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We are going to be selling our house next spring to move out of state and retire. In order to maximize our profits, I am thinking of selling it myself. I suspect I will get flamed by the RE professionals on here , but that's ok...
Price will be in the mid $700k range, so 5% of that is over $35,000. That's a lot of money to leave on the table for us....
I'm looking to see how you all would word a description....and any advice on how to do this I may not think of......
I do have some experience in the field, had a RE license about 15 years ago, flipped a few houses, have built houses for a long time, used to do home inspections...etc, so I'm fairly familiar with the field in general.
Pluses are:
2000 SF house, 4BR/3BA, recently remodeled
Separate guest house, 500SF
Large 1 acre+ lot
Animal facilities already in place.... horses/chickens/goats
Covered porches all around
Desired area
We are in no hurry, don't care if it takes one month or a year or more to sell
I am thinking of advertising in the 4H community, as this would be perfect for an animal family with kids into the 4H program, which is common around here, the local HS even has animals facilities.....
The only area where I'll need help is with the documents and legal stuff at the end. But there are services that will do that for a small fee, usually $1000 or so.
I've sold homes with and without a realtor. IMO, the key to selling 'without' is having a very niche market OR having access to a much broader market (including MLS and a variety of online services that draw their listings from MLS). In one case, we had a beach condo and I simply set-up a table on the nearby beach - where a horde of tourists walked daily. In your case, it might be the 4H market and it won't cost you much to list your home there and 'test the water.' You can always compile a list of your own 'protected' contacts, in the event you decide to switch to a realtor later.
A few things a GOOD realtor brings to the table include: a knowledge of the local buyer and seller market; a sense of ongoing trends; an ability to reach more potential buyers and thus, sell quicker or at a higher price; an in-place advertising program that will cost you less than your own individual advertising; an arms-length insight into buyer concerns and things about your home considered 'fatal flaws'; a more objective approach to the entire sale process; good, established contacts for inspections, appraisals, title co, legal matters, etc.; arms-length professional representation for BUYERS who do not feel comfortable 'buying direct', etc.
I am NOT a realtor, but, have learned over the years that the RE business (like most marketing and sales) is NOT as simple as it looks. IF you believe you are in a strong seller's market and have significant advantages over other homes in your area, you can always negotiate downward on the commission --- or hope to sell it yourself.
But, the fact remains, the majority of home sellers do not engage realtors and pay 4-6-percent commissions .... because they have 'extra money' they want to leave on the table.
the 4H thing would be a good start. You could also check around and see if there are any flat fee/no service brokers in your area. I sold a house using one of those, and she did the MLS listing for $750 and I clearly specified it was a FSBO in the description with a 2% commission paid by the seller. I also listed on a couple of FSBO websites.
It was a "warm" sellers market at the time and ended up going in two weeks at slightly above asking. Typical suburban neighborhood (family centric, good schools, etc), listed in the spring and I was very confident in the market value of the home. If your house is slightly odd for the neighborhood it might be a little different for you.
I also piggy-backed other home sales and open houses in the neighborhood. If I saw that there were going to be others on a given weekend, I'd put out an "Open House" sign and actually got a little bit of traffic this way.
In short, it's going to depend on your level of involvement, the market as a whole and your comfort level with strangers in your house at times.
I used a title company for the closing, which is typical for the market I'm in. I ended up saving right around $20K going this route, so it was worth it to me.
the 4H thing would be a good start. You could also check around and see if there are any flat fee/no service brokers in your area. I sold a house using one of those, and she did the MLS listing for $750 and I clearly specified it was a FSBO in the description with a 2% commission paid by the seller. I also listed on a couple of FSBO websites.
It was a "warm" sellers market at the time and ended up going in two weeks at slightly above asking. Typical suburban neighborhood (family centric, good schools, etc), listed in the spring and I was very confident in the market value of the home. If your house is slightly odd for the neighborhood it might be a little different for you.
I also piggy-backed other home sales and open houses in the neighborhood. If I saw that there were going to be others on a given weekend, I'd put out an "Open House" sign and actually got a little bit of traffic this way.
In short, it's going to depend on your level of involvement, the market as a whole and your comfort level with strangers in your house at times.
I used a title company for the closing, which is typical for the market I'm in. I ended up saving right around $20K going this route, so it was worth it to me.
Sounds good....This is a pretty 'warm' area, houses usually last about 2-3 months max. I will be asking full value for the house, but for the right person it will be a steal....I know I will get a bunch of people that don't care for the extras this property have and consequently will try to get the price lowered, but I can wait to sell until the right person comes along...
I am fine with people in the house and intend to put in a lot of elbow grease....
Sounds good....This is a pretty 'warm' area, houses usually last about 2-3 months max. I will be asking full value for the house, but for the right person it will be a steal....I know I will get a bunch of people that don't care for the extras this property have and consequently will try to get the price lowered, but I can wait to sell until the right person comes along...
I am fine with people in the house and intend to put in a lot of elbow grease....
I just saw your location. The house I sold was in Poway, right when the market began to come back around. Plenty of "horse-ish" properties like that around there too, and definitely a market that people look to for that kind of thing.
