I'm thinking of selling our house without a realtor

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SharonL

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I'm thinking of selling our house and moving but with the price of houses here the only way we could afford it would be to sell it ourselves. A realtor would end up costing us over $18,000 which would cut into our equity that we would need. Has anyone sold a house on there own? It's kinda a scary concept if you don't know what your doing. I would definitely hire an attorney for the paperwork. Any ideas? :hmm:
 
I did start to sell one of our houses on our own and eventually gave it to a real esate. Selling it on your own....get lots of tire kickers, phone calls at inappropriate times (late night), people just showing up on your doorstep or people make appts and just don't show up, the buyer knows that there's no commission so they expect a better price, owner's usually say 'too much' and give too much of their personality to the home. The buyer needs to see themselves in your home. I'm not a real estate agent fan neither (I've been involved with several doozies with transactions), however, I do feel they are somewhat necessary.

I'd go with a real estate agent unless you had a specific buyer in mind.
 
precocious said:
I did start to sell one of our houses on our own and eventually gave it to a real esate. Selling it on your own....get lots of tire kickers, phone calls at inappropriate times (late night), people just showing up on your doorstep or people make appts and just don't show up, the buyer knows that there's no commission so they expect a better price, owner's usually say 'too much' and give too much of their personality to the home. The buyer needs to see themselves in your home. I'm not a real estate agent fan neither (I've been involved with several doozies with transactions), however, I do feel they are somewhat necessary.

I'd go with a real estate agent unless you had a specific buyer in mind.
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One of the problems too is my husband is honest to a fault. He would be the first to point out any flaws or problems. He would probably end up giving our house away. I always tell him if he was a car salesman we would starve to death. :p
 
It can certainly be done, but as preco said people will expect a lower price than a home represented by a realtor, so there might not be too much benefit. Plus you can't beat the exposure of multiple listing. On the other hand, if there are several houses right near you for sale, a for sale by owner sign definitely can be a plus, especially when those houses have open houses (since people usually drive around the neighborhood before or after open houses).

BTW make sure your husband isn't home when your house is being shown. ;) That's a home inspection engineers job and I've been very lucky with the dopes my buyers used as engineers.

Good luck!
 
I am a Realtor in Southern California and I can tell you that the money you will save on a commission you could loose in the sales price. FSBO's often sell their homes for less than what an Agent could sell it for. Plus you take on the personal liability of selling it yourself. A professional realor can navigate all of the required contracts, disclosures, inspections, prescreen buyers, negotiations, marketing etc.

Obviously I am a little bias:) so good luck!!!
 
wildbanchee said:
I am a Realtor in Southern California and I can tell you that the money you will save on a commission you could loose in the sales price. FSBO's often sell their homes for less than what an Agent could sell it for. Plus you take on the personal liability of selling it yourself. A professional realor can navigate all of the required contracts, disclosures, inspections, prescreen buyers, negotiations, marketing etc.

Obviously I am a little bias:) so good luck!!!
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I heard you can negotiate the commission percentage. Is that true?
 
SharonL said:
I heard you can negotiate the commission percentage. Is that true?
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Certainly can. You just have to do it upfront and before you sign. I had one GREAT experience with a realtor when I moved and sold my house in NY. I agreed to a decent commission rate for the area and in order to persuade me to take an offer lower than I wanted the realtor said he'd take $2,000 off his commission (FYI this was because my house was probably the 2nd or 3rd highest priced home in his area and because he was the listing agent and showed this buyer our house), but still I never heard of that happening before. FYI he was such a good (not just because he reduced his commission), that I even gave him a $100 gift after closing, which I also never heard of.

Either way, if you aren't in a rush, there's no harm to try selling the house on your own for a couple weeks to see what happens.
 
big daddy said:
Certainly can. You just have to do it upfront and before you sign. I had one GREAT experience with a realtor when I moved and sold my house in NY. I agreed to a decent commission rate for the area and in order to persuade me to take an offer lower than I wanted the realtor said he'd take $2,000 off his commission (FYI this was because my house was probably the 2nd or 3rd highest priced home in his area and because he was the listing agent and showed this buyer our house), but still I never heard of that happening before. FYI he was such a good (not just because he reduced his commission), that I even gave him a $100 gift after closing, which I also never heard of.

Either way, if you aren't in a rush, there's no harm to try selling the house on your own for a couple weeks to see what happens.
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Wrong! There is harm. When you are actively looking to buy a house you keep your eye on the market. You may see the FSBO and check out the house. You get discouraged on the house because of it's condition that an owner pointed out, you don't see yourself in the house because you still picture the owner in there (especially if they're a bit odd), the owner overpriced the house, etc. Now, you see the house listed again after FSBO but you're not interested, you've been soured on the house.

Now, if you saw this house through a RE Agent, the house would be more appropriately priced (they have the tools to see all the surrounding sales - not asking but selling price), there'd have been less of the 'owner' for you to see and the problems with the house are up to you to find out (they're not volunteered or unsolicitated). Agents capture the buyer, and as they'd tell you....most of your highest offers are your first offers because the 'lot' of buyers have their eye on the market and will take a good deal right away because they've been waiting and they know what's out there.

