Realtor help needed - Placing house in market

[Nandy]

The ex and I are going to place the house in the market. We are planning to use a realtor but I dont know much about how they work, what to expect, what to ask and what to avoid. Can anyone here fill me in a bit? The house is in a subdivision in charlotte, nc.
Thanks!

 

[Summer Fun]

Re: Realtor help needed - Placing house in market

They get from 3% to 10&% of your selling price.
If I was selling. I'd sell it myself.

You're typing here so throw your home out on the internet for FREE.

 

[TiredoleBoy]

Re: Realtor help needed - Placing house in market

FSBO is the way to go.
For sale by owner, the agents ,make massive commissions and less for you. I would also get it inspected prior putting it up so all the issues will be corrected prior to an inspector finding them and possibly causing someone to not purchase. I do HI and this is what I always suggest

 

[thefairlaneman]

Re: Realtor help needed - Placing house in market

I live in Charlotte and it is as you know a dog eat dog business right now and a bad time to sell . As you know the values are down from 2 years ago..way down. When you assign it to a real estate agent you can not sell it to anyone without him getting his cut. Only do it for a short period of time.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Realtor help needed - Placing house in market

They may tell you that they work for you but that is not true...they work for themselves. Always have that in the back of your mind if you get one.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Realtor help needed - Placing house in market

I wish I had better advice. My experience has been the selling agent doesn't do a DARN thing to sell your house. All they really do is get the thing on the MLS. Probably cheaper ways to do that yourself. Just find the one that does it for the least %. All the FSBO's around me eventually end up with a Coldwell Banker sign out front.

 

[BeaufortTJustice]

Re: Realtor help needed - Placing house in market

I guess I am one of the few that has a positive experience with RE agents...our agent, prior to ever signing a contract to sell with him, came to our house and gave it a lookover and made several recommendations in order to maximize our potential profit and minimize time on market, such as which furniture / accessories to take out to declutter, some low cost improvements and touch ups. We also were able to make an informed decision on a realistic asking price based on comparable houses that have sold recently in the area.

IMHO, who knows real estate better than someone who does it full time? I think that the commission is money well spent if you get the right agent. Yes, they do technically work for themselves (or company), but it is in their best interest to 1) work to get you the highest $ for your house and sell it in a timely manner, 2) have positive interaction with the client for word of mouth advertising.

I think some of the friction between sellers and agents is derived from disagreements over what a property is worth...the owners think it is a million $ house (emotional attachment), and the agent is trying to bring them back to reality and tell them it is only a $100000 house (yes, it is hyperbole, but helps illustrate the point).

I would not recommend that anyone FSBO unless they have a pretty solid understanding of real estate laws, rules, and regulations. As a buyer, I would trust a seller with an agent more than one without. A career agent is less likely to lie about or fail to disclose certain facts about a house they are selling. They have a lot more to lose than the homeowners, if caught.

Just my thoughts and opinions...

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: Realtor help needed - Placing house in market

I guess I am one of the few that has a positive experience with RE agents...our agent, prior to ever signing a contract to sell with him, came to our house and gave it a lookover and made several recommendations in order to maximize our potential profit and minimize time on market, such as which furniture / accessories to take out to declutter, some low cost improvements and touch ups. We also were able to make an informed decision on a realistic asking price based on comparable houses that have sold recently in the area.

IMHO, who knows real estate better than someone who does it full time? I think that the commission is money well spent if you get the right agent. Yes, they do technically work for themselves (or company), but it is in their best interest to 1) work to get you the highest $ for your house and sell it in a timely manner, 2) have positive interaction with the client for word of mouth advertising.

I think some of the friction between sellers and agents is derived from disagreements over what a property is worth...the owners think it is a million $ house (emotional attachment), and the agent is trying to bring them back to reality and tell them it is only a $100000 house (yes, it is hyperbole, but helps illustrate the point).

I would not recommend that anyone FSBO unless they have a pretty solid understanding of real estate laws, rules, and regulations. As a buyer, I would trust a seller with an agent more than one without. A career agent is less likely to lie about or fail to disclose certain facts about a house they are selling. They have a lot more to lose than the homeowners, if caught.

Just my thoughts and opinions...

Can I copy and paste that ^^^^ and pretend I wrote it?...

Wasn't it Shakespeare who said "a house seller who acts as their own real estate agent has a fool for a client"?

 

[itsaboattime]

Re: Realtor help needed - Placing house in market

Realtors are business people. They are in business to make money. period.

