Any tips on finding a realtor and selling your house quickly?

[rafiki]

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[K-FL]

The best is to get a referral from someone you know. If they have the listing, they have motivation (thus commission) & I don't think any additional incentive is needed. You have to remember, it doesn't matter how good your salesman is if there's no one to sell to. With the current market, qualified buyers can write their own ticket while you're house is one in a 100 to choose from. Spend your time/money on curb appeal, up-dating, & possible buyer's incentives like bonus at closing or covering other costs.

[Chelle in MO]

Are you in the St. Louis metro area, by chance? My sister is married to a great realtor here! His biggest problem right now is sellers wanting more for their house than the market will bear, then getting mad when it doesn't sell!

 

Ask around (neighbor, hairstylist, grocer, piano teacher) for names, then be prepared to trust the realtor's experience and do what they tell you to do.

 

Best wishes,

Chelle

[asta]

Are you in the St. Louis metro area, by chance? My sister is married to a great realtor here! His biggest problem right now is sellers wanting more for their house than the market will bear, then getting mad when it doesn't sell!

 

Ask around (neighbor, hairstylist, grocer, piano teacher) for names, then be prepared to trust the realtor's experience and do what they tell you to do.

 

Best wishes,

Chelle

 

I was about to mention this. When you have to sell a house quickly, it will save you oodles of time if you look at the "comparables" in the neighborhood (what people are asking), look at the tax record (what they actually sold for), and then what you owe on your mortgage.

 

Nationally, prices are down 30%, in some areas, more than 50%. People appear to be forgetting that prices aren't what they think their house is worth, they are what the market will bear.

 

It really pays to ignore the whole "but it was worth _____" a year ago thing. It wasn't. It was a paper thing. Money is only money when it is physically in your hands. If you need to move quickly, look to cover your mortgage (which, hopefully, isn't more than what houses are selling for in your area).

 

I actually sold my own house following one of those "how to sell your own house" books. I had signs made up that looked just like the ones the realtors use, had open houses, etc. I underpriced my home relative to my neighborhood and was out in a month.

 

Good luck,

 

asta

[KingM]

My opinion is that the best thing a Realtor can do is simply to put your house in the multiple listing service as it will probably be another Realtor's clients who buy your house. It's kind of a cartel, designed to extract 6% out of every real estate transaction. Having said that, you really need to use them if you want to sell quickly.

 

The other thing I would say is that the main reason houses don't sell quickly is because owners are looking for top dollar. You could sell it by the end of the day if you sold it for, say, $1,000. Now obviously you don't want to do that, but I'll bet there's a correct price for selling it in two weeks or a month. If you're really serious about selling quickly, you need to find that competitive price.

[Prudent]

I second what Asta said about looking up recent sales in your city or county's assessors office (online).

 

Current listings are not helpful. Most people are asking way more than buyers are willing to pay right now, and if you price similar to what others are asking, you'll be just like them - stuck in your house.

 

If you price your house at what people are actually paying, it will sell quickly. Despite all the stories you hear about people being unable to sell their house for two years, there are people selling their home in mere weeks.

[kamom]

I agree with what the Op stated. The right pricing is the key. We contacted the realter who sold another house for us not to long ago, and then we didn't tell her what we wanted for it. We are very much wanting to sell so we want it priced right. She went and compared it with others that have sold in the area and came back with a price that we are very comfortable with. We plan on coming down with the price if it doesn't move. This is a buyers market. You have to face that or not sell. Most of all we are praying for a buyer.

The last house we sold we held out for about a year and then ended up selling for less anyway. The house was worth more then that. We knew that and DH had built it, BUT it was overpriced for the area. We learned the hard way for when we build again to stay within the market value for our area.

[Chelle in MO]

Also, every month your house is for sale and you make a mortgage payment, you could have come down that amount on the sale price of the house. So, if your payment is $1000 per month and you're sitting on the house for 6 mo., that's $6000 you could have come down on the price in the beginning.

 

Of course, you don't know how that's going to play out in advance so it's kind of a game you have to play with yourself--deciding how much to reduce your price by and how soon.

 

Chelle

[Renee in NC]

It is all about the buyer!

 

My dad listed his house last summer for $315K. In February, the new tax valuations came in at $352K. He was actually able to sell it for $285K after 9 months on the market. That is $67K under TAX value (which is supposed to be a little lower than market, usually!) This house was in immaculate condition and showed beautifully, but people just wanted to spend less.

 

The market *stinks* right now! Few people are selling anything fast unless it is for much less than what the house is supposedly "worth." How many houses have been foreclosed on in your area? The more there are, the less likely you'll sell your house for what you want as fast as you want.