Looking for Good Real Estate Listing Agent in Eastern Panhandle WV (flat fee, for sale) - City-Data Forum

joshjungalo · 08-15-2009, 09:35 AM

Looking to put a house up for sale soon and wondering who you guys suggest as the best listing agent.. who can offer the most value for the commission.

Thanks

AliceT · 08-15-2009, 10:28 AM

Yellow pages of the phone book. Go with an agent that does NOT have a full page or half page ad.

clintsullivan · 08-15-2009, 06:38 PM

Depends on your specific location and type of house. Let me know and I'll give you some ideas. I'm an appraiser and deal with most of the realtors here. (At least the ones who have sales.)

David Kennedy · 08-16-2009, 03:50 AM

A no brainer...List it yourself electronicaly...take a deposit with a contract and have a lawyer do the paper work. Even with a survey, about $1000 is all it will cost.
A good Appraiser will do a 'Walk Through for $100 (lunch money)..if you want his paper, that will cost about $500. Ask your bank for a referred appraiser if you can't find anybody in the phone book.

Use a Realtor as a last resort.
If the property has issues and will need to 'Set for a time, then a realtor is the best advice. Usually they will price it low to sell quickly. This means you did not get the full value. And a property 'Sets on the market for a certain time before it sell anyway.

I have a lovely friend who priced her house $50 k low and sold in two days later.
She had bought it from an estate for 98k and did a lot of sprucing up. It was worth 180k. She sold it for 130k and was happy. The new owner said, "I wanted that house years ago and would have paid anything to get it."
Both were happy. It's all in the eyes of the Buyer and the Seller.

clintsullivan · 08-17-2009, 06:57 AM

There are some top selling realtors here, but most do their best with specific styles, price ranges and locations. I've had personal dealings with realtors for about 20 years, I have family who are realtors, and I have dealt professionaly with realtors for the last 9 years as an appraiser. It is often worth it to stick with a franchised big name. Statistically I think you will find that Remax is the top seller here. Their business model forces the realtors to work and make sales because there is a high monthly fee they have to pay for a desk at a Remax brokerage.
Even though I am an appraiser I don't recommend you get an appraisal to set the sale price, unless you have a unique home. This is a difficult market, but if you are going to hire a lising agent, they should provide a comparative market analysis which provides recent sold & current comparable listing information which you can use to set a lising price.
A typical residential appraisal fee is around $400 for a full report to a mortgage company or bank, but to help determine a sale price I can produce a consumer style report with less typing, so I charge less, usually $300. Any sort of 'Walk through' by a licensed appraiser where a value or range of value is discussed in relation to a specific property (your home) constitutes an appraisal and must meet some minimum reporting requirments to be legal. BPO's (Broker Price Opinions) are illegal in WV, only a state licensed or certified appraiser can legally estimate value of real property for a fee.
I have listed my house & building lots with a flat fee MLS brokerage. Mostly because of my relationship with many realtors and my personal experience with real estate, I felt it would keep from straining relationships. But, with the current market, I would not reccommend listing your home yourself. If you do, get a flat fee listing such as housepad.com which to get your house on the realtor multiple list.