What questions to ask realtor selling our house?

[disneysteve]

We are meeting with the realtor tomorrow to sell my late cousin's house. We have never sold a house before. What questions should I be asking that I may not have thought of?

 

[MrsHaloFIRE]

Are ypu willing to cut commission or rebate

 

[WhenIsItTime]

Really depends if you are trying to quickly unload or to maximize value.

Ask why you should you pick this person as your realtor? How many houses do they sell a year? How many in this price range or area? Depending on priority, what does realtor recommend for quickest sale or maximum price? What kind of issues should expect?

Other considerations: Check comparisons, local sales trends. How hot is market? Accept offers until certain time? Encourage escalation clauses? Should you have to endure home inspection? Prefer cash vs financed offers? Any ongoing assessments open to negotiation between seller/buyer? Comfort with disclosure statements?

 

[OldShooter]

Do not interview only one. Three is a good number.

 

[rk911]

We are meeting with the realtor tomorrow to sell my late cousin's house. We have never sold a house before. What questions should I be asking that I may not have thought of?

we just sold my wife's late brother's townhouse in NorCal. we actually found the buyer and then hired a realtor to handle the sale. since we are from Illinois and his home was in horrible condition the sale was to be "as is". we simply asked her opinion of worth, the TOTAL commission to be split with the other agent (5%), how long to close, etc. ours was a "get this done as quickly and for as much as you can". she accomplished both. OP...in which state is your cousin's home located?

 

[disneysteve]

we just sold my wife's late brother's townhouse in NorCal. we actually found the buyer and then hired a realtor to handle the sale. since we are from Illinois and his home was in horrible condition the sale was to be "as is". we simply asked her opinion of worth, the TOTAL commission to be split with the other agent (5%), how long to close, etc. ours was a "get this done as quickly and for as much as you can". she accomplished both. OP...in which state is your cousin's home located?

House is in Florida. We live in NJ. Fortunately, his house is in great condition in a very desirable 55+ community. We have 2 potential buyers already. If either of them buy it, realtor will charge a flat fee of $1,500 to handle the transaction. Otherwise, 5% commission for anyone else. We're in no rush though obviously would like it done as soon as possible for the right price.


First showing is tomorrow for one of those 2 pre-existing people. It will get listed officially in a week. Hopefully it will sell fairly quickly given the current market.

 

[rk911]

House is in Florida. We live in NJ. Fortunately, his house is in great condition in a very desirable 55+ community. We have 2 potential buyers already. If either of them buy it, realtor will charge a flat fee of $1,500 to handle the transaction. Otherwise, 5% commission for anyone else. We're in no rush though obviously would like it done as soon as possible for the right price.


First showing is tomorrow for one of those 2 pre-existing people. It will get listed officially in a week. Hopefully it will sell fairly quickly given the current market.

BIL's place was a wreck. but neighbors and friends told us not to worry. vacant property is a relative scarcity in the bay area and we would have it sold in no time. they were right. offer made 1-day after showing. it was a low-ball which we just rejected (no counter). the next day we had an offer for precisely what we were asking. acceptance the next day and closing set for 30-days which is the 16th. had we gone to MLS we would've had to make significant upgrades that likely would've generated bids far outweighing the cost of upgrades but also would've taken a lot more time. we opted for a quick sale.

good iuck with yours.

 

[Sunset]

House is in Florida. We live in NJ. Fortunately, his house is in great condition in a very desirable 55+ community. We have 2 potential buyers already. If either of them buy it, realtor will charge a flat fee of $1,500 to handle the transaction. Otherwise, 5% commission for anyone else. We're in no rush though obviously would like it done as soon as possible for the right price.


First showing is tomorrow for one of those 2 pre-existing people. It will get listed officially in a week. Hopefully it will sell fairly quickly given the current market.

Which 55+ community is it in ?

 

[disneysteve]

Which 55+ community is it in ?

Valencia Reserve in Boynton Beach.

So we signed with the realtor on Monday.

On Tuesday, he showed the house to the sister of a guy who lives in the development and was friends with my cousin. I had her excluded from the commission agreement since I knew about her in advance.

She made a cash offer for 3K over our asking price, which we happily accepted. She's already made her initial escrow deposit. Inspection is on Wednesday. As long as that goes smoothly, we're hopefully good to go.

Since I had her as an exclusion on the contract, we will only pay the realtor $1,200 for his services to handle the paperwork and everything.

I know it's not final until closing, but I'm optimistic. Hopefully the inspector doesn't come up with a bunch of nonsense.

 

[BubbaChris]

Valencia Reserve in Boynton Beach.

So we signed with the realtor on Monday.

On Tuesday, he showed the house to the sister of a guy who lives in the development and was friends with my cousin. I had her excluded from the commission agreement since I knew about her in advance.

