For those of you who sold or are selling your home how did you decide

on which real estate agency to use to list it. Ideally we would sell on our own but we don't have that kind of time. And did you find that the commission rates were negotiable?

Re: For those of you who sold or are selling your home how did you decide

You have FM.

Re: For those of you who sold or are selling your home how did you decide

Your inbox is going to be inundated with emails!

Re: For those of you who sold or are selling your home how did you decide

My neighbor is a real estate agent and she sold us the house. When we were ready to put it on the market it was only natural to let her list it for us. She's also the top agent in our area which is such a bonus. She's terrific!

Re: For those of you who sold or are selling your home how did you decide

My friend's brother is an RE Agent. He lives in our town and cut the percentage to 3.5%.

We had the offer 20 minutes into our first open house.

Re: For those of you who sold or are selling your home how did you decide

We used someone that we had been looking at houses with, he is a real great guy and out personalities clicked. We also looked at how much he advertised and so on. We did negotiate the comission with him. I know he owns the company so I do not know if that makes a difference. I really like that he stays ontop of the market in our area also, and communicates with other relators in the area and figures out the best places to advertise our home.

We are using Joe from Horizion and we are very happy with him.

Horizon Realty Group
141 Waverly Ave
Patchogue, NY 11772

Tel: 631-687-3737

Re: For those of you who sold or are selling your home how did you decide

Listing with a RE agent is not something I would prefer not to do.

The first time I sold something.... i did it for sale by owner. Was a very painless process. Got my asking price!

The second time... i was looking to sell quicker. I had tons of real estate agents asking me to list with them. Since I wouldn't budge... they then asked me if they could show the property to their clients anyways... as an "open listing".

I liked this because it was like I had the RE agents working for me... yet I signed no contract and could do what I wanted. If I sold FSBO... I owed them nothing.

If you sign a listing agreement with a realtor... you are stuck with them. I don't like being restricted like that because if I see they aren't doing their job well enough... i will want to dump them.

Granted... I had a really hot property to sell that I knew would sell quickly. If the market isn't so hot you might need MLS exposure.

But you can also sell a property on your own... get on the MLS... and only pay a buyers commission (usually 1-2%).

Message edited 3/30/2006 2:45:43 PM.

Re: For those of you who sold or are selling your home how did you decide

Re: For those of you who sold or are selling your home how did you decide

Re: For those of you who sold or are selling your home how did you decide

if you can sell it on your own, more power to you! (and more money - )
but - also keep in mind, a GOOD realtor is worth their weight in gold, and will jump thru hoops for the seller - REGARDLESS of what the commission rate is!!

Re: For those of you who sold or are selling your home how did you decide

So I can sell my house on my own and list it on MSL?

Re: For those of you who sold or are selling your home how did you decide

But if you sold it on MLS and paid them a 2% commission and them had to do all the work yourself anyway (like advertising, hosting the open houses, dealing with the negotiations) why not hire a professional to do it. On average sellers who sell their own home sell for 17-21% less than if they listed with a broker.

When you are sick you go to a doctor. If you were sued you would go to a lawyer. Why wouldn't you trust a professional with the biggest asset you have?

JMO - and not looking to get flamed.
ETA: I am a realtor!

Message edited 3/30/2006 7:34:47 PM.

Re: For those of you who sold or are selling your home how did you decide

Re: For those of you who sold or are selling your home how did you decide

Message edited 3/30/2006 8:04:13 PM.

Re: For those of you who sold or are selling your home how did you decide

Re: For those of you who sold or are selling your home how did you decide

Listing with a RE agent MAY not be for everyone but if you do your research and go list with a good agent who works for a good company you should feel that you are in great hands with someone who has your best interest in mind.

I know that there are agents out there who are shady and don't always do the right thing - and they give us good agents a bad rep.

Re: For those of you who sold or are selling your home how did you decide

One of DH's coworkers does real estate on the side so we used him.

Re: For those of you who sold or are selling your home how did you decide

We sold it ourselves and got our asking price (which I still think was high) two hours into our 'open house". All we incurred was the cost of placing the ads in the journal and ny times and copies at kinkos. It was awesome!

Re: For those of you who sold or are selling your home how did you decide

The state of the market also depends on how well FSBO's do. This time last year the market was way different. There were houses on the market that were having bidding wars.

Now - there is a lot more inventory out there so you need as much as exposure that you can get to sell your home.

Re: For those of you who sold or are selling your home how did you decide

It also depends on what kind of timetable you have.

If you aren't in a big hurry to sell (you haven't found a place yet)... you can try FSBO and see if you get a good offer.

But if you are in a rush to sell.... then an agent is probably the best way to go.

Re: For those of you who sold or are selling your home how did you decide

I have had my home on the market for 8 months now... WITH A REALTOR
I now have it FSBO.. however, this sucks too. I may have to find a very aggressive realtor and lose money on my home. The market is a nightmare and we need to sell in the next 6 months.. NOW is the time too.

I hate to sign an agreement but I really do not know what choice I have. The commissions are no less than 4% but the higher end companies are more like 5%-6% and it will kill me.

I really don't know what else to do at this point.

Re: For those of you who sold or are selling your home how did you decide

I really wouldn't go without a realtor, mainly because DH and I both have long commutes and long work hours. We could almost never show the place during the week, and weekends are tough since this is our only time to get everything done that we get home too late to do during the week. Yes, we would save a little money, but our lives are hectic enough without dealing with this stuff and placing the ads, etc.

If you have time on your hands, I don't think it's a bad idea. We don't, so we need to pay someone to do it for us.

I would try to negotiate on the length of the contract if you haven't worked with the realtor before. They may try for 6 mos., but try to get 3 mos. initially. That's one mistake we made initially!

Re: For those of you who sold or are selling your home how did you decide

My home is for sale right now and the agent is great! She does several open houses and gives a very reasonable rate on commision. She does no pressure. Her office is the most laid back type of no pressure office i have ever dealt with. Her name is Doinna and she is at First Liberty Real Estate.
(631)210-4256