<p>Wow, how awesome would that be. Hope it works out!</p>
<p>I have sold two properties before they were ever finished. One when we were completely torn apart and the buyer was all “excited” that she could select her finishes. It really is not a good situation for both parties as there’s always mis communication. I have a really hard time trying to manage their expectations. " No, there’s not going to be gold faucets in the Master Bath"</p>
<p>I think the trim looks fine and your second thoughts about it are due to your physical exhaustion from the weekend blitz. Your color scheme gives the house the curb appeal it was sorely lacking in the before shots. I’m looking forward to seeing the new front porch. Good luck with the offer this week!</p>
<p>CB–the reason I asked retiming is there is exactly that situation in my area and I have been peeking in the windows…I wondered if telling them ahead of time that you liked it meant they jacked up the price feeling that they had a big winner …</p>
<p>CONGRATS and hope it works for you!</p>
<p>The window trim looks unbalanced to me, because covering the stucco on the corners makes the trim on that side of the window 4 or 5x as wide as the trim on the other side.</p>
<p>Is that an accepted style for this situation?</p>
<p>My opinion about people looking at houses before they go on the market is that a) it gives the Seller some good feedback on whether there will be interest for the property and b) it is always desireable to sell before you go to market.</p>
<p>You can save the Seller some money by purchasing without going to market because they do not have to list it, market it, take photos and stage it with furniture. However, my agent keeps insisting we should take it to market because she feels that there might be a lot of interest and it can be sold higher. I would rather take the bird in the hand instead of waiting to see if something might sell in the future.</p>
<p>If you can make contact directly with the seller and purchase it without a real estate agent commission then the Seller will realize about 5% savings in costs.</p>
<p>Regarding the trim… we are going for a craftsman style. I drove many craftsman style houses in the immediate neighborhood and noticed that this was a design feature - trimming the corners of the house. It makes the house appear a little larger. Unfortunately there is a big post for our front porch to the immediate right of the big window that prohibits any more trim going to the right of that window.</p>
<p>What I think we might try to do is add another trim piece along the bottom of the windows to beef it up a bit.</p>
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<p>If you accept this bird in the hand, she won’t get a commision, will she. No wonder she wants you to “take it to market.”</p>
<p>I am in a moral dilemma about accepting an offer without using my agent. It is something I really need to think about. We have had a relationship together for 4 1/2 years. In the previous transactions that sold before completion, she brought the buyers in and we went into contract with agency commission. </p>
<p>When I am going to foreclosure auctions to bid on properties she works every morning with me to research and give me a conservative ‘future value’ for the properties so that I can work backward on my highest bid price. If I purchase at auction, she doesn’t get any buying commission but it is understood that she will be the listing agent.</p>
<p>Also, she made me her ‘assistant’ so that I have full access to the MLS. I use that access a lot and it is very valuable to me. I have found several bank-owned foreclosures and distressed properties in the MLS. Once again, she works with me to determine what the fixed up value will be and then I go into negotiations directly with the listing agent on the property. I do not use a buyer’s agent because sometimes I can get the purchase if the listing agent is representing me (they get double commission, whose offer do you think they are going to push with the bank or seller??)</p>
<p>She has listed every one of my properties and I just don’t know if it is ethical to tell her that I found my own buyer on this one, and cut her out of the transaction. I have not signed a listing agreement with her yet.</p>
<p>Artlover, you are an agent. What do you think would be fair in this situation?</p>
<p>You could always give her some amount of money for the help she’s given you up front. Keep in mind she’s making double on the properties she’s brought buyers in on prior to it getting listed because she doesn’t have to share the commission with another realtor. </p>
<p>Did she get any sort of commission when you purchased the house? Would you feel she’s earned 1% of the house’s value?</p>
<p>I used an agent to write up offers on 3 houses and got outbid every time. I then found a FSBO and asked my agent if he’d be ok with a flat fee to represent us. He would have done it for very little, but his broker said nothing less than $10K. We declined and negotiated the deal ourselves with no agent. My agent totally understood and there were no hard feelings. He’s a gem though - he looks at the big picture and places importance on long term relationships. He knows he’s going to get referrals from me in the future, and if we ever sell our house he’ll get the listing.</p>
<p>I’m not an agent but have worked with one on multiple properties. In this case, I’d offer her at most a listing commission (3% or whatever it usually is in your town). She would have no outlay (advertising, MLS listing fees etc) and minimal work (paperwork for the sale) for a pretty good commission.</p>
<p>I would offer something to your agent. Maybe 1% ? She is a part of your team. Plus if this buyer doesn’t work out, you need her as an ally. Plus if she’s getting something, will she handle all the closing stuff.</p>
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<p>^^^vball,</p>
<p>After all those troubles, will you ever sell?</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>^ Not likely ;)</p>
<p>I would love to handle it with a flat fee but unfortunately she works under a large brokerage that will not get creative.</p>
<p>For example, one of my pet peeves are Seller credits. Let’s say buyer offers $500,000 but wants $5,000 credit on closing costs, which is reasonable if they need some cash to cover closing costs. I insisted on a clause in my listing agreement that stated commission would be based on Net Sale Price, less concessions. Her broker would not budge but I was adament that I wasn’t going to pay commission on money I didn’t even get!!! So she started having to reimburse me privately from her pocket after closing. This sucks for her because she gives me $250 back (in example above) but has to pay taxes on that $250 because it was reported as income to her.</p>
<p>Another creative thing I do with commissions is that we are a team, she needs to have skin in the game, which she really doesn’t. I have my life savings on the line. </p>
<p>My competition is getting really fierce, they are going with flat fee listings, low negotiated commission rates, etc. Standard % used to be 6% of sale and now the standard in our area is 5% and many lower rate agents. </p>
<p>I have become much more knowledgeable and she hardly has to do anything on our sales. However I did make her get staging furniture because good agents have staging furniture for their clients. She has to pay for delivery and pick up and spends about 1/2 day decorating with me. I handle open houses, we have a lockbox for showings. She comes over during house inspection with buyer because it’s not appropriate for me to be there. So she probably puts in about 16 hrs of work for the listings.</p>
<p>That’s too bad…her brokerage is hurting themselves.
But - if you don’t have an agent involved don’t you need an attorney (which might cost more) to handle the paperwork?</p>
<p>A title company can handle all the paperwork, no attorney is required in California.</p>
<p>16 hours of work for 3% on a house worth over $300k is a pretty good return. Don’t you wish you earned that much for your time and money invested? ;)</p>
<p>My personal opinion is that between an escrow company and the title company, both parties are adequately protected. That is the standard transaction process in California. We don’t use attorneys, title companies research title and provide title guaranty and title insurance. They also process all the payoffs of existing loans and funding from new loans, combined with the escrow office.</p>