Thinking about selling my house without a Realtor

[landrun]

I'm thinking about selling my house and keeping all the money for myself. :)

But it makes me nervous. I would certainly get a lawyer (Maybe use the same one I used when I bought the house) but I'm not sure if this is a wise decision.

Has anyone ever done this?

Someone once told me that it really isn't a big deal if you get a lawyer to handle the legal aspects of it. But I'm not sure exactly what they would handle. I guess they would tell me?

At any rate, it sure would be nice to save 6%. which - by the way - are Realtor fees negotiable?

[Fugue]

6% will seem like change after teh lawyer is done with you. :texan:

[Hamhock]

i did it.

with the innerweb and a good closing company, i didn't even use a lawyer.

[landrun]

6% will seem like change after teh lawyer is done with you. :texan:

I don't understand. You use a lawyer anyway. I think the fee was around $750 or so. I'd expect it to be the same.

Hamhock, what do you mean by 'closing company'??

[Fugue]

I don't understand. You use a lawyer anyway. I think the fee was around $750 or so. I'd expect it to be the same.

Hamhock, what do you mean by 'closing company'??

oh hell no. Lawyers tend to screw these kinds of things up.

[Hamhock]

google closing or title company for your city. call them tell them you're thinking of selling your house without a realtor. ask them what help they will give if they do the closing.

[frankensooner]

We sold our first house by owner. I am a dirty lawyer and didn't mess it up at all. As a matter of fact I got full asking price AND didn't have to give a dime to someone who sat though a weekend course and got their Realtors license. ;) Now if your house is a mid to high end house, you will have to use a realtor.

[Hamhock]

;) Now if your house is a mid to high end house, you will have to use a realtor.


why?

[frankensooner]

They are harder to move. It pays to have a listing.

[OU-HSV]

If you do it yourself...get a lawyer for sure. My parents sold their house w/out a realtor but they did have their lawyer involved. However, it will get better marketing, you'll get better advice as far as pricing goes, and so on if you use a realtor. Plus you'll save yourself a lot of work and worries, but that's just my feelings about it.
However if you have a close friend or relative that's a realtor that could give you some advice and help you w/out charging you much or anything at all.....go that route.
I've only sold one house and we used a realtor and were really happy the way things ended up.

[Soonerus]

I think you should use a lawyer and a Realtor...

[Hamhock]

I think you should use a lawyer and a Realtor...


why do you hate money?

[Boomer.....]

It depends on how fast you want to sell your house.

[Soonerus]

why do you hate money?

No, well worth it....

[Taxman71]

I would try to sell without a realtor. If it sits for an extended period of time, then list it to gain exposure on the MLS, etc. (although you can do this yourself for a fee).

Obtaining a title company sooner rather than later is a good idea. Plus, you will need one to handle closing anyway. Always, demand that closing costs get split between the parties in the sales contract.

The reason you may need a lawyer is for your sales contract and residential disclosure statement. The latter is required by Oklahoma statute to be provided to the buyer prior to inspection, etc. Realtors have a 1 page version of this form while any lawyer should have a multiple page one. Same thing for the contract, although the buyer typically prepares the contract and forwards it to you as part of the offer (esp. if using a realtor). If not, you should prepare it to your liking after a verbal contract is reached.

In my opinion, if you can show the house to prospective buyers yourself, you have nothing to lose by selling it yourself. If you are unable to do so, or if the house doesn't sell quickly enough, consider getting a realtor. Many will come down on their 6% fees, especially in this market.

[Hamhock]

No, well worth it....


i sold my house for what i wanted and paid thousands less in commissions.

i also paid $100 (i think) to have a company come video the inside. i put a sign in the yard that said "look at my house on the innerwebs".

what would a realtor have added?

[yermom]

isn't Soonerus a lawyer?

just sayin'...

[Jimminy Crimson]

FSBO is like doing surgery on yourself.

Better left to the professionals.

[yermom]

my realtor was a raving idiot, i think i could have done a better job drunk

[oumartin]

I didn't use a realtor and when my wife decided she dent wanna sell the house I had no problem with the guy when I told him. All i had to do was return the earnest money and appraisal fee!

[KC//CRIMSON]

I'm thinking about selling my house and keeping all the money for myself. :)

But it makes me nervous. I would certainly get a lawyer (Maybe use the same one I used when I bought the house) but I'm not sure if this is a wise decision.

