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.
We're going to be selling our home within the next three or four months. We're going to TRY, anyway. Our plan was to rent it out until the market is not so bad but I'd rather try to sell now just to avoid a headache later.
I work from home but we're cleaning up little by little and getting to where we're going to be functioning with the bare minimum here so the house will be "showable" 24/7. We still have carpet in the living room and upstairs so we're probably going to tile the entire downstairs before putting it on the market but other than that, ther'es not much to do. We've researched home staging and all that other stuff so we're good there.
I've considered a realtor and we've also looked into selling it ourselves and I'm stumped. I realize the second option is a bigger headache but I'm home most of the time and it's not completely unfathomable for us.
Has anyone else here sold a home on their own? Is it worth it to do that? I know we won't get what we might have a year ago so I'm just considering it so we can walk away with as much as possible. It's all going to go right into the next house so it does make a big difference to us.
one quick comment....'interview' some listing agents and let them do some CMA's for you. IMO, dont spend a lot on tile,etc. until you find out what you are up against price and market wise. It might be like weeing in the wind
and yes, you could do a Fsbo if you are dedicated and educated
come on back...there is a fun bunch of support here-cheers!
Oh I see now you are in San Antonio,,hmmm not sure how it is there...
Some places are doing better than others as far as time on the market, as I see it.
I don't want to come off slanted as an agent so I'll leave responses to others.
But one of the factors to consider is a safety issue of letting strangers into our homes. Here in the big city, there is a fair amount of shysters & bad people. Hopefully, if you use the Real Estate community they will have at least done some screening of the people they show your home to.
If you're a female or your wife will be home alone to show your home, take precautions on who you let in your house.
As a Realtor, I'm going to be biased, so take it with a grain of salt if you like.....
You're in a fairly solid market, so homes are selling. However, getting a buyer through the home is one thing. Getting a contract on it is another. Getting it from contract to close is about 90% of the job. Once that contract is executed, there are many things that pop up in a deal. In the past month I've dealt with a home that fell 3' into a conservatory area on the new survey, an unforseen mechanic's lien placed on a home 10 years ago with that vendor nowhere to be found, three inept lenders, appraisals not coming in like they did last year (big one), underwriters kicking files back, etc, etc, etc....
Now I was able to work through every single issue and get them to close, but it's an insane amount of work and takes a lot of knowledge to figure it out. It also helps to have contacts that can fix the things you can't in a timely manner.
Between that, and the money that a Realtor will spend on marketing/selling your home, you'll most likely save money using a Realtor. More time on market equals more mortgage payments equals less net profit.
As least interview a few Realtors before you decide.
As long as you're comfortable with the marketing, the showing, qualifying the prospects (hopefully BEFORE you let them into your home), the laws regarding real estate sales in your area (or are paying an attorney who is), and guiding everything through to closing, by all means, you can do it yourself.
It's not rocket science. Anyone can become a used home salesman. The only thing I do recommend is hiring a RE attorney. Even then, you are still saving thousands. Good luck.
I'm not a realtor. If you are educated, you can do it yourself. But how will you verify that people are qualified? How will you handle greeting strangers coming into your home? How will you know they are not there to rob you or something worse? Once a offer is made, how are your negotiating skills? Will you have an attorney review all the paperwork? Will you handle everything else by yourself?
Well to start off, one simple thing you can to is to screen people. Ask them who their lender person is and you can call and verify their status before ever letting them look. If they can't or won't tell you that info, then maybe they aren't serious.
Personally I don't see the need to screen for 'qualified' buyers. It might scare off potential buyers. And let's face it you need all the exposure you can get. When I sold a previous home the people that purchased it initially came in to browse but they liked it so much it motivated them to get off the fence and get the financing. If I would have interogated themabout how they planned to finance it, they prob would have move on. What do you think potential buyers would do in this market with so much inventory to choose from? next!
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.
