Best way to sell a house?

[Leland Pate]

I am seeking input from the masses. As some of you know, I am relocating this summer to Germany. After tossing and turning over the sell vs. rent decision, I think I've decided to sell the house. One thing that has always hurt military home owners is the fact that you rarely stay in one place long enough to build up any real amount of equity. When I leave in August, I will have owned this house for just shy of 3 years.

I don't know the first thing about selling a house and am interested in hearing some of your thoughts on which method is the best.

I briefly looked into for sale by owner but got discouraged by the amount of paperwork/contracts and the headaches associated with getting listed on the MLS.

Another option would be one of these "Help You Sell" places. I know very little about them but assume they are a sort of a middle ground between doing it yourself and paying some outrageous fee to a Realtor.

And finally, I could simply go to Remax or something and tell them to handle it. The obvious downside to this would be the large chunk they would take on commission. Because we haven't lived here all that long, I am somewhat worried about being able to break even.

Thoughts, experiences?

[turbo6bar]

What is the house worth and what do you owe?

Generally, selling with a realtor gives you the least hassle, but commissions and possible seller concessions (seller pays buyer's closing) will generally cost you around 10% of the sale price.

I personally feel a discount MLS broker is the best compromise. Offer the selling agent 3.5-4% comission to entice them to bring a buyer.

On the other hand, if we're talking $100k or less, your savings may only be $1500-2000 between discount MLS (Help-U-Sell) and a full-service realtor. This savings may be huge to you or chickenfeed. It all depends.

[kqw]

Find (interview)a good realtor(s). Negotiate (if possible) the commission.

Be aware of capital gains taxes next year.

Some realtors may want to list with them for at least 180 days +. Negotiate a shorter period just in case they do not bring in traffic, you can list with another realtor.

Make sure all deposits from potential buyers are not refundable should the buyer backs out of the deal, cannot get financing etc. and make sure you have a time limit from accepting the offer to the time of closing. Usually 45 days. If the buyer doesn't close within that time, the deposit is forfeited to you.

Even though the buyer OWNS the inspection, ask for a copy. All they can say is no.

Fix everything you can before the first potential buyer shows up.

[motion]

Offer your realtor 1.5%. Offer the buyer's realtor 4%. Your house will get shown like crazy. If you offer the buyer's agent 2.5%, instead of the generally accepted 3%, you'll be black-listed and your house won't sell.

With 5.5% in realtor fees, you're looking at approx. 7.5% total fees.

[jbripps]

I had an open house on a sunday b/w 10 and 6 p.m. I put an ad in the paper with a big description, which also said "brokers/agents welcome" at the bottom.

I sold my house in one day to an unrepresented buyer. I did have some agents bring a few potentials, and offered them 2% if they brought me the buyer.

Anyhow, I think that's the best way to generate a lot of people to see your house. Get some signs at home depot, and prep your house. Have a type-written description as well as color pix for anyone who comes through. In my area, the normal full listing percentage is 5%, which is usually split b/w buying and listing broker, but 2% to a buyer's broker is not too uncommon.

Best of luck. Oh yeah, price your house reasonably. That is the main key to selling quickly.

[Dave L]

When we moved we used a discount broker and it worked fine. The number one key to success id to clean the house top to bottom and remove all the clutter. If its priced right it will sell.

[GDSOB]

We run a Help-U-Sell office in a Cincinnati Suburb. Most of our market is priced 200-300K and currently a strong buyer's market. We charge a set fee, not a discount. Here's how we work:

We provide all services & extensive marketing- the owner holds open houses. We encourage as many as possible.

We screen all buyer leads and send them to the owner to show the home, we handle all paperwork and schedule inspections, appraisal, title, etc. Set fee for our services is $3450.

If the owner doesn't want to or can't show the home, we charge a $1000 showing fee only if that buyer purchases the home.

If a co-op agent sells the home, then it is the set fee + 3% to the buyers agent.

We opened late last summer and are selling 60% of our listings with no other agent. One of my pending deals is a $450,000 home- took a few months to sell, but only paying a fee of $3450- saving about 20K in fees.

I have a lot of sellers call me who didn't sell FSBO or with a traditional agent. Most of the problem is due to pricing. Alot of the time the price is marked up to cover the high commission. Remember, the market sets the price, not the seller or the agent.

I'm sure the market in Great Falls is different, so the fee may vary. Best of luck to you.

[nut11]

Great advise. Thank you.

[Leland Pate]

I appreciate the input guys. I am going to look into using a HelpUsell broker for now and see what kind of terms they are offering me.

I've had several people tell me our house should sell easily. I've even had a couple stop while I was mowing and gave me their contact info if and when I decided to sell.

You have to understand, Great Falls is not growing. The AF base is the only thing keeping this leaky frigate afloat. Middle income housing has been stagnant here for a very long time... like since the 60's.
EVERYTHING is old and crappy. I was so depressed when Erin and I started looking at houses. This house wasn't even on our list of canadates (b/c it only had one garage) but we just happened to drive past it and ended up taking a look. One minute after walking inside I knew we were going to put in a bid. This was the ONLY house we looked at (out of about 25 or so) that had central heat and air. This house has nice hardwood floors. Many of the houses here have carpeted everything... kitchen...bathrooms...
This house had a sprinkler system, remodeled kitchen, new roof, new windows, doors, concrete patio wired w/ 220 for a hot tub, siding, fireplace, and a heated garage. I really liked the crown molding and one-off handmade leaf/pinecone texture covering the kitchen walls and fireplace. The previous owner was a local artist.
It is a small house... very small actually (1200sq/ft) but it is fine for a newlywed couple.

Since purchasing the house I have remodeled all three bedrooms. I remodeled and tiled the large bathroom floor. I estimiate I've put about $8,000 in remodeling costs. But, much of it I did for fun, pride and the experience. So, I'm not looking to recoup.

We paid $118,000 for it and I believe we owe about $116,000. Like I said, we've only been here for 2.3 years.

The house is too dam nice to turn it into a rental. I would never get any sleep if I did that.
Again, I appreciate your input, guys.