"House Swap"..logistics, realtors, etc.

[Jkgourmet]

I'll add that doing that dual agent deal doesn't sound like protection for you. I'd be calling the agent you have used and trusted, and ask her to represent YOU for the same $750 (or more) that the buyers realtor is charging to represent THEM.

Consider this: You guys haven't even settled on a price yet, let alone other contact issues. Get your own representation!

[tonypitt]

Thanks, all, for the comments.

Originally Posted by searching for prudence

It looks to me like you are splitting the savings with the buyer. I don't see why it isn't a win, win situation for both of you.

That is what I'd like to see happen here. By handling this transaction more directly, there's the potential to 'save' about $15k. I'd like to see that mean that I wind up with $8k more in my pocket and the buyers wind up paying $7k less.

The key for me is that I know what my house will sell for if I list it and have it on the market for 30-90 days. I'm only going to do this deal if I wind up in a better situation. Ideally I'd like one that saves me time and puts more money in my pocket. I definitely can see that happening here.

Guess I'll find out shortly.

[tonypitt]

Here's an update. The buyer thought that their realtor would handle both sides of the transaction for a reduced commission. She didn't want to do that. Given that their agent did not show them this property, they have indicated that they'd be willing to not use a realtor. We'd use a real estate attorney to handle the whole transaction. And, given that they really want the property, they're willing to give us a full price offer. They hit us with this yesterday to keep us from listing with our realtor. They're afraid that if we list it, another party might get an offer in quicker.

So, in summary, no realtors involved at all, we get a full price offer, everything handled through a mutually agreeable attorney, attorney costs split 50/50, all other traditional closing costs paid by the respective parties.

And, just to be clear, we didn't low ball our selling price. It's listed for the same price as other recent transactions that did involve realtors.

None of this is yet committed to paper, but we seem close to having this all worked out. I think it's a win/win.

[jackmichigan]

Originally Posted by tonypitt

And, given that they really want the property, they're willing to give us a full price offer.

It's funny how things can work out like that. Congratulations! (Anticipating that your sale will go through.)

[tonypitt]

Just one final update. We did wind up selling our home with the terms pretty close to what was noted above. Instead of trying to figure out a precise 50/50 split of closing costs, we had the closing company give us a preliminary estimate and we just wrote the contract to show our contributing an amount that was roughly 50% of that.

We definitely came out with a good deal, as did our buyers. We had been contemplating having the interior painted before we listed it, and we had quotes for that. We also assumed we'd have to have the carpets cleaned. The buyers wanted to see the place so quickly after we moved and we hadn't had that done yet. After they toured the place they said that they loved it and wondered if we were amenable to giving them access to the place before closing so that they could paint and have the carpets cleaned. Although I suppose there was some risk in that (we made it clear they they wouldn't move in, etc.), I felt the risk was more than offset by the fact that they were willing to pay for painting and carpet cleaning on their own.

In fact, giving them a key early worked in our favor as they wound up letting the home inspector, appraiser, etc. in for their checks. Pretty much all we had to do was negotiate the terms, sign the contract, and then show up at closing.

So...here's the bizarre way the whole thing played out--from offer to closing in less than 3 weeks:

April 25--we close on the purchase of a house
April 30--when visiting the house we get mail for prior owners that looks important, so my wife calls them. She learns details of their home purchase having fallen though. Learns that they have been out home shopping and coincidentally were interesting in the place right across the street from us that had just sold. (They didn't even know where we lived and it came up somewhat on accident.) They express interest in our place.
May 1--we send them photos and a video we had made of our place that we planned to give to our realtor when we listed it. They love it and make an initial offer prior to touring the place. (But they did see a nearly identical home previously.) We tell them we need to think about it because we were so busy with trying to move.
May 2--we move into our new house
May 3--my wife and her sister clean our old house thoroughly
May 4--prior owners of our house come see the house we just moved out of. Love it. Offer us even more than previous offer if we'll sell it to them without listing it. We ponder what we should do.
May 5--they come back and say that we can do the whole transaction without realtors if desired, with our picking attorney to draft contract, etc.
May 6--closing company we used previously gives us a contract template. We complete it with them, signatures all around. Earnest money collected.
May 9--home inspection. All contingencies waived.
May 14-19--my wife and I go on a short vacation
May 23--close on our sale

I'm sure circumstances like this will never happen again to me in my lifetime. It has been surreal (but in a very positive way).

[Ohky0815]

Im glad it worked out!!

Housing swaps and can be confusing!

[jackmichigan]

Congrats, again! Good to hear that it worked out.

(Sounds like kismet.)