Do you have advice on selling a house?

Question

My wife nearly had a heart attack when she realized what we would pay a realtor tens of thousands of dollars to sell our house. We've purchased and sold homes in the past without realtors. Do you have advice?

Answer 1

If you can sell it on your own great.  The market is horrible right now for home selling.  I would recommend waiting until Fall of next year to sell.  Make sure you everything is fine with your house, check wiring, roofing, heating and air, etc.... Clean it up real good. Get rid of any unwanted stuff.  Decorate it to make it look nice.  And there are places online that you can get mock contracts when you sell your house.  However, if you have sold your homes without realtors in the past then you must be pro's?

Answer 2

The only real difference is that you won't be listed on MLS.  Otherwise, go for it although you may want to wait a bit to maximaxe the value of your home.

Answer 3

Since you've done it in the past, what is stopping you from doing it now?  My advice would be to go ahead and hire a REALTOR®.  The market condition today makes it hard for FSBO's and it's a fact that real estate agents sell for more than the owners themselves. Buyers will try to discount the price because they know you don't have to pay an agent, and if your negotiating skills are not what they should be, (i.e. options in overcoming objectives and criticism) the buyer will come out ahead.  

Some sellers realize they need the expertise in setting a realistic price, working with buyers, weeding out the look-e-loos, arranging open houses, coordinating with other professionals in the sales process, having the appropriate contracts, addendums, and disclosures etc, etc, etc.  It takes more than putting a for sale sign in the yard.