Selling A House

smellsgood

How many here have done it?

How many houses have you sold?

What was your experience like?

Did you have a realtor or not? Happy you did/didn't?

How difficult/stressful did you find it to be?

How much did you "fix her up" before selling?

Purza

We had a rental house that we fixed up and sold.

We used Help-U-Sell and had a great experience with the realtor assigned to us.

It was stressful because we were in over our heads and just barely able to make the mortgage. My husband did MAJOR work to it before the sale and therefore the house was empty for an entire year.

However when it sold, it was a big relief.

Purza

Legolas

We just sold our second house in June.

We had a realtor, and it sold in 8 hours!

But we had tried to sell it before with no bites....very stressful!

As for fixing up your house to sell, there are different things to consider...Like will you get your money back out of it!

garybuss

I've sold quite a few. There's a chance I might be a real estate broker in another life.

target

We have sold 5.

Years ago it was easier to sell by owner. Now there are so many laws, and also, people do their searching online and buyers prefer to work with a realtor so things are done properly. The experience depends on the realtor. We had a couple of real good ones and then we had a poor experience last time

Things that need to be fixed, should be fixed, but don't go over board. People will actually not consider your house just because they don't like the color of a room, even though they can obviously paint it. If the furnace is bad, no one will buy it. Same with the roof. Curb appeal is real important. When we were searching for our present house, there were houses on our list that we did not even get out of the car to look at because of the lack of curb appeal. If a house looks well cared for, it sells much easier.

Another reason to work with a realtor is that they prequalify the people who get to look at your house. Doing it by owner, you do not know anything about the prospective buyer or their motives.

When we were in Arizona, there was a real problem with theft at Open Houses. Be very careful about what you leave out where it could be stolen.

In Arizona the market was really hot and we had our first of five offers within 1/2 hour. None of the buyers even came to look at the house and in two days we had sold it for twice what we paid for it 4 years earlier. That is a once in a life time experience. The next house took three months to sell and we got just enough to cover what we paid for it and the real estate commission. We only had it one year. That was Texas. Here in Colorado it is a buyer's market and house sales have slowed way down.

So it depends on where you are, what shape your house is in, and how good your realtor is. Ask around for references

Target

Lady Liberty

Dear Smellsgood,

I am in the business and to be honest, it really depends on several things. First of all, if you live in a area where the market is pretty slow, you may list your home and still find that yopur house isn't selling. But, by the same token, if you have a really awesome home that seems to be being ignored because there are so many great things about your home that you wouldn't know just by driving by, then you may need to get a Realtor involved.

Statistics show that 75% of our inquires come from the internet. So.. with that in mind, the internet is a very powerful selling tool. Because a realtor has the ability to advertise your home by using this tool, you will have hundreds more people see your home then ever would be able to it you were trying to do it on your own.

For example, when people are wanting to relocate, they usually type in a very well known agency on the internet. Coldwell Banker, Remax, Century 21..etc. Those companies have the ability to tie into the local Multiple Listing Service for that area and allow you to view homes for sale in the desired area. Viewing photos inside and out. Many times this is how homes sell.

However, if you are in a very fast moving market, and you advertise as much as you can on your own, many have had great sucess in doing it on their own without a agent. You can save alot of money that way. But be careful if you do choose this route. There are ALOT of looky loos, some will case your home for drugs, like perscription medications, they may split up when viewing your home and steal medication or valuables.

The safest way is to get them to give you a prequalifying letter from their lender BEFORE you allow them to make an appointment to see your home. Alot of people shy away from doing this though because they don't want to potentially piss off any would be buyer. If you list your home, 99% of agents won't waste their time showing your home or anyone elses until they know for sure a person is quailfied. They can screen the person BEFORE they ever enter your home.

Anyhow...for what it is worth.. that is my two cents. Good luck. Oh.. if you need help finding a agent, let me know we have a referal plan which means I can help you no matter where you live if you are in the States, so I can help you if you need me to.

Sincerely,

Lady Liberty

mama1119

Well, thanks to Lady Liberty, I had two full price offers in less than one day after listing. I actually showed it a few moments after listing it with L.L. That was over a year ago though, when houses were going like crazy...

mama1119

Oh, and I LOVED my realtor!!!!

xjwms

I have done both...fsbo and with a realtor

By yourself, .. should you get an offer, .. make sure you have a real estate attorney with a title company.

When you sign with a realtor, .. no more than 4 months, .. and, .. make sure they are "active" in the business.

I had the biggest dead-beat one time who was forcing the issue with me until I signed with him. Only to find

out her pushed for sale by owners, ... then sat back and let the co-brokes work on it and collect his half FOR DOING NOTHING.

I fired him, .. and had to let the final weeks of my 4 month contract run out.

.

smellsgood

Thank you everyone for your experiences and advice!

Target, I noticed that! It's like, go ahead and get a crummy house just because this one doesn't have wireless access which would cost 500 bones. Let's put it this way, if you can't afford to put in wireless access yourself, you can't afford this house.

Legolas, How did you go about selling it specifically before you had a realtor?

Mama, dang skippy, that is quick! Which area in Idaho was that? Up by Couer d'Alene or down by Boise?

Selling A House

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