Selling my house. Could use some advice

[nellieb]

If you have no intention of listing with an agent don't waste his/her time by having them come to your house. They have familes and bills just like you. If you need to get info get it by phone.

[justin]

MJ,

I sold my residential condo in Chapel Hill, NC recently FSBO. It was a big hassle, all just to save $6000 or so in commission. I'm sure I got a price as high as I could have gotten with a realtor. The problem was I had a lot of people just starting to look at properties, and not really ready to buy. For me, it was a 30+ mile drive up to the condo to show it, and I had to prep it before each showing. Sometimes I would have no-shows who didn't call to cancel. I must have shown the place 30 times before I sold it sight-unseen to a couple from California. If I had to do it all over again, I probably would have gone with a 1% or flat fee $599 for the listing agent, and then paid the 2.4 or 3% commission to the buying agent. My place spent six months on the market before I decided to rent it out for a while. Then I eventually re-listed it as an investment property (with high-quality tenants in place), and it sold pretty quickly.

[MJ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nellieb If you have no intention of listing with an agent don't waste his/her time by having them come to your house. They have familes and bills just like you. If you need to get info get it by phone.

They sent me a letter a while back and I decided to call out of curiousity. I told them I really didn't plan on using a broker at the present time. Even though I was upfront with them, they still suggested I see their broker. I figured I have nothing to lose. I was hoping to get information and the broker was hoping to sway me. It was a investment of time on both of us.

Thanks for telling me what I NEED to do.

MJ

[KB]

MJ

I sold my last house using Help U sell. The Help U sell broker did the advertising, put up the sign outside and loaned me the signs to put up for openhouses. I did the open houses. He also did all the contract paperwork and opened escrow. For that, I paid $4950.

I could have added MLS for an additional fee, but didn't feel I needed it. Had the broker brought in the buyer, the fee would have been double. My house sold for 324K, and the 6% sales fee would have been more than 19K had I used a full price broker.

I will use the service again when I sell this house.

[SteveR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KB MJ I sold my last house using Help U sell.* The Help U sell broker did the advertising, put up the sign outside and loaned me the signs to put up for openhouses.* I did the open houses.* He also did all the contract paperwork and opened escrow.* For that, I paid $4950.* I could have added MLS for an additional fee, but didn't feel I needed it.* Had the broker brought in the buyer, the fee would have been double.* *My house sold for 324K, and the 6% sales fee would have been more than 19K had I used a full price broker.* I will use the service again when I sell this house.

I used the same company too. My experience was less than positive but I believe it was more due to the @sshole agent and not the company itself. I did save a couple of thousand by using them but the aggravation factor was very high. He could not find a buyer himself and keep pissing off anyone who saw the house by constant followups with them. Another broker found a buyer so I still ended up paying 4-5% commission on the sale. He used MLS and some recorded drive by radio gadget along with fliers and a listing on the Help U Sell website. Other than that, he only had a ton of excuses.

Next time will be after I am retired and I will have more time to supervise an agent. I would do it again but with additional control over when I can fire the jerk.

[BUM]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MJ I need to find a lawyer and I was wondering, since this is a residential property, should I still get an RE attorney or will a general practice attorney do just as good a job to protect and advise me.

Hi MJ,

If the RE transaction is not complicated you shouldnt need to pay for a high priced atty. to do the deal. In a similar situation, my broker recommended a new, young lawyer who would take the job cheap reasonably. It was a cut and dry deal and I saved a bundle.

[MJ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BUM Hi MJ, If the RE transaction is not complicated you shouldnt need to pay for a high priced atty. to do the deal. In a similar situation, my broker recommended a new, young lawyer who would take the job cheap reasonably. It was a cut and dry deal and I saved a bundle.

Spoke to one of my neighbors who gave me the name of the lawyer who handle his house purchase many years ago. My neighbor was very impressed with his RE knowledge. I called the lawyer today. After an informative conversation, I asked what his services would cost me he said $4k. Is that reasonable in a large city like NYC?

[GTM]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MJ Spoke to one of my neighbors who gave me the name of the lawyer who handle his house purchase many years ago. My neighbor was very impressed with his RE knowledge. I called the lawyer today. After an informative conversation, I asked what his services would cost me he said $4k. Is that reasonable in a large city like NYC?

Absolutley not
Some lawyers outside of Manhattan will do a closing for $1000 maybe less. In the city more but not 4k.

[Martha]

$4000! I am appalled. I just reviewed a purchase agreement for a friend and will do the deed for the closing. Did it for nothing--will take less than an hour of my time.

Usually a title company does the closing, especially if financing is involved.

[MRGALT2U]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martha $4000! I am appalled.* I just reviewed a purchase agreement for a friend and will do the deed for the closing.* Did it for nothing--will take less than an hour of my time.* Usually a title company does the closing, especially if financing is involved.

