Have You Sold Your Own House?
We are looking to put our house on the market this Spring before we head into the CPP (Coach Protection Program) and b/c we live in a pretty desirable neighborhood (no price drop here thank god) we are thinking of selling it ourselves. Which means me. Which could be a disaster. I am wondering if any of you have done this and if you have any recommendations either way? Thanks!
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Just curious, what is the ROI for all the time spent dealing with people?
If you do fly solo, good luck.
Selling my house FSBO brought out a weird and unvetted crowd of people. Lots of people "looking" and most if not all pre-qualified with a bank. 2 weeks later after walking countless non-serious people through my house I bailed and hired a realtor. one week later he brought in 3 serious and qualified buyers and the house sold. Totally worth his rate.
In my opinion you should hire someone, think of your time and effort you would need to put into this. Also you would still need to pay an attorney to look over the documents for you. Do you really need the aggravation of setting up appointments, calling them back etc. Also when they start to make comments about your home you make get a little defense. I ran into when I looked at a house, it was the real estate agents house (which I did not know) and when I made a remark about the kitchen she had just redid she took it very personal. I then found out why when she told me it was her house.
Hire someone you will be glad you did.
At worst try it for yourself for a month or two - you can always get an agent later. We have a local company (Private Exchange) that sets you up with a sign, posts your info on their website and puts a sale magazine into restaurants in town. I think we paid about $600 to get in the magazine and on the website. They even came out and took all the photos.
Good luck!
cheers - mark
Patrick McCrann...if you are moving away, I am going to be very sad.
Caveat: in another lifetime, long, long ago, I was a realtor in Atlanta
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In my opinion, I could endure a LOT of discomfort and PITA for 6% x ~$400k = $24,000. I've seen what realtors do, don't do, what they can and can't do, and it ain't worth 6%. Maybe a flat fee, maybe, which you could advertise to encourage realtors with good buyers to bring their clients to you.
But you're a reasonably bright guy, despite appearances, and I'm sure you could use web resources, etc to market it more effectively than 95% of the realtors out there. I'd also ping Chris Malone for his thoughts.
Coach R exposed as a realtor
I may have some grainy footage of your info-mercial.
Look for it on TMZ
2007, much different economy and we were both much busier with work, kids, etc. so we used a realtor to sell a condo which we had rented out. So the realtor earned his money setting up appointments and coordinating with our tenents.
If you are a fan of freakonomics, you could argue that realtors should go the way of the travel agent (flat fees, etc.) , but I don't think we are there yet.
Both Bought and Sold one about 9 months ago, brother is a realtor, so there was really no thought about not using a realtor. Some quick thoughts ....
Can you get the information you need to get the home priced right ? With or without a Realtor, its all about price. If its not priced right (and the first list price, not the one that it gets lowered to in a month after no one looks at it), you're going to be at a big disadvantage. Priced right in a desirable neighborhood and some moderate marketing, and people will find your home. Price it wrong, even initially, and you might struggle to get people to look at it. With access to the MLS data for the neighborhood and history, I could see what every home had listed/sold for, as well as how long it was on the market, and what was currently on the market as competition. I reviewed all the info before deciding on a price. I was just lucky, but it sold quickly for 98% of list and within a $1000 of what I had thought. There are still some of the same houses that were for sale in my neighborhood in April on the market now, basically because they were not priced right.
Are you going to be buying/leasing another residence before moving into the Protection Program ? 6% Realtor Commission seems like a lot of cost if it sells in 30 days. On the market for 6 months with another mortgage on a new place, and realizing that its now past prime selling season and you may have two houses for another 4-6 months, it starts to seem like a reasonable ROI.
How long has it been since you bought/sold, and how much experience do you have with Real Estate. Selling a house is not only getting an acceptable offer in place, its getting to the closing table and getting the deal closed. The house must appraise for the purchase price, and appraisers in my area of the country are much more conservative than they used to be. Inspections come back with complete bull on them, but all the items noted still must be corrected or negotiated. To get loans now ( as opposed to about 3 years ago), your buyer actually need a job and some cash (or alot of cash/savings/investments), and be able to prove it. Title issues and neighborhood association issues. It might actually be harder to get a deal closed than it is to get an acceptable offer. It can be alot to navigate your way thru.
It's certainly not impossible to sell it yourself, especially if you have some experience in these transactions. Lots of people do it every day. Without family in the business, I might have tried myself. But I wouldn't go into it thinking its going to be easy, or that it won't take up much time.
I think that you should go for it. The real estate market has changed a lot in the last few years so experiences even from 2 years ago might be very different now. FSBO properties used to be very rare, now they are common. Also, pretty much everyone can see all the houses on the market online these days. Its no longer a situation where agents can decide what houses they wish to show people. If the house is in the right place as you suggest then people will come. 6 percent is a lot of money. Also there are a lot of far lower priced resources out there these days that are kinda sorta somethere in the middle, like for a flat fee they do the listing, some marketing, help with forms etc.
my 2 cents
A good broker, whether it's stocks, boats, real estate, art, is worth paying. They add value. The trick is finding that good broker. It ain't easy.
The residential real estate industry is populated by part timers, about 70+ percent and so they are part competent. Sad, but true. For me, it's the worst thing about being in the business, having to deal with them and your above comments (though many are innacurate generalizations) are earned through the industry's own model for residential real estate. That is, hand out licenses like candy, and license as many people as you can as each one has at least one deal in them. Occasionally, one sticks and becomes a good full time pro. The industry is dominated by large franchises who need a lot of volume- inventory and agents. This is rant worthy but it is mostly beside the point here.
It depends on the product as to whether you need an agent or not. If you can look to the left and right of your house and see obvious sales data and easily figure out what your place is worth, you can go to Zillow etc and post it and handle it yourself with advice on the side from a good real estate lawyer or a good experienced broker. My market is a niche thing, kind of nuanced and not cookie cutter and not found on the web so I can continue to add value to the process- so I keep getting paid. But lots of residential real estate is pretty straightforward, via lots of data out there and it is a legit question to ask, is the commish worth it? Do they add value?
If you can find someone who is totally sorted out, straightforward with a track record for performance and who works YOUR neighborhood/market, pay them to take care of the deal and go live your life. Suggest a sliding scale- 6% is not etched in stone and can't be. Most good agents/brokers will anticipate this idea and have an option ready.