Now as far as agents lowering commision. Yes, we've negotiated with them beforehand. As for them lowering their percentage to close an active deal so they won't lose the entire sale, yes that is common. Go get your Gift back Big Daddy...

BTW Big Daddy, it's such a beautiful day here today, don't you think? :angel:
 
precocious said:
Wrong! There is harm. When you are actively looking to buy a house you keep your eye on the market. You may see the FSBO and check out the house. You get discouraged on the house because of it's condition that an owner pointed out, you don't see yourself in the house because you still picture the owner in there (especially if they're a bit odd), the owner overpriced the house, etc. Now, you see the house listed again after FSBO but you're not interested, you've been soured on the house.

Now, if you saw this house through a RE Agent, the house would be more appropriately priced (they have the tools to see all the surrounding sales - not asking but selling price), there'd have been less of the 'owner' for you to see and the problems with the house are up to you to find out (they're not volunteered or unsolicitated). Agents capture the buyer, and as they'd tell you....most of your highest offers are your first offers because the 'lot' of buyers have their eye on the market and will take a good deal right away because they've been waiting and they know what's out there.

Now as far as agents lowering commision. Yes, we've negotiated with them beforehand. As for them lowering their percentage to close an active deal so they won't lose the entire sale, yes that is common. Go get your Gift back Big Daddy...

BTW Big Daddy, it's such a beautiful day here today, don't you think? :angel:
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We can agree to disagree on the harm of trying to sell yourself issue, preco. :angel: As far as the gift to the realtor, as I mentioned, it was not because he lowered his commission. It was because he was almost the perfect realtor (if there is such a thing). Plus the $100 gift cost me about $25. :o
 
You are just a Big Sweey Lovable Daddy! :angel:
 
precocious said:
You are just a Big Sweey Lovable Daddy! :angel:
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The "real" preco rarely makes a spelling mistake. Are you using the dehawk spell check again? :eek:

See another example of the transparent post Lent niceness. ;)

BTW :60:
 
Please forgive the error....you are Sweet. Perhaps that was a subliminal error thinking of you as a 'Sweety'. Thank you for helping me correct my errors. You have a great 'eye' for these things BD. :angel:
 
Well I think we might have to wait a couple years anyway. We've only been in this this house two and a half years and don't really have enough equity. Interest rates aren't what they were a couple of years ago either. Houses in this area just keep going up and up. We can't even afford to buy another house in our own neighborhood. :confused:
 
It is predicted that interest rates will continue to rise for the next few years, if not longer which means the amount you can qualify for will decrease. No one knows if the housing market wil continue to rise, level off or decrease but if you are in an area with a high demand (like most of S. Cal.) we will continue to see price increase maybe just a little slower then the 25+% year appreciation we have seen recently.

Why are you thinking of moving anyways? Needing a bigger house? You may consider taking out a home equity or 2nd to expand or remodel if you're in a great location and on a nice size lot...
 
wildbanchee said:
It is predicted that interest rates will continue to rise for the next few years, if not longer which means the amount you can qualify for will decrease. No one knows if the housing market wil continue to rise, level off or decrease but if you are in an area with a high demand (like most of S. Cal.) we will continue to see price increase maybe just a little slower then the 25+% year appreciation we have seen recently.

Why are you thinking of moving anyways? Needing a bigger house? You may consider taking out a home equity or 2nd to expand or remodel if you're in a great location and on a nice size lot...
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We are in a great location but are losing all our privacy. When we bought the house we thought the older couple behind us owned the property because they were maintaining it. Well it turns out they only owned a small portion of it. Now they are building 5 houses and one is right behind us and it is huge.
 
SharonL said:
We are in a great location but are losing all our privacy. When we bought the house we thought the older couple behind us owned the property because they were maintaining it. Well it turns out they only owned a small portion of it. Now they are building 5 houses and one is right behind us and it is huge.
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Don't bail....put up a privacy fence. :) If huge houses are going up around you....then the neighborhood is improving, yes? With a growing neighborhood, the value of your home increases. Now if you have a 'large lot', that's even better. The value of your property is not within the home itself but within the land. **You can always improve your home but you can't make your land larger ;)***
As for interest rates increases, rule of thumb, home prices start to decrease. *There are exceptions to that tho.* But if the value of your home will rise because of gentrification, you'll be in a better position when you go to sell.
Count your blessings, I count mine everyday! Twice!:angel:
 
Thanks Precocious! You are right. I do need to count my blessings everyday. We do have a large lot. It is almost a third acre. We will have to think about a privacy fence ( it would be cheaper than moving)! I really do love my neighborhood. I live on a private dead end road. My neighbors are great and I always feel safe. Thanks for listening to me whine and complain. I feel 100 better now. :)
 
THey can't say it's a 6% commission because that would be price fixing.

There are websites where you can sell your own house.

A Realtor is not the same as a Real Estate Agent. Don't get them mixed up.
 
morriefisher said:
THey can't say it's a 6% commission because that would be price fixing.

There are websites where you can sell your own house.

A Realtor is not the same as a Real Estate Agent. Don't get them mixed up.
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So what's the differents?
 
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