Has anyone ever done this?

Someone once told me that it really isn't a big deal if you get a lawyer to handle the legal aspects of it. But I'm not sure exactly what they would handle. I guess they would tell me?

At any rate, it sure would be nice to save 6%. which - by the way - are Realtor fees negotiable?


Trust me amigo, and don't listen to some of these idiots in this thread. You don't need a realtor or a lawyer. All you need is a good title company. They hardly charge anything (I wouldn't expect to pay more than $450.00 tops) for their services and they handle all of the paper work for you.:cool:

This is a real bitchy subject for me. I get so tired of people saying you need a realtor! you need a lawyer! Don't do it! Watch out!

Total bull****. It's so easy to sell a house FSBO it's f-ing ridiculous.

I have sold two houses FSBO. All it took was a title company, a "home for sale" sign, and an add in the paper. BOOM! My first house sold in five days, and the second house sold in a week. And I got full asking price for both.

You can either join your local FSBO club, or skip that like I did and do it all your self. It's not rocket science. Besides, why would anyone want to give away six to eight percent of YOUR OWN MONEY?

Also, if you do decide to go FSBO (and i hope you will) be sure you increase your sale price by at least five percent to any potential buyer that does have an agent.

[soonerboy_odanorth]

Trust me amigo, and don't listen to some of these idiots in this thread. You don't need a realtor or a lawyer. All you need is a good title company. They hardly charge anything (I wouldn't expect to pay more than $450.00 tops) for their services and they handle all of the paper work for you.:cool:

This is a real bitchy subject for me. I get so tired of people saying you need a realtor! you need a lawyer! Don't do it! Watch out!

Total bull****. It's so easy to sell a house FSBO it's f-ing ridiculous.

I have sold two houses FSBO. All it took was a title company, a "home for sale" sign, and an add in the paper. BOOM! My first house sold in five days, and the second house sold in a week. And I got full asking price for both.

You can either join your local FSBO club, or skip that like I did and do it all your self. It's not rocket science. Besides, why would anyone want to give away six to eight percent of YOUR OWN MONEY?

Also, if you do decide to go FSBO (and i hope you will) be sure you increase your sale price by at least five percent to any potential buyer that does have an agent.

I hear what you're saying, but you are missing key components:

How quickly does he want to sell?
What budget does he have to market his home?

and the lynchpin: What is the current state of the real estate market in his area?

I don't know about what the markets are like in your areas, but the real estate market here in the Twin Cities is PAINFULLY stagnant.

I would have no problem whatsoever going FSBO when it's a free-for-all sellers market as it was here in the TC 3 or 4 years ago. That's like falling out of bed.

But with the market in its current condition I do not have the time resources or extra marketing budget to make the home the fiance and I are trying to sell stand out amid all the other clutter. (Big time buyers market right now with home prices dropping significantly... around 4-7 %. Buh-bye equity.)

The cold hard fact of the matter is right now we need an affiliation with a real estate agent (and more importantly market-leading real estate agency) not only for the time that they can put into it, not only for the advertising budget at their disposal, but for the steering that goes on.

The steering isn't really ethical, but it's there because agencies are getting killed on the selling side out there and their companies right now will do whatever they can to keep all the commissions in house.

BTW, this has been learned the hard way: We spent 8 months with one real estate agent who was an acquaintance of mine who was basically doing the minimums you talk about (for almost nothing in commission)... listing, posting on the web, a little advertising, sign in the yard, and holding a few open houses. We *maybe* had 1 showing every two to three weeks, with little to no interest. We had to fire her as we watched other homes in the neighborhood that were affiliated with "the big agency" sell fairly consistently (3-6 months on market) while we were having trouble just getting people in the door.

We are now working with agents that I had worked with several years ago and knew to be very agressive, top of their company (yes, THE big company in the area) earners. We still haven't closed a sale, but in the last two months we are now averaging 4 showings a week.

So now we "idiots" spent 8 months basically going FSBO, watching other homes sell with prices continuing to drop, and all that money we were going to save by going that route has long since gone in the toilet with the passage of time and the bursting of the real estate bubble.

Take it for what it's worth, though I think you could reserve your all-knowing judgement about what a bunch of idiots your fellow board members are......

[KC//CRIMSON]

How quickly does he want to sell?

There are pros and cons when it comes to the period of time it takes to sell with FSBO and with an agent.


What budget does he have to market his home?

