<p>I agree with busdriver. Keep all offers active and moving forward until you have a signed contract. You never know.</p>
<p>As a house seller, I can understand why sellers don’t counter low ball offers. I would figure someone who starts with a ridiculous offer is going to be nickeling and diming throughout the whole process. To me, it’s just not worth dealing with those type of situations. </p>
<p>I told my realtor I was willing to take less money as long as I didn’t end up with high maintenance buyers. If someone came in with a lower offer and no contingencies I’d be more likely to take that than a higher offer with contingencies that would allow them to lower the price later.</p>
<p>The neighbor down the street sold her house in 4 days… The asking price is 30% more than she paid for it 10 or so years ago with almost 0 upgrades. Not too bad.</p>
<p>Good news for us – MIL’s house went on the market on Wednesday, brokers lunch (where the listing broker feeds any of the area brokers who want to come tour the house) was SRO today, and we have an offer tonight for 98.4% of the listing price as an all-cash deal to close in 2 weeks after acceptance. We’ve got to talk with our broker tomorrow morning, since there is some stuff we don’t understand related to various trust advisories, and inspection contingencies, but I’d be quite happy if this one works. Cross your fingers.</p>
<p>Very little on the market in that part of LA that isn’t a foreclosure in bad shape – mostly unoccupied/unmaintained for 2+ years, or short sales that involve first and second mortgage holders that take forever. We’d be better if the house was situated south of the boulevard, but location is the one thing you can’t easily change.</p>
<p>I’ll keep you posted on what happens. Good luck to all those waiting/hoping/coping. </p>
<p>And good grief – I had no idea how big the referral fees were back to my friend here who put me in contact with the RE agent I ended up using in LA. Holy smokes. I was thinking $250 or so – nope – 25% of the seller-side brokerage commission (12.5% of the full commission.)</p>
<p>That is quite the deal. (But, I certainly am happy with the broker we’re using, and I think he’s happy that we’re agreeable to pretty much all of his suggestions. There is some tremendous freedom when you’re not selling YOUR house; we’ve got little or no investment in keeping anything any certain way.</p>
<p>Arabrab…looks good.
Congrats.</p>
<p>arabrab, congratulations on seeing all your hard work paying off so quickly. It’s so true what you say about it being easier to be an objective seller when it’s not the house you put all your own design choices in. It’s a lesson that it’s hard to learn</p>
<p>We Finished the bathroom tiles and put the shower into the works.</p>
<p>Today I listed this small 1100 sqft home for sale, sold as is. On day one, 6 inquires. One agent brought the buyer despite if the house is not for showing until open house tomorrow in the description(I was cleaning up and the contractor has a little bit work to finish). Tomorrow is the open house and it will be mobbed, I am sure. Bay area real estate is hot.</p>
<p>Interesting tile… </p>
<p>Good luck, artloversplus.</p>
<p>When I opened up the link of your tile, artlover, I thought my computer had contacted a virus :)</p>
<p>Good luck, tomorrow! We fund Monday and close on Tuesday.</p>
<p>jshain, </p>
<p>When I first saw this shower, I thought I was in a virus… :)</p>
<p>I had to buy it without inspecting inside…</p>
<p>artloversplus, when I opened the photo I thought this was your replacement tile, and I had no idea how I was going to say something tactful. Then I caught a glimpse of the toilet seat on the left and realized this was the before photo. My goodness. Had you inspected it before buying, you might have walked away!!</p>
<p>A few months ago I posted here bemoaning the fact that realtors had valued our house much lower than we had hoped. I followed up by paying for an independent appraisal which came in 50k higher, a number we can more easily live with if we can get it! Talked again with the realtor (while there is a choice, this company is the one approached for corporate relocations etc and I think the most professional so will probably list with them) and they say given the appraisal, they’d recommend pricing the house a bit higher and would try to get that amount for us. Commission is 6%. I asked if this were negotiable and was told that though some companies would only charge 5%, as half the amount goes for marketing and the other half to the selling agent " it’s only human nature that agents will show all the houses where they get 3% commission before they take anyone to a house offering them onky 2.5%". Aargh, I’m just not looking forward to this, but since we’re not here it has to be done. I spent yesterday packing boxes and wondering where I can squirrel away all the stuff I want to keep in the new, severely downsized property we’ve just moved to several states away. Obviously not everything will fit and I’m wondering about storing it here. What do you think? Otherwise have to pay for a storage unit somewhere. I know it goes against all HGTV guides but this is a big house and boxes could easily go in one “bonus” room and leaving some furniture here would help it show better I think. Or am I just rationalizing? So many decisions.<br>
