Need advice on a real estate sale - house might sell above asking price

[harley]

It seems like a win/win because the buyer was comfortable with the process so it was win for them. The price isn't the only thing that matters to some people.

Also, it seems to be me, if you had just gone with the professional in the first place you wouldn't have wasted money the last few months. So would have been a bigger win/win if you just hired them in the first place and not wasted your time. However, live and learn I suppose.

It didn't cost much, which fits right in with PB4uski's comment about value-to-cost ratio. A couple hundred for the photos, listing it FSBO in Zillow was free, I think $50 for the sign, and however much paper and toner we used printing brochures. And I doubt if we'd have sold even with an agent, as the July/Aug time period is really slow in RE. We thought we'd just throw it out there and see what happened. And it almost happened. But horseshoes and hand grenades.

 

[bolt]

Its negotiation,
I have 3 offers for asking price sir: what's yours?



Donate what you cannot accept in bitcoin to Early-Retirement-org. forums.

 

[Bamaman]

We're in the process of closing on a house on Thursday. We were looking on Realtor.com, and a local agent was "assigned" to us for the sale who wasn't the seller's agent. Let me just say her listening skills are not good, and neither are her negotiating skills good.

The difference in purchasing a house now is that all offers and negotiations are done online. And it is very confusing with all parties going back and forth and approving offers, etc. with their electronic signatures. I think we've gone back and forth 7th times. Nothing like doing business the old fashioned way--with paper documents.

I wish I could say the purchase has been a pleasure, however it's been a pain. And we're very reasonable cash buyers. When it got down to the final negotiations, my "punch list" of minor repairs didn't get done, but I get a $3K cashier's check at closing to take care of the repairs myself. Luckily I'm ER and have an extra day to make some good $ off the people.

Had this not been the perfect house for our family's needs, we might have walked on the deal. Now, I've got to do the final repairs to our current house and get it on the market.

 

[jazz4cash]

Update: We really worked the FSBO thing. DW did an incredible job with Zillow, pictures, open houses, etc. We had a lot of interest, and a couple of offers, but nothing that went to completion. The FSBO thing really seems to throw people off, even though it isn't that hard. DW had even found a lawyer that specializes in closing FSBO sales. But he DC metro area is very diverse, and most of the interest we got was from people for whom English isn't a first language. And they seemed to really worry about not doing all this through an agent.



Be that as it may, we finally pulled the house off Zillow in Aug, and waited a month so it would show back up as a new listing. We went with an agent, although we negotiated an overall 4% commission. We listed the house last Friday, and got a contract tonight for $2K more than our asking price. We're thrilled, and a little pissed. She didn't do anything that we didn't do other than the MLS listing. But people just seem much more comfortable with the middle man, so we'll take it. We will basically walk away with the same amount we would have with the FSBO, but the buyer will pay significantly more. We were going for a win/win, but a win/not-so-much-of-a-win is still OK, as long as we're the ones in the win column.

So what happened with the nice young couple with the baby that were interested when it was FSBO?

 

[athena53]

I'm glad it went well for both of the people here who were selling. I also sold into a hot market (NNJ, 2003) and had multiple offers. The realtor called for the "Best and Final Offer" from each. One couple had written a "love letter" telling us about themselves, their adorable grade-school age kids, what each wanted to be when they grew up, etc. Not relevant IMO, and I'm wary of making a decision based on factors that may be illegal.

They also had the highest offer but then they backed out unexpectedly before they'd put up earnest money. It was fine; the second couple on the list were nice people, easy to deal with, and the wife confessed that she'd been praying that the first deal would fall through.

 

[harley]

So what happened with the nice young couple with the baby that were interested when it was FSBO?

They just couldn't get past the idea that someone, an uncle I think, planted in their heads that we shouldn't get the profit that the agent would have gotten. We gave them a price that was more than 3% below what we ended up selling it for, but they kept demanding other concessions. So we bid them adieu and pulled it off the market for a month, then listed it with the agent. I suspect if they ever check the records and see what we eventually sold it for they'll be kicking themselves. They could have had a beautiful place and for such a deal!</jewish mother accent>

 

[harley]

I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but we are selling this place in advance of buying another more suited to our impending decrepitude. Single floor living, although I insisted on a basement for my shop. Also a nice view into a conservation area instead of a bunch of condos.

Anyway, since I'm of the "it's better to have a mortgage" team, I just filled out the mortgage application. Man, do I miss the early 2000s! Back then, I just said "yeah, we've got plenty of money" and they gave me the mortgage. Now, after I completed this process I've decided to postpone my colonoscopy for a year. How times have changed.

 

[GreenEggs]

We just sold two properties last month FSBO & offered 3% to the buyers' agents. One place was considered a teardown and the other was a vacant building lot, both waterfront. We got what we wanted and saved $35K each. We paid a flat rate broker $195 each. No reason to give such "easy money" to a listing agent just to get the properties on MLS.