Realtor for McHenry County area (Crystal Lake, Rio: for sale, real estate, condos)

[Rubredvelvet]

My parents are looking to retire and want to sell their home in Crystal Lake. They sorta just picked a realtor out of a book sort of thing and I think they need to find someone else. Their current lady just keeps insisting on lowering their already very low price, and although we all agree that it's not a sellers market she has no other helpful bits of advice for them. They keep getting conflicting advice from others and when they go to ask the realtor she makes it pretty difficult to even get a hold of her. At this point I feel like they'd have jut as much luck selling it on their own!!

Anyone have and personal recommendations on someone they have used or know. You can direct message me if its something that you don't want to list.

[chet everett]

In areas that are a little more sparsely populated the selection of real estate agents to list one's property is A LOT MORE difficult. I don't mean to scold but really mom & dad should have interviewed at least three agents. It is perfectly fine to call one or two who happen to have a lot of "For Sale" sign up in town but they really need at least one in the interview pool that has actually had A LOT of listings SELL. Odds are the the agent that has the most listing that SELL won't over price to begin with. Cuttng price is a LOSING stratgey. Better to come on the market at a price that attracts buyers...

OK scolding is over. To help NOW mom& dad really need to get on the same page as agent. If agent can be honest and say "you need to clean out more of your personal items" that is probably a good start. I know very few retired folks that don't have a few too many mementos around their home. I would also strongly recommend get a THOROUGH home inspection and if ANY potential big ticket items come up I would recommend thinking really hard about fixing them ASAP.

If mom & dad have a nice up-to-date EXTERIOR apperance with well cared for landscaping it is CRUCIAL that this is highlighted in at LEAST TWO photos online. If the place could use some "curb appeal" improvements after this LONG HOT SUMMER do it NOW.

Most older folks have tastes that are little less than cutting edge, which is OK, but if mom & dad have not changed paint color since Reagan was president DO IT NOW. Have any carpets PROFESSIONAL CLEANED. Scour every inch off the kitchen. Make the GARAGE look like someplace they build heart bypass machines. EMPTY THE BASEMENTS AND VACUUM OUT EVERY SPIDER WEB.


Then cut the price.

Or just let it rot on the vine like a zuchini that you forgot to harvest. Next spring when the seeds of that zuchini sprout you might get an offer below what you would cut it too...

[jlawrence01]

Two things:

First, drive through their neighborhood and find out the agent who has a good number of the listings. That will vary by location in Crystal Lake.

Second, your parents will need to realize that this is NOT 2004. I have a neighbor who has his condo on the market for $150k. The last three condos in the area have sold under $110k. However, he INSISTS that the place is "not worth less than $150k which is what he paid for it."

Do realize that there are a lot of builders in the area selling NEW houses for a fraction of what they were in 2006. Those houses are a lot more attractive to new buyers. Most of the new buyers in Crystal Lake are corporate relocations and younger buyers.

Chet makes some good points. However, there are dozens of agents in the Crystal Lake area.

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As one of those "corporate relocations", I generally try to avoid buying from older long-term owners. The houses are generally outdated and the prices are usually fixed with no room to negotiate.

[ChicagoGolfer]

Originally Posted by Rubredvelvet

My parents are looking to retire and want to sell their home in Crystal Lake. They sorta just picked a realtor out of a book sort of thing and I think they need to find someone else. Their current lady just keeps insisting on lowering their already very low price, and although we all agree that it's not a sellers market she has no other helpful bits of advice for them. They keep getting conflicting advice from others and when they go to ask the realtor she makes it pretty difficult to even get a hold of her. At this point I feel like they'd have jut as much luck selling it on their own!!

Anyone have and personal recommendations on someone they have used or know. You can direct message me if its something that you don't want to list.

Check your messages.