Posted on 07/27/2006 5:37:21 AM PDT by Hydroshock
I am a big fan of staging and have gotten a book filled with ideas. We cannot afford to spend a lot to get our house ready but there is a great deal the realtor can do to reach prospective buyers.
The houses I sold, one was $500,000 and the other $400,000. Figure the savings if you go through the real estate broker rather than spend the fees for a real estate agent who then has to turn around and pay the real estate broker their percentage.
Most of the fees you pay are negotiable, too. For example, here in AZ a full house appraisal is $175. You have to pay that. In CA the same full house appraisal is minimum $350. No negotiations on that, either. You just have to know what you're doing and with whom you are dealing.
Again, caveat emptor.
Sorry if there are any real estate agents out there, but you can become a broker yourself if another broker will sign for you to take the test. It's not that hard and not that easy, either.
Another anecdote for you:
When we wanted to sell our house with some property in a rural area, we signed with the same realtor that we bought it through years earlier. After 6 months of him trying to talk our price down and not getting any response at all, we found out that he hadn't even put the place on the MLS or advertised AT ALL. His technique was entirely word-of-mouth (and only his mouth).
We found a realtor closer to the city and signed a listing agreement with her. Our place was an unusual old property with river access and a lot of history. We were sure that some city folks with some money would love it.
When we signed the agreement with her, it was understood that all showings would be by appointment only and there would be a certain amount of advertising paid for by the realty company. She immediately put a lock-box on our door and never did any advertising at all. When we questioned her about it, she said that we would have to pay half for any ads.
While we sat and waited for the listing agreement to run out, my wife created a web site for our property. We incuded digital video, historic studies about our property, a map with clickable links to photos of the place and many photos of the house(s) and outbuildings, etc. We handed the web site to the realtor on a silver platter and they still wouldn't advertise our place. They- of course- also put more energy into trying to talk our price down for a quick sale, than trying to sell the property.
The day the listing agreement expired we ran 2 ads that cost us a little less than $500.00. One in the Wash. Post and the other in the NY times. They were one line ads with the web address under the heading of Vacation Properties. We watched the hits on our web site and could see the same people looking at it again and again. We had a showing arranged the first day after the first ad ran. Those people wanted the place but the guy had to talk to his banker about money. The next day we showed the place again. The second group met us the next day and signed a contract for the full listed price. No home inspection. No contigencies at all. We sold the place it 2 days. We had over 25 contacts in the first weekend that the ads ran.
Afterwards, we kicked ourselves for not asking for more money, but the stupid realtors had shaken our confidence so that we left the price where we had started. As it was, they kept trying to get us to lower the price by at least 25%. It became clear to us that all the realtors wanted to do was get the price so low that it would sell quickly and they wouldn't have to do any work or spend any money on ads. For the six weeks following our ad, we had people pestering us to sell to them. We had people trying to fly out from all parts of the country to look at the place. 6 months later, well after the closing, people were still putting notes on the door of the house trying to buy the place from the new owners.
First home I sold I got reamed by the real estate agent. Swore I would never sell another home. But I did, and there were no problems using a broker.
Staging is really good. If you want more info mail me. Some of the marketing items are more effective than others and one is a waste of time and money. Most important is be friendly with the Realtors(don't just go with the one that promises the most services), keep calm, and find someone you want representing you. I don't like to take any business if there is ANY issue- material or emotional- between us. We are a team and I try to get that mission statement defined ASAP.
FSBO is the only way to go. I've sold two homes FSBO-very successful and no blood suckers taking 5-6% off of the top for doing very little.
Speaking as a lawyer and a licensed real estate broker - please show me the source for that comment.
By the way, most business lawsuits are not from consumers but from one business suing another business.
You have made many good points in your defense of your profession. However, the above quote is exactly what the thrust of the article is about; Realtors limiting your choices by discriminating against discout brokers, refusing to show their listings and seeking legislation essentially requiring that all brokerage business be full service.
"That's easy, just do the research"
And that's the response I thought you'd give.
"I know that every year NAR puts out stats but I'm not at the office right now to look them up. But they track their listings and continually find 80+% of FSBOers list with an agent".
Perhaps some FSBOs that are hounded night and day by realtors wanting to list their homes eventually cave. Curious to know how NAR (National Association of Realtors) gets their information.
Oh, and as I stated earlier, we never have used a realtor, and I can't see that we will do so in the future.
Good for you
Where did I say that I wanted government intervention?
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