If you read my post, it doesn't take a fortune to market your home.


and the lynchpin: What is the current state of the real estate market in his area?

That's the easiest thing to do. Research the internet. Contact the county treasures office. Most counties have websites where you can look up the value of surrounding houses and neighborhoods. If all else fails (and it probably won't) get an appraisal.



I don't know about what the markets are like in your areas, but the real estate market here in the Twin Cities is PAINFULLY stagnant.

I would have no problem whatsoever going FSBO when it's a free-for-all sellers market as it was here in the TC 3 or 4 years ago. That's like falling out of bed.

But with the market in its current condition I do not have the time resources or extra marketing budget to make the home the fiance and I are trying to sell stand out amid all the other clutter. (Big time buyers market right now with home prices dropping significantly... around 4-7 %. Buh-bye equity.)

The cold hard fact of the matter is right now we need an affiliation with a real estate agent (and more importantly market-leading real estate agency) not only for the time that they can put into it, not only for the advertising budget at their disposal, but for the steering that goes on.

The steering isn't really ethical, but it's there because agencies are getting killed on the selling side out there and their companies right now will do whatever they can to keep all the commissions in house.

BTW, this has been learned the hard way: We spent 8 months with one real estate agent who was an acquaintance of mine who was basically doing the minimums you talk about (for almost nothing in commission)... listing, posting on the web, a little advertising, sign in the yard, and holding a few open houses. We *maybe* had 1 showing every two to three weeks, with little to no interest. We had to fire her as we watched other homes in the neighborhood that were affiliated with "the big agency" sell fairly consistently (3-6 months on market) while we were having trouble just getting people in the door.

We are now working with agents that I had worked with several years ago and knew to be very agressive, top of their company (yes, THE big company in the area) earners. We still haven't closed a sale, but in the last two months we are now averaging 4 showings a week.

If you don't want to spend the time, energy, and effort, that's your business. You're only going to get out what you put in. Again, if you want to give your money away then go ahead, they'll be more than happy to take it from you.


So now we "idiots" spent 8 months basically going FSBO, watching other homes sell with prices continuing to drop, and all that money we were going to save by going that route has long since gone in the toilet with the passage of time and the bursting of the real estate bubble.

Did I miss something? All of the examples you gave above you had an agent?



Take it for what it's worth, though I think you could reserve your all-knowing judgement about what a bunch of idiots your fellow board members are......

thanks, dad.

****off, dip****.

[Soonerus]

Trust me amigo, and don't listen to some of these idiots in this thread. You don't need a realtor or a lawyer. All you need is a good title company. They hardly charge anything (I wouldn't expect to pay more than $450.00 tops) for their services and they handle all of the paper work for you.:cool:

This is a real bitchy subject for me. I get so tired of people saying you need a realtor! you need a lawyer! Don't do it! Watch out!

Total bull****. It's so easy to sell a house FSBO it's f-ing ridiculous.

I have sold two houses FSBO. All it took was a title company, a "home for sale" sign, and an add in the paper. BOOM! My first house sold in five days, and the second house sold in a week. And I got full asking price for both.

You can either join your local FSBO club, or skip that like I did and do it all your self. It's not rocket science. Besides, why would anyone want to give away six to eight percent of YOUR OWN MONEY?

Also, if you do decide to go FSBO (and i hope you will) be sure you increase your sale price by at least five percent to any potential buyer that does have an agent.

Foolishness like this makes, especially lawyers, a lot of money, after the novices royally **** up the transactions...happens multiple times weekly...

[KC//CRIMSON]

Foolishness like this makes, especially lawyers, a lot of money, after the novices royally **** up the transactions...happens multiple times weekly...


Yeah Russell, and you're the last *ucktard that should be handling someone's business transactions.

[OzarkSooner]

Here's a nice website for just what you're contemplating and what some others have said:

http://www.virtualfsbo.com/state.asp?State=Oklahoma

FSBO is quite popular in my area.

[Kels]

I've bought and sold a house by owner in Norman. Piece of cake.

Cleveland County Abstract was great to work with. Saved a bunch of dough and enjoyed doing things myself. Our house sold in four weeks. I made $28k on it after owning it only 3 years. The realtors that came and wanted to sell it for me swore I couldn't get more than $96k for it. I sold it myself for $100.5k. I bought our contract forms at Copelin's.

