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We would like to put our little home on the market. Any advice? We would like to try and avoid paying a commision to an Agent as we have only been in the home for less than two years! Any suggestions?
We would like to put our little home on the market. Any advice? We would like to try and avoid paying a commision to an Agent as we have only been in the home for less than two years! Any suggestions?
Put it on Craigs List. It can't hurt. Really, I'm not sure why anyone uses a real estate agent anymore. My agent was useless! Virtually every property that was in serious contention for us I found myself on Craigs List! Not one came from my agent. The one we bought was FSBO off Craigs List, and sold in just a couple of weeks (last December). As long as you are not asking too much, you should do OK.
research on the internet about how to sell your own home. There are FSBO website too where you can list them. The downside is I am not sure that agents will know your house is for sale to suggest it to their clients so the advertising is important.
research on the internet about how to sell your own home. There are FSBO website too where you can list them. The downside is I am not sure that agents will know your house is for sale to suggest it to their clients so the advertising is important.
Even if they know they won't show it to their clients. When we were looking for our house our agent drove right past FSBO's that I pointed out and said he only showed them as a last resort. Said that sellers want him to do all their work for them and then don't want to pay a decent commission. Both our selling agent and buying agents worked their butts off for us and I'm glad we had them both. Our selling agent has 30 years experience and she was constantly catching errors that the other agent made. Real estate has become an extremely complex business now and an experienced agent knows the ins and outs and how to keep you out of trouble. Sure it can go smooth if its a cash sale but don't expect many of those. Plus most purchases right now are after the tax credit so you'd better ahve an agent that can get it done fast. Our agent told us she'd have us under contract in 2 days and she did! We got top dollar, a full price offer with no closing costs, and closed in a little over a month!
Our agent in Asheville is still working for us arranging all the stuff that has to be done between signing a contract and closing, and with us 500 miles away which really concerned me. He arranged for all the inspections and had them all done in 2 days while we were still in town. And now he's working with the seller's agent to get the closing date moved up enough so we can get the floors refinished, which he also is taking care of. I've already recommended him to several other folks looking to buy or sell. Good luck doing it on your own--I'm frugal but not crazy enough to try that
We would like to put our little home on the market. Any advice? We would like to try and avoid paying a commision to an Agent as we have only been in the home for less than two years! Any suggestions?
you may have had one bad experience with an agent but fwiw you won't get near the same exposure on CL as in MLS. Being the area is sought out by a lot of out of towners you need to reach as far as you can.
I occasionally look in CL but it's no way near as good as when I look on Real Estate sites at all the MLS listings.
My wife's been selling RE for about 30 years and she tells people that ask the same question you do to try on their own for awhile just so they can see. Some get lucky but most don't. I know my wife does more work for her clients than they even know.
I'd have to say 90%+ of sales come through MLS due to it's exposure. Not to mention a decent RE agent will qualify the buyer which can save you time and money and headaches.
Try it on CL for a spell and see what happens. Can't hurt.
Good luck to you.
We agree 100% with those who recommend using an agent--and for all the same reasons. Ours worked so hard for fifteen months to sell our house--just as the banks almost stopped lending completely, even to our well-qualified buyer--that we gave her a big bonus on top of her commission. NO WAY we would want to try to sell a house ourselves, especially in this market......
Good luck, wandering gypsies, whatever you decide......
Selling FSBO means you have strangers not represented coming to see your house and you don't even know if they are qualified or just "lookers". Our realtor worked her butt off to sell us our house, get it closed, deal with the little things that we needed done right down to getting the heat turned on and leaving a set of keys for us at our hotel where we were staying till the movers arrived. There is nothing like a good realtor.
Selling FSBO means you have strangers not represented coming to see your house and you don't even know if they are qualified or just "lookers". Our realtor worked her butt off to sell us our house, get it closed, deal with the little things that we needed done right down to getting the heat turned on and leaving a set of keys for us at our hotel where we were staying till the movers arrived. There is nothing like a good realtor.
This is another good point--realtors are insured in case of damages, thefts, etc arising from showings of the house--would you be? I was reading some posts on the city-data real estate forum here and some of these guys carry guns and most carry mace or a similar product in case a showing goes bad--do you? During open houses they are warned not to be left alone in an empty house. Many real estate brokerages regularly have the local police come in and provide suggestions on how not to become a statistic. I was shocked at this when I read the thread but then I asked my agent about it when we first interviewed her and she pulled out her can of pepper spray! With an agent they usually know the client or at least have some information about them, but what about when someone sees a sign and calls for a visit? I had never even considered these kinds of issues until I read that thread and it was a real eye popper
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