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I need ideas. I am again attempting to sell my house (didn't sell last summer when I tried it thru an agent). I have my price set, and already have it posted on our local internet buy and sell website. This afternoon I plan to go to the hardware store and get some signs to put up in the yard. I also have an ad ready to take to the local paper on my lunch hour tomorrow. I thought once about putting it on ebay on the ad portion (not the auction side). I would like to try it myself for 30 days, then turn it over to a realtor if necessary. Ideally, I want to be able to move by the end of May. BF and I are getting married as soon as it sells, and I don't want to interrupt the school year for the kids. 9 miles down the road is an airbase, and I plan to list it in their paper also. Who has been thru this and can give me some do's and donts???
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Re: Have U ever sold a house youself?
We bought our house through a private sale. The people had made up a flyer which had a picture of the house and all of its features. They made it up just like the real estate agents do. They had all of the room sizes listed, the lot size, the taxes and all of the features listed. Make sure you really emphasize the good features (fireplace, dishwasher, garage, new windows, roof, newly painted, new carpet) Anything you can think go. They put this paper in the local grocery store. They also put a sign in their front yard and my dad found the place when they had a yard sale. He asked if he could look through the house and they let him through right away. They were very kind and very flexible. I think half of my family went through this house before hubby and I did. My dad fell in love with the house and he was so proud that he had found it. LOL
Once we decided that we wanted the house, we gave them $100 deposit and they gave us 2 days to get our financing together. They wanted proof that we had been accepted for a mortgage so we had to show them the papers from the bank stating that it was all a go. Another lady had said that she wanted to buy the house but she never put any money down so we put our money down right away. We both got lawyers and it was a done deal. It was very simple and it saved us a lot of money on real estate fees. I would definetely do it again and so would hubby. Hubby was actually very hesitant at first because it was a private sale but he knew that I loved the house and I wasn't going to stop bugging him until it was ours. Hope this helps a bit. Good luck! -
Re: Have U ever sold a house youself?
Approx how long did it take from when you saw it, till you got it? Was the lawyer expensive?Comment
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Re: Have U ever sold a house youself?
I sold two houses myself. The first one I showed to someone and he liked it. I let him talk me down to what he wanted to pay and then cakked my attorney. I didn't require a down payment because he wanted to pay cash. If I had to wait for financing I would have. It was very simple in fact he "shared" my attorney. The second time I sold a house at auction. I was having an auction of all goods and the house. I set a minimum price that I would accept and the buyer actually bid $1000.00 over. He did give a down payment which the attorney held for us. His attorney handled the whole thing by mail as I had already moved out of state by then. Took a bit of time for the title search etc. but was really painless and I didn't pay any realtor fees, just the attorney. The auctioneer didn't get paid until the house was paid for (except for the goods part of the auction).Comment
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Re: Have U ever sold a house youself?
We saw the house in August and we moved into the house in November. The homeowners wanted the 3 month closing as it matched up with the closing on their other home. I'm sure you could have a shorter closing time though.
I can't remember exactly what our lawyer charged. I know he gave us a bit of a break since we had used him 3 times in the span of 5 years.Comment
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Re: Have U ever sold a house youself?
Consider putting a referral fee on your flyers . . .something like "I'll pay you $500 if your friend, relative, or client buys my house. (Only one referral bonus will be paid.)" People will help with the marketing if there's something in it for them.
If you can do any type of owner financing mention and advertise that. (The people responding might not have great credit, but sometimes they'll have a lot more cash than you might expect.)Comment
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Re: Have U ever sold a house youself?
I think 34 (is there another name you would prefer?) has a great idea.
You might also find your real estate attorney now. S/He might know of a few resources to help, or might even know an investor who would be willing to buy for cash.Comment
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Re: Have U ever sold a house youself?
You might also want to see if there is an agent who can help you with certain aspects of the marketing on a fee basis (ok, ulterior motive here - I AM an agent!). Seriously, though, we don't do this yet in our area, but I have heard of some areas where you can pay a much lower commission (maybe 1-3%??) just to have the agent list the property in the Multiple Listing Service - they won't provide any other services (marketing, open houses, negotiation, etc.), but the fee may be worth it in increased exposure since everyone uses the MLS now (at least in my area). Or you can market the house yourself, but pay an agent to help you negotiate a deal. It does not have to be all or nothing anymore with agents - they are getting more flexible.
One more thing - are you sure your house is priced competitively? When I got started in this business, I did free market analysis for FSBOs (For Sale by Owners) all the time. I did them for free on the hope that they would call me if needed. it might help to call a local agent who seems to do a lot of business in your area to get an analysis done. Most will do it for free.
Of course, there is always the advice about making your house look it's absolute best - fresh paint, no clutter, not too many pictures or knick-knacks, etc. etc. But that's a whole new post
In NY, cash deals take about 30 days to close while financed deals take 60-90 days. Of course, they can also take a lot longer (my personal worst dragged on for the better part of 6 months...). Always, always get a pre-approval letter (not a pre-qualification - an actual pre-approval takes a look at the credit history while a pre-qual does not). And I would also suggest to take more than $100 for a down payment. It's easy for someone to walk away from $100, but $1000 means a little more of a commitment. I will generally ask for a $500 earnest money deposit on a house less than $50k and $1000 for anything more. Good luck!!!!Comment
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Re: Have U ever sold a house youself?
We build spec houses and since my husband is so good (bragging) they usually sell long before they are finished. The last one went for $280,000 and we asked for $5000 down because they wanted some changes, paint, wood ceiling, etc. (It was only half way finished) I let him get a lawyer and he paid most of the closing costs.
When the house is remote and doesn't get any lookers, we tried a buyers agent who only charged 1% to get us into mutiple listing. They 2nd looker bought it. We had to pay the selling agent 3 1/2% and 1% to our agent, but we still saved some money. Plus both houses sold for exactly what we were asking. I think we were too cheap. A week later, someone offered us $20,000 more than we sold for.Comment
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Re: Have U ever sold a house youself?
I have used HELP U SELL service. They sell your house for a flat fee (5,000 dollars) no matter what the price of the house is. They print fliyers, will list the house for sale on the mls and do open houses. I was very happy with the service. Good luck!!Comment
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Re: Have U ever sold a house youself?
Does anyone know of a good website that has sample real estate contracts on it? I have found several that I kind of like, but am wanting a few more to look at. Unless I come up with the perfect one, I am writing my own, then will have my attorney look it over.Comment
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Re: Have U ever sold a house youself?
I have never heard of help you sell, where are they located?Comment
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Re: Have U ever sold a house youself?
I think I have come up with a contract now. For my attorney to write one, its quite expensive. For me to write it and him to look it over, and offer suggestions--rather cheap. I think I came up with one that is simple enough to understand, and covers all the bases. I guess the next step is to go and get the legal description of the property tomorrow. I have it, but not on a legal document. If anyone with prior experience wants to see it, let me know and I will email it to you.Comment
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Re: Have U ever sold a house youself?
I had several review my contract. The first person noticed I failed to mention that I would stop my home owners insurance after the closing at midnight, and the buyer would need to then start theirs. So, I added that, and feel I now have something decent to take to my attorney to review. Now, I just need to start showing!!Comment
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Re: Have U ever sold a house youself?
HELP U SELL is a franchise and they are all over the US.
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