Realtors will try to scare you with a bunch of horror stories. Save your 6% and sell it yourself. I put two ads in the paper and a sign in the front yard. I work 70+ hrs/wk, so I didn't have a lot of time to put into it. The house we bought was by owner (mother of the county assessor btw) and we closed with them easy.

YWIA

[Soonerus]

Yeah Russell, and you're the last *ucktard that should be handling someone's business transactions.

Don't worry, I would not accept yours and don't need it...

[Soonerus]

Just to clarify so the KC-types don't blow a blood vessel, I have interests in both legal and real estate businesses so my comments were made somewhat in jest...if you can sell your own home you will clearly save money so I think it is always worth a try, if you can't then turn to the professionals...that's it...

[KC//CRIMSON]

Don't worry, I would not accept yours and don't need it...

God. Wait. Stop it. You're hurting my fee fee's.:rolleyes:

[Soonerus]

God. Wait. Stop it. You're hurting my fee fee's.:rolleyes:

I don't handle residential real estate...small potatoes....

[Sooner24]

my realtor was a raving idiot, i think i could have done a better job drunk


That's what you get for letting Dolemite try to sell your house. :rolleyes:

[yermom]

doleo would have been less annoying

and this was the one selling me my house

[landrun]

Okay, thanks for the input.

Here's my concern regarding what KC//CRIMSON has said.
How do you protect yourself from the buyer a year, or ten years, down the road?
I really want to go the fsbo route but, I have a friend who sold his home with a realtor and the buyer kept calling him about all sorts of stuff regarding the home.

Will a lawyer protect me if some nut buys my house? I know you sign a disclosure sheet but I want to make sure that I have myself protected. I figure that is what a lawyer would be for.

Do you not worry about that KC??

[frankensooner]

If you are worried about your house, buy a warranty for it and put it on your for sale sign. Did I mention that I sold my first house in 2 hours and got full asking price and my full asking price was 10 grand higher than two realtors suggested I list it for?

[soonerboy_odanorth]

There are pros and cons when it comes to the period of time it takes to sell with FSBO and with an agent.

Agreed.

If you read my post, it doesn't take a fortune to market your home.

It does to advertise in the papers here.... hundreds of dollars over several weeks, much less months.

That's the easiest thing to do. Research the internet. Contact the county treasures office. Most counties have websites where you can look up the value of surrounding houses and neighborhoods. If all else fails (and it probably won't) get an appraisal.

Yeah. I get that. Worked in the mortgage industry for several years. I know how to do market research. Our home has been priced correctly. And, uh, I still can't do anything about the condition of the market.


If you don't want to spend the time, energy, and effort, that's your business. You're only going to get out what you put in. Again, if you want to give your money away then go ahead, they'll be more than happy to take it from you.

Your not entitled to comment about the time and energy and effort I have at my disposal. My fiance and I both work two jobs and are raising two kids. ("Cry me a river"... yeah I see that coming.) But that's pretty obvious with anything isn't it, you get what you put into it? Glad your life of luxury provides you with so much disposable time, energy and effort. Congrats.

Did I miss something? All of the examples you gave above you had an agent?

Yeah, you missed something gee-nee-ooos. The agent in question was an acquaintance who agreed to do the transaction for a 1% commission. And she was working quite hard for us. She is a neighbor and a friend and I know the time, energy, and effort she was putting into it...considerable. She just wasn't with the right agency.


thanks, dad.

****off, dip****.

Just remember you are putting your own intelect on display. Thankfully no one else has to be embarrassed by that burden.



....

[KC//CRIMSON]

....


You used to work in the mortgage company business for years? Well, that pretty much says it all doesn't it?

Your responses sounds like a lot of crying to me. Again for the third time, if you want to give your money away then go ahead, they'll be more than happy to take it from you.


Oh and it's going to take a lot more than some ****ing noob to get under my cyber skin.


again, thanks, dad.

[Fugue]

Real Estate smack. supa

This may be a first even for the SO, heh.

:pop:

[BlondeSoonerGirl]

Hey, Fugue...

Suck my APR.

[Fugue]

Hey, Fugue...

Suck my APR.

I got ur mortgage point right here.

[royalfan5]

Wouldn't burning it down for the insurance money be the easiest option of all?

[BlondeSoonerGirl]

Wouldn't burning it down for the insurance money be the easiest option of all?

:les: DON'T GET ME STARTED ON YOU, JERKY!!!

[BlondeSoonerGirl]

*click*