For Sale by Owner

[RangerTrace]

I know there have been many Enos members who've relocated in the last couple of years. Did any of you use forsalebyowner.com? We're trying to decide which company to use and I'm looking for suggestions.

We would love to sell it ourselves and save 16K.

Thanks,

Trace

Any of you retired guys looking for a great place in East Texas, send me a PM.

[Joe4d]

two items will get your house sold, a sign out front, and being listed on the Realestate multi list. For Sale by owner does get your house listed but sellers agents tend to not tell their clients about the listing. As soon as your house gets in the For sale by owner magazine, you will get hounded to death by every listing agent out there.

I would list with an agent, however you donot have to sign the blanket contract they give you, cut the listing agent and buyer agent commision down, also limit the amount of time of the contract then right in a month to month renewal so you can fire the agent if they arnt competent or arnt working for you. Negotiate the listing contract just like you would any othe rmajor purchase, DOnt sign it until you have taken a day or so to look it over then pull out your red pen and go to work. Lots of em out there . Listing agents will claim to be working for you but they are actually working to close the sale as soon as possible in a manner that may or may not be in your best interest.

[Sterling White]

Craigslist gets a lot of lookers however the post needs to be frequently updated as each new entry will move it further down the list.

[Flatland Shooter]

I would list with an agent, however you donot have to sign the blanket contract they give you, cut the listing agent and buyer agent commision down, also limit the amount of time of the contract then right in a month to month renewal so you can fire the agent if they arnt competent or arnt working for you.

We are visiting with several realtors and everytime I mention reducing the commission from 6% they become a little hostile.

What is a reasonable commission that both the realtor and us can be happy with?

Bill

[mpolans]

+1 on craigslist.

[Joe4d]

Give the listing agent no more than 1.5 % selling agent 3%, Listing agent pretty much isnt gonna do much, let em get as hostile as they want if they dont like it tell em to take a hike.

[Viggen]

I know there have been many Enos members who've relocated in the last couple of years. Did any of you use forsalebyowner.com? We're trying to decide which company to use and I'm looking for suggestions.

We would love to sell it ourselves and save 16K.

Thanks,

Trace

Any of you retired guys looking for a great place in East Texas, send me a PM.

"Average price per square foot for Athens TX was $40, a decrease of 16.7% compared to the same period last year. The median sales price for homes in Athens TX for Aug 09 to Oct 09 was $55,522 based on 1 home sales. Compared to the same period one year ago, the median home sales price decreased 27.5%, or $21,028, and the number of home sales increased 0%.

There are currently 213 resale and new homes in Athens on Trulia, including 1 open house, as well as 3 homes in the pre-foreclosure, auction, or bank-owned stages of the foreclosure process. The average listing price for homes for sale in Athens TX was $286,773 for the week ending Nov 25, which represents an increase of 1.4%, or $3,954, compared to the prior week."

Just looking at http://www.trulia.com/real_estate/Athens-Texas/

What's your competition? It's REO's, Pre-foreclosures, Short Sales. Average price per square foot is $40. And the average listing price is $286K? Something in the $286 range isn't selling.

But remember this is just the public internet type data, not worth much but it can sometimes give a general idea.

Really, the magic question is, is anything over $200K or $225K currently selling?

Suggestion, find a good Realtor with a major brand to talk with(or several), folks in the business and not part time.

It's like interviewing to find a competent person to teach you to shoot - lots of folks who can do a lot of damage but good folks are out there. It's like the difference between working with a GM and a beginning D class shooting instructor. Is the latter worth anything?

Now is not the time to sell if you have any choice.

PM me for further opinions if you want.