'll cut their fee.
The market is not doing well, and it's harder to sell a house than it was a year ort two ago. It takes more effort, more marketing, more time, more work. And as a result, you think home sellers should look to those agents most willing to lower their fees? Well, ok, I guess that's one strategy. I'd suggest you look to the agents with the most comprehensive marketing plan. The agents that are still moving properties, even in this tough market, and who aren't so desperate for a transaction that they'll cut their fee.
Well stated. To work harder, there is no way they are going to cut their fee. If they do then most likely they are not going to do the job that you want.
What I said was I had a very reputable real estate company working for me and they reduced the commission. I didnt say to go for the lowest commision......absolutley go with a realtor with the best marketing strategy. The market is really slow and I still say that almost every realtor out there will be more than willing to take a cut to list your house.
well then Dodge I guess I am the only one who walked away with OVER my asking price and still only paid 3 1/2% commission. Trust me I was smiling all the way to the bank!
I sold my house 20 months ago, just as the market was heading down. I used a flat-rate broker, who listed it on MLS for $500, but did no other work. I promised a buyer's broker a commission of 2.5%. I had a contract within 3 months of listing; I had lowered my asking price by 3.5% after six weeks of no offers. I saved most of the seller's broker's commission, but i had to do a fair amount of work myself: photos, listing text, open houses, tours, negotiations, etc. I engaged an attorney, but i would have done that anyway. I'd guess that it amounted to about 40 hours of work. Savings: $25,000. Not a bad return on my time. Reinforced my feeling that seller's brokers are vastly overpaid. Or, put another way, of the 5-6% standard commission, the seller's broker doesn't deserve half. One of these days, the professional real estate community will wake up to that reality.
I used to think that advertising (paper and internet) was what sold a house. After my personal experience, i'm convinced that what sells a house in this market is price, followed by all the other things that make a house attractive: location, schools, floor plan, general condition of the house, etc. But advertising isn't really going to matter, as long as it's listed on the MLS and the buyer's broker's promised commission is competitive (at least 2.5%, if not 3% or 3.5%). There are a lot of "bottom-feeders" out there; if the price isn't super-attractive, they can and will go on to the next house. Sooner or later, they will find someone who is willing to lower their price. There is a LOT of inventory on the market, and some sellers need to sell.
Foxton's failed because they didn't offer an attractive commission to buyer's brokers, thus buyer's brokers didn't bring their clients to Foxton's-listed houses. Plus, their telemarketers soliciting listings were really annoying.
If you are savvy about the market and know which end of a fork is up, I suggest selling it yourself for 2.5% commission to buyers agent and listing with FSBO.com. You can get on the MLS just like any other listing and pay 2.5% to the buyer's agent or more if you choose to. Sorry agents! I sold my house that way in June 2007. I got pretty lucky, it was right before the subprime mess became daily headlines. I did have to lower price but I got it done. I knew where the market was headed and priced below the competition that's the only way to get a deal in a deep buyers market.
If I were to sell my house by owner, I would absolutely offer a commission to buyers agent. You see lots of people try to sell their house by owner for months and months and then end up getting a realtor and selling it relatively quickly.
Yes I think getting it on the MLS is very important. Does FSBO.com do that?
I dunno about fsbo.com but buyowner.com just sucks. We tried to use it when we were looking for houses and found them very non-user-friendly. And I am a Unix admin I spend 14 hours a day on the computer, surfing the web, testing websites, etc. so I am not an idiot who doesn't know how to navigate a site. Sometimes I just wonder who is programming these sites and I could do a much better job (and I'm not a programmer). I would spend the 4 dollars a month and get a good easy to remember .COM address and put a sign in your yard. Anyway.
Something I wonder about... as an internet savvy kind of guy as most of us (here) are.
Why do I see houses on the internet with 1 picture and no description, be it NJ MLS, GS MLS or realtor.com? Do you need to pay extra for 3-5+ pictures and a decent description?????
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
