Well, here goes. The start to our trek North to Maine, our new home-state. (Blue Hill: fit in, real estate)

[Cuffler]

Thx, all, for the input. We are pleased that we were able to cancel our contract with the realtor 60 days early. She didn't even blink an eye because she knew that she had dropped the ball in steering potential buyers toward our home. Regarding our asking price, we know that there are few, if any, real comp values because of the fact that there are no authentic Victorian homes that have the level of authenticity of ours. It's quite unique in that regard. What we've been told from other brokers is that customers have been shying away from homes with wallpaper. Well, I simply don't believe that.
In any event we know our price is well within the market as many homes within a 5 mile radius have sold for equal numbers or even higher. And we'll be happy to make this work with an interested family. We're very optimistic, actually. We even had another broker contact us within 24 hours of our cancellation and they have an aggressive operation. We'll call them next week and see what they would like to offer.
In the meantime, we've continued our looking and poking up North and we're planning on a long weekend mid month just to see if the area we're thinking about is interesting to us. We'll look forward to the visit!

More to come!

[mainebrokerman]

Originally Posted by Cuffler

Thx, all, for the input. We are pleased that we were able to cancel our contract with the realtor 60 days early. She didn't even blink an eye because she knew that she had dropped the ball in steering potential buyers toward our home. Regarding our asking price, we know that there are few, if any, real comp values because of the fact that there are no authentic Victorian homes that have the level of authenticity of ours. It's quite unique in that regard. What we've been told from other brokers is that customers have been shying away from homes with wallpaper. Well, I simply don't believe that.
In any event we know our price is well within the market as many homes within a 5 mile radius have sold for equal numbers or even higher. And we'll be happy to make this work with an interested family. We're very optimistic, actually. We even had another broker contact us within 24 hours of our cancellation and they have an aggressive operation. We'll call them next week and see what they would like to offer.
In the meantime, we've continued our looking and poking up North and we're planning on a long weekend mid month just to see if the area we're thinking about is interesting to us. We'll look forward to the visit!

More to come!

here's a free tip...

when listing your house and trying to determine what broker to use....call 4 different real estate companies......tell them you are going to list and you are giving "listing interviews"

any decent broker would be prepared ….when they come and hopefully bring comps..

but here's the advantage of doing this.....when you have 4 different brokers chances increase dramatically that one of them may already have a qualified buyer (in the real estate company)….looking for what you are selling......also when there is potential of a new listing brokers will also ask other brokers in the company if they have a buyer...
"interview" the 4 listing brokers....they will want a follow up meeting once they see your house …..and want to list... have the follow up meetings and get their opinions of value and marketing..... and tell them you will give them an answer in a few days/week …
also when listing a property ask about the buyers broker split (%) in some markets 60-80% of buyers have a buyers broker....
say you list your house at 6% (could be any number)

some brokerage companies give an even split listing broker 3% and buyers broker 3%
however some listing brokers will get a bit greedy and do a 4-2% split or a 5-1% only 1% on the buyer side (the brokers see these commission splits on the mls)

here's the issue with that say you are a broker and you have a qualified buyer and you are looking at properties to show your buyers …… if there is a 1% buyer broker % compared to a 3% buyer broker commission....where do you think the broker will want to bring his/her qualified buyers?? in a legal sense this shouldn't matter ….but ive seen too many properties with a 1.5% buyers split get little to no activity and nearby the house listed has a 3% buyers commission ….and they get more views

[slyfox2]

Have you used the statue of Baby Jesus and JOSEPH buried in the front yard and read the prayer three times a day?

Nothing started happening until I did the ritual, and then suddenly real action and my house sold in 3 weeks.

I know its weird, but most realtors have the system even if they don’t tell you unless you ask.

[slyfox2]

I also made up a brochure of my house myself, and sent it to local realtors(every three weeks). My own broker got the commission, but I did all the work.

[svband76]

Originally Posted by slyfox2

I also made up a brochure of my house myself, and sent it to local realtors(every three weeks). My own broker got the commission, but I did all the work.

Sounds like my experience with most brokers.

[Cuffler]

HI All. Now that Thanksgiving and all the family are headed home, we've once again begun our search for the broker to sell our home. We've received two phone solicitations by hungry (aren't they all?) brokers but they are backed by a good staff (we've checked them out) with a very active sales record. We've really learned a few lessons from our initial experience, believe me. So, we'll be sorting that all out in the coming weeks and by Christmas we'll have a new contract with someone who really wants to sell our house for us. We've been told by a number of brokers that homes sell well here in January and February. Well, I'll believe that when I see it.

In the meantime we're headed up to BoothBay Harbor for the parade of boats and a bunch of other "Christmasy" events just to get out of the house and enjoy some of Maine's crispy weather. We'll be staying in Brunswick because all the hotels that are anywhere reasonably priced are booked solid. No matter. We'll drive the 40 minutes from where we'll be and head toward the Chamber of Commerce in Boothbay Harbor.

More to come!

[Northern Maine Land Man]

The average buyers do shy away from wallpaper, but Cuffler does not have an average house. Somebody is looking for his house. Find a Victorian house thread on line and drop your house in there. It will sell.

[Cuffler]

HI All

Well, we've interviewed three new realtors (we fired the original realtor in October we hired back in June) and we're getting close to making a decision on which way to go. We've been told by all three that they are excited to represent our home and feel they can sell our house in about 30 days with the way the market is leaning. We are thrilled with that information as each realtor we've interviewed has a dedicated marketing plan for our particular home. We've come to our decision about price with them, too. We're going back on the market in January for February 1st and hope to sell before the end of March.

We are going to be actively looking at property SSE of Wiscasset (prices there have not been influenced by the market hat much as they have in south-shore Maine) so we can still access the shore. We are really excited about that prospect. We've also decided to have a 100% estate sale and sell everything, lock, stock and barrel because it doesn't make sense to pay to store our furniture we've already paid for, right? My wife will set aside her dishes and glassware (I like the stuff myself) and we'll put the rest out there. We have nice stuff but we don't know what kind of house we're end up with so it make no sense to store stuff that we may or may not use and have to dispose of it then.

Let me tell all of you that the process of deciding to sell your home and move is a daunting one, much more daunting that you might imagine unless you've gone through it before. It's mentally draining and emotionally exhausting. You are having to decide to dispose of most of what you love and have surrounded yourself with for decades and finding out that only you like/love those items. No one wants them except you and now you have to literally give them away because none of the younger generations have any affinity for anything "old".

We'll have to abandon the tried-and-true ways we've evolved with over the past 30+ years and develop new ones with our new neighbors and neighborhoods. We're trying our best to look forward to that fun and will trust in the fact that all the folks we've encountered in Maine over the decades will be as open and friendly as they have been in the past. From what I've read here in other posts that won't be a problem.

So, we are moving forward heading for Christmas, first, and then the new year. After that anything goes but 2019 will see us spending money on property in gorgeous and friendly Maine if it kills me! We'll keep you posted on our progress. Thanks for being here and supplying a soft shoulder to lean on during this emotional time.

Rome (aka Cuffler) www.romanpolaski.com......retired!

[svband76]

Originally Posted by Cuffler

HI All

No one wants them except you and now you have to literally give them away because none of the younger generations have any affinity for anything "old".

!

I have lots of affinity for old things. Anything interesting? Good luck. 2019 will be an exciting year.

[Cuffler]

Quick update, we've hired a new Realtor who says we'll be selling by the end of February. We can only hope.

Happy New Year to all you Mainers!

Rome