Need Realtor Advice for Listing Home for Sale...

Sunshine Kate · ‎03-10-2010

We plan to put our home on the market in a few weeks. It's been many years since we have sold a home with a realtor.

What are some yays or nays to make this go smoothly for us. I just don't want someone to take advantage of us (realtor).

TIA

Hoovermom · ‎03-19-2010

This is from HGTV:

Secrets for selling your house

esmeraldagooch · ‎03-10-2010

Hope you found a motvated go getter. Some are some aren't.

Is the home and yard in move in ready? We've found this encourages fast sales and people who will do more than just drive by..

september · ‎03-09-2010

I think a lot of it depends on the area where the home is.

I just closed on a sale in CA last week...not our residence, but an investment property. The agents thanked me for not wanting to ask too much....but to go with their price to get the house sold asap. We listed it...had 1 week of open houses, and had numerous offers after the 1st week.

We accepted an offer that was over our asking price, and it's over and done with!

We did list with an old time associate, although his younger partner did most of the grunt work.

september · ‎03-09-2010

@esmeraldagooch wrote:
Hope you found a motvated go getter. Some are some aren't.
Is the home and yard in move in ready? We've found this encourages fast sales and people who will do more than just drive by..

That's not neccesarily true. there are many people out there who want to buy fixer-uppers, if the price is right....the one I just sold was the ultimate fixer upper!

We did nothing....except for the inspection reports, that told potential buyers, up front, what the problems were.

I spent about $2000 to get all these reports done, but got a fast sale as a result.

Mominohio · ‎08-08-2010

Depending on your market, don't let a realtor talk you into listing your property for less than you know it is worth. I had a solid price I wanted for my last house, based on our area, the market at the time, the condition of the house, location, etc.

The realtor wanted me to list at a particular price, and I said no, I wanted it listed higher. I didn't back down, and even at my higher price, my house was in contract in just two days.

I see over and over, realtors that are in it for a quick sale, not at all about you getting what you need/want/can get for the property. They only get paid when it sells, and so many of them are wanting to do as little work as possible to make a commission, and want to list low.

I'd also suggest choosing someone who does it full time. In our area, many realtors are part time, and think they can pick their schedule. They aren't really motivated to work full time at selling for you.

KathyPet · ‎03-09-2010

I am not a realtor but have sold plenty of homes. First, realtors pretty much specialize in either selling homes or bringing in buyers. They sometimes cross over from one area to another but there are specialities. You want someone who,specializes in selling homes. Interview at least 3 realtors. Find out if they are full time or part time. You want someone who is a full time realtor. Ask them how many listings they have had in the last year and of the listings they took what happened to those properties. How many of them sold or are still on the market or were withdrawn from sale. How many days on average has it been taking to get a house in your price range sold? Does the potential agent have any advanced realtor designations such as speciality training in home selling techniques. What steps will they take specifically to get your home sold? Will they do marketing brochures, video tours to put on the Internet? What is their suggested asking price for your home? Don't bite for the agent that wants to put the highest price on the house. Some not so ethical agents will deliberately suggest a unreasonable price just to get the listing knowing full well that the house will never sell for that just to get the listing. Then when the house does not sell after a couple of months they will want you to reduce the price to what it should have been listed for to start with. What steps would the agent suggest you take to get the house ready to,sell. Listen and take their advice. If they tell you to paint that purple bedroom or take down the floral wallpaper in the kitchen then do it. They know what buyers are looking for.

september · ‎03-09-2010

A realtor will show you the comparable sales prices (at least 4 or 5) of similar recent sales in the area.

You can also look this info up on your own, on sites like Zillow.

In the end, it's up to the seller to determine the asking price, but if you're dealing with an experienced realtor....I'd say, go with their price.

Kalli · ‎03-11-2010

As was already mentioned, if you're not selling it yourself, make sure your realtor is a hard-worker.

Sprucing up the outside with a little landscaping can go a long way.

Understand you may have to go back and forth with offers and counter-offers. We always list a higher price than we're actually willing to take. ( But if you MUST sell in a certain amount of time, you might not have the freedom to do this. )

Just because an offer is made, doesn't mean that person will be able to get the financing.

Good Luck!

september · ‎03-09-2010

@Kalli wrote:
As was already mentioned, if you're not selling it yourself, make sure your realtor is a hard-worker.

Sprucing up the outside with a little landscaping can go a long way.

Understand you may have to go back and forth with offers and counter-offers. We always list a higher price than we're actually willing to take. ( But if you MUST sell in a certain amount of time, you might not have the freedom to do this. )

Just because an offer is made, doesn't mean that person will be able to get the financing.

Good Luck!

Very true. We had two comparable offers, but one of the buyers was putting 50% down....and could quickly get the financing done.