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Well, while that's all sad, I'm still out $13,200. And it's still a ridiculously large fee for what I've seen realtors do. My most recent experience was watching my parents frantically try to sell their own house because their realtor did nothing. The information on the MLS was partially correct and there was nothing else done.
Who buys homes from color fliers anyway? Don't they just look online? If being a realtor wasn't a racket, there wouldn't be so many of them. Even my postman is a licensed realtor (seriously). Everyone wants to make themselves available for that nice $13,200 pick up from putting a house on a list.
Well then, since it appears to be so easy...do it yourself.
I think to summarize, it should be remembered that the cost will vary, and so will the effort.
A full-service agent will really earn their fees to minimize your time on market, and the cost and effort you will have to include.
On the other end of the spectrum, I helped a friend sell her house, and she paid a flat fee (very small) to an agent who had a deal where he put the house in the MLS, put a sign on the lawn with his phone number, and forwarded messages daily. That's it.
I helped her clean it, figure out comps to get a price, make and re-stock flyers, and even make a website with walk-through photos.
She ended up putting quite a bit of her time and effort into the process, but she had researched the options, had the time and extra money and wanted to do the work. She was self-employed at the time, and I don't know if someone working a regular 8-5 job could handle it all.
So again, discuss what the agent will provide, and match that against what you need.
Putting a European perspective on the issue. IN UK Estate Agents (realtors) will advertise 2% of the selling price but will negotiate less or even a flat fee.
For 2% you will get advertising (they don't really do kerbside flyers) but do have color flyers in their office also advertising via newspapers and internet ( They don't have MLS) and accompanied viewings.
The last house I sold was $400,00 and I paid $2500 for them to advertise and deal with calls. I was present for viewings.
The agent seemed pretty happy at getting $2500 for $100 of flyers and paying an admin worker for fielding 20 calls or so. Of course there was the time in coming around and assessing the house and prepping the flyer but that is too demanding with today's technology
There are no buyers agents, no one pays anyone to buy a house only sales.
Buyer and seller pays lawyer to handled the conveyancing (closing) about $600 each
I was shocked to see at closing when buying my current USA home that $30000+ went to the realtor and whilst I know it gets divided up, that is cold comfort to the seller
[quote=cry884;12186583]Who buys homes from color fliers anyway? Don't they just look online? [quote]
I have to agree with this statement. I don't know anyone who has bought a home in the last few years that looked at any print advertising. Everyone I know that has bought a house, found their home in an online listing, and then asked their realtor to show it to them in person. The color flyer was a waste of paper, since I already had a printout of the online listing, or of the MLS.
Well then, since it appears to be so easy...do it yourself.
Vicki
That is a possibility. I am thinking of using one that is a more reasonable 3.9% or 3.4% if they are your buyer's agent too.
I know you always get defensive when people question paying enormous fees to realtors, but I think it's fair to question those that don't work quite as hard for you... yet you pay them the same amount. It's fair for people to worry about paying someone a lot of money for a little bit of work. If the fliers in the yard are the main thing, I'll handle that and take 1% off what I'm paying the realtor.
Last edited by cry884; 12-28-2009 at 05:17 PM..
Reason: No realtor/real estate recommendations allowed
We sold our Cary home in May 2008. We used a big name Raleigh realtor recommended by another forum member. We paid 5.5%. Our house showed well, but was over $500k and had a few issues (e.g.,limited privacy in the backyard), so it required some effort to sell and our realtor sold it in 60 days with one small price reduction. The house across the street from us took over a year to sell and sat empty the entire time. The sellers started with a discount broker and went through at least two other realtors including one that was a neighbor. For every 3 visits we had during the two months we were on the market, they might have had one (almost identical price points). In fact, we had 32 visits in less than 60 days in a very slow market at a tough price point. I would have loved to have paid less than 5.5%, but honestly we were able to sell quickly at a fair price and that was very important to me at the time (I was tired of being apart from my DH during the week).
That is a possibility. I am thinking of using one that is a more reasonable 3.9% or 3.4% if they are your buyer's agent too.
That would be a good choice. I paid 3.4% myself for full service. He was the best Realtor of all the ones I have used. No one ever worked harder. He marketed in every way that all the others said they would, but he was a bulldog when it came to his work ethic. He earned my respect as a Realtor and more importantly as a human being. Paying more does not mean you get more. Paying more means the agent got more.
That would be a good choice. I paid 3.4% myself for full service. He was the best Realtor of all the ones I have used. No one ever worked harder. He marketed in every way that all the others said they would, but he was a bulldog when it came to his work ethic. He earned my respect as a Realtor and more importantly as a human being. Paying more does not mean you get more. Paying more means the agent got more.
That is a possibility. I am thinking of using one that is a more reasonable 3.9% or 3.4% if they are your buyer's agent too.
I know you always get defensive when people question paying enormous fees to realtors, but I think it's fair to question those that don't work quite as hard for you... yet you pay them the same amount. It's fair for people to worry about paying someone a lot of money for a little bit of work. If the fliers in the yard are the main thing, I'll handle that and take 1% off what I'm paying the realtor.
I don't get defensive over fees. I do get a bit adament about WHAT you get for the fees you pay and some people refuse to listen. I guess after 14 years, I have seen more than my share of people making mistakes to save a few dollars.
Some folks refuse to listen to the experts and to those folks, I encourage doing it yourself. That will last about 30 days. Then you may realize what goes into getting a home sold in today's market.
Sometimes folks just don't UNDERSTAND HOW to market and sell a home and so they think a simple flyer will do it. Wrong. Again...more misinformation.
There is no reason to assume that someone is being defensive when they are trying to help you and give you CORRECT information. No one says you have to do anything other than what you want to do.
What is that old saying..."a penny wise and a pound foolish"? Doing this for as long as I have, I must be doing something right!
Vicki
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