Anyone ever sell their property without a real estate agent? Where did you advertise? Share any experiences good or bad, thnx.

 

I sold an estate property last October w/o an agent... It was a pain, but probably worth the savings (commision)... Lots of little things needed to be done that the agent usually takes care of. After going thru the experience, I thought about becoming an agent, because the amount of stuff they do, isn't that bad considering the amount they get paid. This transaction wasn't the easiest either as both the buyer (financing) and sellers (family members caused me grief) had some issues....

 

Did it in December '04 for a property that we had bought FSBO in February 2001. It was a piece of cake but we had a property that really fit a niche in our area. I priced it well above what anybody else in our neighborhood had ever sold it (neighbors told me that they thought I was crazy to think that I could get what I asked for) and got exactly what I asked for. In fact, I had sellers offering full price without even seeing the inside of the property. We ended up not showing the house to anybody until we had an open house that weekend (placed ad in paper and signs at front of the neighborhood and in yard the Tuesday before the open house) and accepted offers for 48 hours after the open house. I loved it b/c I had a real estate agent bring her clients in (we had people lined up at the door 20 minutes before the open house started) and tell me privately that she did not like how we were selling the house- she felt like we were running an auction and generating "hysteria" (her words) in the property. I took that as a compliment since my job as the owner is to get as much as I can- she was also dumb b/c did she really think that I would want to work with/sell my house to somebody who just told me that she did not respect me????? Stoooopid realtor.

Anyways- we had 5 full price bids and a couple over asking price. Since we were waiting for our house to be built, we were more interested in a flexible closing date/move out date that would allow us to move once. We ended up picking the couple who we felt the most comfortable working with and things went wonderfully smooth. We left a couple grand on the table (but still got asking price) for the flexibility of move out date and a good buyer to work with. It was a the right call for us....

Again- that was a great property in a hot market so your experience may vary. Would I FSBO again- heck yeah.

 

She was pissed because she wasn't going to get 6% of your money for doing the exact same thing you did. I say congrats to you.

 

Thanks for the replies ....

I'm not able to put a sign in my front yard since I have a condo. Besides craigslist and my local newspapers, any other ideas on how I could advertise?

 

There are some FSBO websites out there... google for "for sale by owner"

One that's used alot up here in New England is: http://www.isoldmyhouse.com/

 

put a sign on the inside of your condo in the window. IF you are able to do this, be prepared for people walking right up to your door and expecting to come in and look. you should put on the sign "no walk ins" or "by appt. only" I learned this after the first week of trying to do it on my own.

 

Let me ask this: A couple of years back I read that the then President of Century21 had left the company and started a company that help people sell their own homes without the need of an agent but I can remember what it was called. Anybody remembers?

 

That plus it would cost her clients more $$$$$
I'm sure though that if I had undervalued the house, she would have paid us the proper amount


Century 21-
Are you thinking EZ Vest or sell or something like that? I vaguely recall what you are talking about....maybe it'll come to me

 

Next time around, I'll be selling my own.

 

^^^^^ It is not too bad at all- I'd just be sure that I trusted the buyers b/c if you get into difficult situation, I'd hate to be playing attorney with something as valuable as my house.

 

I'm considering it. The military pay 100% of the real-estate commission, however, if I choose to sell it on my own, they will pay me 5% of the appraised value (regardless of selling price), up to $15k. This is taxable however.

 

If you sell it yourself and don't already have a lawyer you trust....

 

Exactly, you were just lucky the market was very good and people were going crazy to buy something. This is no longer true, your experience would be different today.


If you know anything about selling or houses or real estate or legal contracts then by all means try to sell it yourself. Worse that happens is that you list it with an agent after a few months of waiting. We are coming up into buying season so listed with a sign and in the local paper and see what happens.