I have usually just figured between myself, the title company ,and
the lender (if I had one), that was enough talent at the table.
If memory serves me, I didn't ever use an attorney on either end of any
RE deal (unless it was real complex) and that includes my first house
which we bought in 1970.

JG

My experiance in having sold several homes, using RE Sales people, is that if you do it yourself, the buyer automatically knocks off 6% because he figures you are not paying the RE Fees.

It is totally ridiculous what RE Sales people get for what they do, especially in a HOT Market, although you may be able to negotiate down to 4 %.

Check your neighbourhood prices on the Net, but I would use a salesperson, it will save a lot of head aches.

I was a Medical Products Sales Rep for over 30 years, and in spite of my wifes insistance, I always use RE Sales people.

You may get a Bidding War.

[tryan]

Quote:

After an informative conversation, I asked what his services would cost me he said $4k.

4K is robbery! The last 1/2 dozen sales I did were closed using the BUYERs attorney. My cost was $100 to handle the deed. The buyer has more of vested interested to ensure the sale is clean. You just need to ensure the check does not bounce.

Also have closed in many MA cities ... never paid more than $900. $600 is more the norm.

[Martha]

As seller, you want to have the sale be as close to an "as is" deal as possible. The lawyer can help with that--but you have to see a lawyer before you sign the purchase agreement.

And it shouldn't cost close to $4000.

[BUM]

There you have it MJ. $4K is way over the top. Small town $500-$1000... NYC? Go get a small town lawyer. Have the closing in the small town,

[MJ]

When he gave me the $4k quote, he quickly added that it was not negotiable (was he reading my mind?). In our conversation, he told me he was 70 and had extensive RE experience.
Perhaps he is charging higher legal fees because he is semi-retired and he wants only a few plum jobs. He may also still be building his nestegg to retire early at 80.

Thanks.

I guess I'll ask others in the neighborhood.

MJ

[Spanky]

$4K - he is nuts. He really does not want your business.

[MJ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spanky $4K - he is nuts. He really does not want your business.

I found the fee I paid 14 years ago when I bought this house, it was $750. He wants over 5x what I paid. I would give it to him if I was get 5x+ for my house.
I figuredd if he got $1000 14 years ago and increased his fee every year by 10% he would still get less than $3800. I wish my salary could have averaged 6% for the same time period.

MJ

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I personally wouldnt bother buying a house from the owner directly, as there appears to be little benefit and a lot of potential downside for both parties. The exception would be a very unique or special property, or a bargain.

The reasoning is that I dont see many FSBO sellers discounting their property to account for the 6% savings. So tell me why I'd want to deal with an inexperienced seller who will probably make me do most of the work and who has an emotional component involved in the sale, along with a probability for unbuffered irrationality? I've had my share of irrational buyers and sellers, and frankly if the folks hadnt had a realtor to settle them down, the deal would have gone south.

That having been said, the 1.5% el-cheapo listing agents are fine. Face it, 20+ years ago a realtor really had to market your property. In todays world, an MLS listing, a lockbox and someone to take the faxed offers is about all you need unless you're in a very tough buyers market. If you want more, i've regularly gotten the big name realtors like century 21 to take a 2% sellers agent fee, and that included a virtual tour, photos on the listing, and no apparent difference in service from a 3% listing.

On the buyers agent side, its a different matter. If you pay less than 3%, buyers agents will take their people elsewhere. At 2.5% you might still get bites, but at 2% and less, your home will go unshown except by rookie agents or agents whose customers saw the house themselves. While I appreciate that people want to make the most money, I think its a real disservice for realtors to avoid showing a home their customer might want to buy because they'd get paid a little less.

In fact, last agent I had didnt show me two homes that I found myself because they were below 3%. Those ended up being the final two choices I picked from and one is the house i'm living in now.

That agent didnt make any money at all as my buyers agent...

[Lancelot]

Go for it MJ!

I've sold a couple of houses on my own. Both times the buyers were represented by a realtor and they, the buyers, paid the realtors fee.

I had one house appraised by a realtor, listed the property accordingly and all the prospective buyers balked at my asking price.

I raised the price $10k and got a full price offer within one week...

Go figure...

I have also negotiated for lower realtor's fees. Some are indignant, others bargain in good faith. If you don't ask; you don't get

Lance

[MRGALT2U]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lancelot Go for it MJ! I've sold a couple of houses on my own. Both times the buyers were represented by a realtor and they, the buyers, paid the realtors fee. I had one house appraised by a realtor, listed the property accordingly and all the prospective buyers balked at my asking price. I raised the price $10k and got a full price offer within one week... Go figure... I have also negotiated for lower realtor's fees. Some are indignant, others bargain in good faith. If you don't ask; you don't get* Lance

I negotiate about everything. I've had realtors tell me they can't
change the commission because "the company won't allow it".
There are lots of realtors though. As far as increasing your price
to snare a buyer, never did it myself, but sometimes it works.

JG