Congrats to all those with sales and pending sales. I hope to join your ranks soon- hopefully list the house by the end of September.</p>
<p>
Thats not only nonsense, its offensive. I’d consider finding another agent, even within the same company if you want to use them, that is more willing to work with you. 2.5% is better than nothing, which is what that agent should get!</p>
<p>Thanks, Jym for that input, this person owns the company unfortunately and this is a small town / rural market so it’s all about cooperation and good ole boys! No commitment yet so I’ll keep asking around for referrals to other agents but I’m not hopeful since these guys get the corporate customers relocating.</p>
<p>Onetogo-
By any chance are you a USAA member? They have discounted deals with agents.<br>
It would be reasonable to keep the dialogue open about the commission. Just because he/she pushed back does not mean the discussion is closed. Don’t sign until you are comfortable with all the terms. We sold my dads house with a 5% commission, which was going to be even lower if someone within their agency was the buying agent for the purchasers. That didnt happen, but it was a nice part of the contract.</p>
<p>By the way, I am not a realtor, but I SERIOUSLY doubt 1/2 the money goes for “marketing”. A large portion goes to the broker, so if your agent is also the owner of the agency and happens to be a broker, it sounds like they are not being completely honest with you. That would rub me the wrong way. They may be a big player in town, but they are not the only player. Of course they will say they will “try” to get you the higher price, but the key is to set an approprite price for the house. Pricing too high is no a good idea either. I’d get several proposals from several potential listing agents if I were you, if you have the time.</p>
<p>In our neck of the woods, commission is 5%, with 2.5% to the selling agent and 2.5% to the listing agent. </p>
<p>Yes, it’s “human nature” to spend time on something with a bigger payoff, but IMHO a realtor doesn’t sell your house; the house sells the house. If there’s a buyer interested in your house, you’ll get a sale. If no buyer is interested in your house, it won’t sell no matter what the realtor does.</p>
<p>In addition, is 0.5% of the purchase price of your house really going to make a realtor behave differently? On a $500,000 house, that’s a difference of $15,000 versus $12,500.</p>
<p>Exactly right, VH. And additionally, many of these houses are easily seen/found on the web. So if the buyer says they want to see “x” house that they saw on line, no agent worth their salt is going to steer a potential buyer away from a sale. And if its a small community, is the inventory low? If so, the agents should show the buyers as many houses as they can, I would think.</p>
<p>No, not USAA member. I would obviously prefer a lower commission - it’s an expensive house for the area and I can’t see they would come close to spending 3% on marketing unless it’s on the market for a very long time! I’m sensitive to the price issue too. I think it’s important but difficult to get that right. There are few comparables unfortunately, and those that exist are not very good ones for various reasons. Interesting that you were able to put a provision into the contract that the commission would be lower if someone in the agency got the sale. You’ve started me thinking more creatively about the contract. I do think a lower commission gives them an incentive to get a better price for us. Thanks! I will see about talking to other agents …I’ve got a bit of time still before it’s really packed up and ready to sell.</p>
<p>Actually THEY are the ones that put in the lower commission if the house sold by an agent within their agency, not me! And your point is well taken- if there is a lower commission percent, they’d perhaps try harder to sell at a higher price. Good thought!!</p>
<p>BTW, it looks like even Costco has a real estate division (or deal of some sort) [The</a> Envoy MovePLUS Program - Costcos](<a href=“http://www.go-envoy.com/costco/en/default.cfm]The”>http://www.go-envoy.com/costco/en/default.cfm)</p>