Where to start looking for a realtor? (Glendale: mortgage, equity)

[CodyW]

I believe a few of you are familiar with our situation..

We listed our house about two years ago for $250,000.
It sat on the market for a total of 16 months;
$60,000 in price reductions, and 3 realtors later, we took it off the market and gave up.

Well; more and more, the house is becoming a money pit.
Early 60's John F Long home; Great construction, but, things start to happen after almost fifty years.
The amount of money we've had put into the house is ending up to be too much for us.

So, once again, we're looking to get out and into something newer.
But where do we start?
The real estate market is horrible, I know, and most of you will advise not trying to sell at the moment; but hey - It's necessary.
Not looking for personal references.

But where do I start looking for a good realtor?

[sablebaby]

Well, do you have any neighbors that could recommend any? Any co-workers? A referral would the best way possible.

[aiwei]

There is no short cut in looking for a good one. Like everything else, you go by referral and by interview. Just remember to try to avoid having either your best friend or your sister-in-law's cousin as your realtor if you could help it. Just think, if there is anything wrong, it would be awkward to say something.

[Beena]

Your description of your house certainly didn't make me wanna buy it.

[altus2006]

Originally Posted by Beena

Your description of your house certainly didn't make me wanna buy it.

I agree, it would not be the words I would be looking for to describe my new home purchase.

There are two main things that will attract buyers, location and price.

Since you are the owner of a home that is about 50 years old, I assume it is not in the best part of Glendale, so there goes location.

If you have owned the home for a long time, you may have enough equity to sell it at a deep discount and still make enough money to get into a newer home.

It is your choice whether to stay and keep putting money into it or sell it and get what you can get to unload the house and move up to a better, newer one.

Anything will sell if it is cheap enough. There are programs out there that allow buyers to borrow the money to fix up the place and put the cost on their new mortgage, so it is possible to sell your home and let someone else fix it up.

altus2006

[azjack]

"We listed our house about two years ago for $250,000.
It sat on the market for a total of 16 months;
$60,000 in price reductions, and 3 realtors later, we took it off the market and gave up."

More importantly than who lists the house on the MLS is how much you plan on asking for. It has to be priced comparably to (preferably lower than) recent actual sales. It did not sell at $190K, and so it obviously has to be lower than that. Check other listings, county records, and zillow before you get agents' opinions so that you know who is being truthful. Since it needs work, it would almost certainly have less value than move-in ready places.