She made a cash offer for 3K over our asking price, which we happily accepted. She's already made her initial escrow deposit. Inspection is on Wednesday. As long as that goes smoothly, we're hopefully good to go.

Since I had her as an exclusion on the contract, we will only pay the realtor $1,200 for his services to handle the paperwork and everything.

I know it's not final until closing, but I'm optimistic. Hopefully the inspector doesn't come up with a bunch of nonsense.

Congratulations!

Hopefully the realtor is willing to act as a project manager to deal with anything that comes up in the inspection. He/she should tell you you have no real responsibility for fixing or making adjustments for anything that comes up - it just becomes a point of negotiation. Saying yes two a fix or two may help things, but in this market you can likely make everything the buyer's responsibility.

The exception may be if there's a termite inspection that identifies dry-rot (or actual termite damage) that has to be fixed per local codes or state laws. That's where the agent will be able to guide you.

The other thing to ask about before things get too far is how the mechanics of the process works once everyone agrees. There may be an escrow company or a title company that does the majority of the paperwork. Get a good contact there and stay in touch. Also be very careful/thorough about setting up the wire transfers at the end of the process. There are a number of scammers who try to highjack that key step. Is the final paperwork handled by the escrow company, title company, or lawyer?

Best regards,
Chris

 

[BubbaChris]

We are meeting with the realtor tomorrow to sell my late cousin's house. We have never sold a house before. What questions should I be asking that I may not have thought of?

One more question/request you can make - Get an appraisal for the value of the home for the month of your cousin's death. You may be able to use a stepped up cost basis on the sale and resulting capital gains. It doesn't have to be a formal appraisal, a list of "comps" from that month may work as appropriate documentation.

Best regards,
Chris

 

[OldShooter]

... The other thing to ask about before things get too far is how the mechanics of the process works once everyone agrees. There may be an escrow company or a title company that does the majority of the paperwork. Get a good contact there and stay in touch. Also be very careful/thorough about setting up the wire transfers at the end of the process. There are a number of scammers who try to highjack that key step. Is the final paperwork handled by the escrow company, title company, or lawyer? ...

One thing to be aware of is that title insurance is a form of scam. In addition to prices being all over the place, the underwriting losses are minimal because the insurer checks the title before writing the policy. But we are stuck with that; it's the good old boy system.

The good old boys don't care a whit what your title insurance premium is. We just did a cash out refi mortgage as a swing loan while buildind a new house. The first draft closing statement showed a $1265 title company fee. I objected and ask the mortgage company to shop the insurance. Within a day they had a number that was about 2/3 what was initially proposed. So be sure to insist that the title insurance get shopped and ask to see the quotes. (This may be difficult. In our case, DW was friends with the bank's regional president, so the mortgage people were playing very, very nice. YMMV.)

If you get pushback on shopping the title insurance you might offer to delay closing until you see some quotes. This will get everyone quite excited and will have good amusement value even if it doesn't work. Inkle that the mortgage company and the realtor have fiduciary responsibility to you. This will additionally stir the pot.

Oops/edit: Somehow got the idea that the closing was a purchase. Seller doesn't care if buyer gets robbed by title insurance company. Sorry.

 

[Aerides]

Valencia Reserve in Boynton Beach.

So we signed with the realtor on Monday.

On Tuesday, he showed the house to the sister of a guy who lives in the development and was friends with my cousin. I had her excluded from the commission agreement since I knew about her in advance.

She made a cash offer for 3K over our asking price, which we happily accepted. She's already made her initial escrow deposit. Inspection is on Wednesday. As long as that goes smoothly, we're hopefully good to go.

Since I had her as an exclusion on the contract, we will only pay the realtor $1,200 for his services to handle the paperwork and everything.

I know it's not final until closing, but I'm optimistic. Hopefully the inspector doesn't come up with a bunch of nonsense.

That should be a smooth sale. I know that development as my parents shopped there when looking for a 55+, and just down the road from where they ended up. Nice, newer, higher end gated community.

 

[Souschef]

I agree about shopping for title insurance. When we bought our last house, the title company wanted a statement from my ex-wife that none of the money was hers.
At that point I had been divorced for 7 years, so it made no sense. We just changed to another title company.

 

[disneysteve]

That should be a smooth sale. I know that development as my parents shopped there when looking for a 55+, and just down the road from where they ended up. Nice, newer, higher end gated community.

We love the community and have made a couple of good friends there through my cousin. We gave some serious thought to keeping the house but it just doesn't make sense for us for a number of reasons.

 

[disneysteve]

One more question/request you can make - Get an appraisal for the value of the home for the month of your cousin's death. You may be able to use a stepped up cost basis on the sale and resulting capital gains. It doesn't have to be a formal appraisal, a list of "comps" from that month may work as appropriate documentation.

Best regards,
Chris

I took care of that when I was down there. My attorney advised the same. I got an "opinion of value" from a realtor because at that point, I wasn't sure how long we'd be keeping the house.