How To Sell House Without Losing 6%? (tenants, appraiser, 2%, mortgage)
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.
You should hire Real Estate lawyer that can guide you or help you with legal documents through complete process.
Before hiring do these things:
Do upgrades of your home
Price your property competitively
Hire a professional photographer as most home buyers start looking for a property online or in local home magazines.
Choose the right time to sell according to Market value.
Curb appeal, clean and in good order will cast the widest net...
I went through this with my sister in law when they were selling... I said the landscape should look like a park and not some dried out desert scape... also, everything needed to be super clean... not that they did not have a clean home... just the extras like cleaning the window screens, fireplace, gutters and clearing out even if it meant moving things to storage or a pod...
In my experience, a good real estate agent will have no trouble locating qualified buyers. And if your house is a hot commodity, just charge 6% more and let the agent handle the sale.
Unless it is a cash sale or with huge down payment... charging 6% more is easier said than done...
No matter what the buyer and seller decide, it is the lender via the appraisal that is often the determining factor...
The last home I wanted certainly would have netted the seller more in several ways... I was ready, willing and able to buy at full list price as-is with my only condition a survey paid and approved by me...
The seller had accepted an offer for a 100k less the morning I made my offer and for 59 days I was the backup offer... even when the buyer had failed to clear inspection and loan contingencies... the broker allowed more time because she was afraid of getting sued... and both time the buyer was able to move forward...
It's been 3 years and I still think of that property...
So... had I been able to buy direct... the seller would have netted 178k more without brokerage or 100k more with brokerage...
I personally would not pay someone 6% or whatever to hand me a few cookie cutter forms and try to urge me to lower the sales price so they can get their commission faster. Real estate agents don't do a whole lot to earn their money in my opinion.
The last two for sale by owner I did went to overbids...
One was in the very hot market in 2007 and the other also a hot market in 2014... both in the SF Bay Area...
The season real estate professionals said I had under priced... funny thing is both had sold for the highest prices in the area..
The 2007 was on Craigslist for $250k and I had printed up 100 flyers and all were gone in 4 hours... and I handed them out... sold for 255k all cash as-is... in 2009 it sold foreclosure for 80k and last year sold for 260k... should have bought it back!
The other was priced at 785k and sold for 820k and the buyer did have an agent and I agreed to pay 2.5% and she was great... true professional and was actively looking for her clients...
You sound like someone who makes money at this, rather than a homeowner who is selling him home after living in it for years. For example, many homeowners don't understand all the work that goes into selling the home. The flyers, the good pics (the pics by homeowners are pretty bad, that I've seen), measurements.
But I wish I could sell mine that way. Alas, none of the FSBOs in my area that I've noticed have sold until after they listed with a realtor.
You sound like someone who makes money at this, rather than a homeowner who is selling him home after living in it for years. For example, many homeowners don't understand all the work that goes into selling the home. The flyers, the good pics (the pics by homeowners are pretty bad, that I've seen), measurements.
But I wish I could sell mine that way. Alas, none of the FSBOs in my area that I've noticed have sold until after they listed with a realtor.
Frankly, it's not a lot of work. The commission that's paid to an agent far outweighs the work of taking pictures and listing a house. The measurements are on the property appraiser website (and zillow nowadays). Most agents are inaccessible and a pain to deal with. There's just not a lot of value added, especially when you consider the amount they receive.
You sound like someone who makes money at this, rather than a homeowner who is selling him home after living in it for years. For example, many homeowners don't understand all the work that goes into selling the home. The flyers, the good pics (the pics by homeowners are pretty bad, that I've seen), measurements.
But I wish I could sell mine that way. Alas, none of the FSBOs in my area that I've noticed have sold until after they listed with a realtor.
When I graduated with my engineering degree... job prospects were bleak to say the least.
I decided not to beat myself up and took my meager life savings and the money form selling the car I had restored and bought the least expensive house on the MLS in Oakland California at the time...
It was shack that was set for a condemnation hearing... I moved in and started making improvements and liked it... took about a year living and working on it and then found a similar home in a better neighborhood... kept my first home as a rental and moved to the next one and did this for about 10 years...
Frankly, it's not a lot of work. The commission that's paid to an agent far outweighs the work of taking pictures and listing a house. The measurements are on the property appraiser website (and zillow nowadays). Most agents are inaccessible and a pain to deal with. There's just not a lot of value added, especially when you consider the amount they receive.
Agents/Brokers...
My Real Estate Professionals earn their money two ways... letting me know about property that may or may not be listed or where a sale fell through.. i.e motivated seller.
The other way is by keeping a deal together... they know the way things work... how to keep everything on track and anticipate problems and step in... like when a seller passed away the morning of signing... the agent had a connections to push the sale by getting the Title Company on board... 99.9% of the time the death of a seller just prior to signing would have killed the deal or delayed it... then loan commitments, appraisals, etc... start expiring as the months tick by and new players come onto the scene...
Thanks everyone again for the interesting discussion!
Oh I didn't know about the closing cost for the seller. Hmmm...how much I hate it!!!!! Will have to raise price accordingly! Probably definitely need to work with an agent to increase price!
If I don't increase, I would lose a lot on 1 year of home ownership compared to apartment rental.
Last edited by Ghost Town; 10-07-2015 at 10:46 AM..
You can increase price until you have priced yourself out of a sale.
Closing costs vary...
I have bought splitting non reoccurring closing costs.
I have bought paying all closing costs
I have bought where the seller has paid all closing costs.
Totally negotiable here...
Last edited by Ultrarunner; 10-07-2015 at 11:00 AM..
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.
Will have to raise price accordingly! Probably definitely need to work with an agent to increase price!