Sold my house in the same situation you are in. She decided on the realtor. The realtor, a national company, gave the house away. Well below appraisal.

Some tips:

Shop around.

Have your house appraised before you list it.

Here in il. commision is negotiable. Realtors don't like you to know this. Check your local laws.

Insist on knowing about all showings and open houses.

Tell them your bottom line sell price and stick to it!! Don't take an offer your going to regret!!

Make them work for every penny you pay them.

You can view MLS listings online, your realtor should be able to supply you with the web address. Proof read the listing.


I'm sure there are more things that I either don't know or can't remember.
Best of luck to you, the market is brutal right now, buyer's market.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Realtor help needed - Placing house in market

Oh yeah....and open houses are just for the realtor to get new clients. Close to useless for you as the seller.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Realtor help needed - Placing house in market

Oh yeah....and open houses are just for the realtor to get new clients. Close to useless for you as the seller.

Like I said before...they are in for their own best interest...not yours.

 

[Cofe]

Re: Realtor help needed - Placing house in market

Here is a post from earlier this year. It makes for a good read.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=389970&highlight=realtor

 

[whit71]

Re: Realtor help needed - Placing house in market

Who can guess which one of the above people are a real estate agents?

 

[BeaufortTJustice]

Re: Realtor help needed - Placing house in market

The realtor, a national company, gave the house away. Well below appraisal.

Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't the owner(s) have the last say on the final selling price?

 

[BeaufortTJustice]

Re: Realtor help needed - Placing house in market

Who can guess which one of the above people are a real estate agents?

I just play one on TV...

 

[MolsonCanadian]

Re: Realtor help needed - Placing house in market

Realtors are business people. They are in business to make money. period.

Sold my house in the same situation you are in. She decided on the realtor. The realtor, a national company, gave the house away. Well below appraisal.

Some tips:

Shop around.

Have your house appraised before you list it.

Here in il. commision is negotiable. Realtors don't like you to know this. Check your local laws.

Insist on knowing about all showings and open houses.

Tell them your bottom line sell price and stick to it!! Don't take an offer your going to regret!!

Make them work for every penny you pay them.

You can view MLS listings online, your realtor should be able to supply you with the web address. Proof read the listing.


I'm sure there are more things that I either don't know or can't remember.
Best of luck to you, the market is brutal right now, buyer's market.

I'm not in Real Estate, I'm in law enforcement, but my other half is an agent. Albeit we're in Canada, and apparently things are different up here, so I won't get into it too much.

But, I just had to reply to a couple things here:

How did your agent "give your house away"? Did you not have to approve/sign back the offer?

Of course they should inform you on open houses and showings, I believe here they HAVE to, and its only common courtesy.

It sounds like you had a bad agent, and that sucks and you regret signing the offer. But they're not all bad.

Ok, I commented more than I wanted to, I'm a little bias, as I see how hard she works for her sellers AND buyers, its hard to take people using a wide brush to paint the whole industry.

And, sure, you can sell it yourself, a little internet knowledge and asking around helps. Buying without an agent is a little tougher.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Realtor help needed - Placing house in market

How did your agent "give your house away"? Did you not have to approve/sign back the offer?

Bottom line is that its the agents best interest for themselves to maximize the commission vs the amount of time marketing the house. If the agent feels a quicker sale at a lower price is going to save them time so that they can go on tho the next one they will do it. Of course this strategy may run contrary to the views of the owner but the owner will often succumb to the "advice" of this real estate professional.

Have friends and relatives in the real estate industry from escrow officers, brokers and agents. Some are on the up and up but I saw so many unscrupulous things happen that it left a huge bad taste in my mouth about the industry.

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: Realtor help needed - Placing house in market

Bottom line is that its the agents best interest for themselves to maximize the commission vs the amount of time marketing the house. If the agent feels a quicker sale at a lower price is going to save them time so that they can go on tho the next one they will do it.

One brush, one stroke, and you've painted an entire profession as corrupt?
Nice touch Sparky

 

[MolsonCanadian]

Re: Realtor help needed - Placing house in market

True, there's some bad apples in the bunch, we can have the same discussion about accountants.

Sorry you had a bad experience.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Realtor help needed - Placing house in market

One brush, one stroke, and you've painted an entire profession as corrupt?
Nice touch Sparky

Not all...just like not all lawyers are corrupt and not all politicians are corrupt.