I was under a little bit of pressure to sell, as I needed the money for a business investment and multiple years of being an out of state landlord were a huge PITA. Being that you can afford to wait it out, I don't see why you shouldn't take a shot at the FSBO route. There's a number of websites that will post those listings for you, although I will caution that people do expect there to be a bit of a discount (from what I saw in my tiny data set).
Since you've got a unique property, you may not experience that at all. You may want to try Facebook ads too, if you're decent with social media.
We are going to be selling our house next spring to move out of state and retire. In order to maximize our profits, I am thinking of selling it myself. I suspect I will get flamed by the RE professionals on here , but that's ok...
Price will be in the mid $700k range, so 5% of that is over $35,000. That's a lot of money to leave on the table for us....
I'm looking to see how you all would word a description....and any advice on how to do this I may not think of......
I do have some experience in the field, had a RE license about 15 years ago, flipped a few houses, have built houses for a long time, used to do home inspections...etc, so I'm fairly familiar with the field in general.
Pluses are:
2000 SF house, 4BR/3BA, recently remodeled
Separate guest house, 500SF
Large 1 acre+ lot
Animal facilities already in place.... horses/chickens/goats
Covered porches all around
Desired area
We are in no hurry, don't care if it takes one month or a year or more to sell
I am thinking of advertising in the 4H community, as this would be perfect for an animal family with kids into the 4H program, which is common around here, the local HS even has animals facilities.....
The only area where I'll need help is with the documents and legal stuff at the end. But there are services that will do that for a small fee, usually $1000 or so.
Thank you all for any thoughts!
You can use a flat fee listing service to cut costs. You likely won’t save 5% as you say above (bolded) unless you double end the transaction by selling to an unrepresentated buyer. You will have to have a co-op for the buyers agent of whatever is customary in your market (2.5%?). Be sure to disclose that you were a licensed RE broker or inactive or whatever your license status - not disclosing that fact, at least in WA and ID, can create problems later down the road if you are doing a FSBO and you have an after sale problem. I strongly advise against selling to an unrepresented seller just for liability concerns if there is a disclosure issue or some other problem after the sale plus unrepresented sellers can be a real PITA to get to the finish line.
Saving $17K doesn’t seem like a great reward for all the work and risk of FSBO buts that’s me
We are going to be selling our house next spring to move out of state and retire. In order to maximize our profits, I am thinking of selling it myself. I suspect I will get flamed by the RE professionals on here , but that's ok...
Price will be in the mid $700k range, so 5% of that is over $35,000. That's a lot of money to leave on the table for us....
I'm looking to see how you all would word a description....and any advice on how to do this I may not think of......
I do have some experience in the field, had a RE license about 15 years ago, flipped a few houses, have built houses for a long time, used to do home inspections...etc, so I'm fairly familiar with the field in general.
Pluses are:
2000 SF house, 4BR/3BA, recently remodeled
Separate guest house, 500SF
Large 1 acre+ lot
Animal facilities already in place.... horses/chickens/goats
Covered porches all around
Desired area
We are in no hurry, don't care if it takes one month or a year or more to sell
I am thinking of advertising in the 4H community, as this would be perfect for an animal family with kids into the 4H program, which is common around here, the local HS even has animals facilities.....
The only area where I'll need help is with the documents and legal stuff at the end. But there are services that will do that for a small fee, usually $1000 or so.
Thank you all for any thoughts!
Just think what the agents haul would be if you were going to pay the so-called "standard 6% commission".
I know the 6% commission is going away pretty quickly in most markets- much better options out there now like Redfin, flat fee brokers, or even FSBO if you want to put in the effort.
Of course many agents will say ".......blah blah blah even with my 6% commission you will still make more than a FSBO".
We are going to be selling our house next spring to move out of state and retire. In order to maximize our profits, I am thinking of selling it myself. I suspect I will get flamed by the RE professionals on here , but that's ok...
Price will be in the mid $700k range, so 5% of that is over $35,000. That's a lot of money to leave on the table for us....
I'm looking to see how you all would word a description....and any advice on how to do this I may not think of......
I do have some experience in the field, had a RE license about 15 years ago, flipped a few houses, have built houses for a long time, used to do home inspections...etc, so I'm fairly familiar with the field in general.
Pluses are:
2000 SF house, 4BR/3BA, recently remodeled
Separate guest house, 500SF
Large 1 acre+ lot
Animal facilities already in place.... horses/chickens/goats
Covered porches all around
Desired area
We are in no hurry, don't care if it takes one month or a year or more to sell
I am thinking of advertising in the 4H community, as this would be perfect for an animal family with kids into the 4H program, which is common around here, the local HS even has animals facilities.....
The only area where I'll need help is with the documents and legal stuff at the end. But there are services that will do that for a small fee, usually $1000 or so.
Thank you all for any thoughts!
Look into flat fee MLS type brokers. They usually charge around 700. To put in mls, send you sign, and handle documents. You do showings.
You would need to commit to paying a buters agent 2.5 percent -3 percent.
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