<p>^^ If you’re talking about my repeat visitors, this is an off market listing so there’s no price, other than what my Realtor verbally gave their Realtor as a starting price, implying flexibility. We’re willing to consider any reasonable offer. There are pros & cons to off market listings - I’m not totally convinced it’s the way to go, but there doesn’t seem to be much risk in showing to buyers who are interested at the moment. Our game plan is still to put the house on the MLS this fall.</p>
<p>What technically is an “off market listing”?</p>
<p>“Off market” means selling a home outside of the MLS. There are different ways this can happen: a seller can sign an agreement with a single Realtor to market the home, or it can be an exclusive property within a broker’s office. Usually it’s done when the seller wants privacy. Sometimes nondisclosure agreements are required in order for a buyer to see a particular property. It’s relatively common in my part of the Bay Area because there are a good concentration of successful business people who want to avoid attention from the media w/respect to their house sales. The seller’s agent makes sure that the buyers are prequalified and pre-approved before showing the home.</p>
<p>In my case, I’m not a celebrity or a rich high tech executive. I’m just not ready to list on the MLS but am willing to show my house to a qualified buyer. I sign a one-day listing agreement with a Realtor for a specific buyer. If the buyer makes an offer and closes within 90 days, my Realtor gets the commission.</p>
<p>Some Realtors think off market listings bring in top dollar as the price is not typically negotiated, it’s a take-it-or-leave-it price. Other Realtors think off market is a bad idea because sellers get top dollar by having their house exposed to the highest number of prospective buyers.</p>
<p>As I said, I’m not totally convinced it’s the way to go, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of downside at the moment.</p>
<p>Is the commission the same in an “off-market” listing? Obviously far less time and effort is involved in a one day sale!<br>
I’ve also heard of a couple who called 6 or so realtor friends, possibly because they could not decide which to hire. They told them whoever brings in the buyer first, gets the commission. I was amazed the realtors agreed to this, but it worked! Perhaps realtors are equally hungry due to the low sales volume?</p>
<p>Commission is always negotiable. However, buyers’ agents have a much lower incentive to show a house to their clients where the commission is low, all other things being equal. So even FSBOs tend to offer 3% commission to buyers’ agents in my area.</p>
<p>It’s true that right now as an off market sale, my agent will being doing quite a bit less of the upfront marketing work than with a sale through the MLS. However, there’s still work to be done between the time the contract is signed and the close of escrow. So many things can derail a contract that a good Realtor can deal with and make non-issues. For this reason I’m still paying my listing agent a commission if a sale happens, although much less than the standard percentage.</p>
<p>Interesting story about your friend!</p>
<p>Bad weather for the open house so there was a pretty sparse turnout. AM thinking of lowering the price to a price point that will capture another group of buyers, but the house has only been on the market for a month. Is this a good strategy? What will the message be to buyers? I would hope it is that we are motivated, not that we are desperate.</p>
<p>jym, this is (was) your father’s house, correct?? We did the same thing when my mother-in-law passed away – sold from afar. IMHO, the goal is to sell the house and get it off your hands, not get tip-top dollar.</p>
<p>YMMV</p>
<p>Correct, veryhappy.</p>
<p>It’s still early. a lot of folks are just starting to look. If I were in the market for a house, I wouldn’t be looking this month. Too busy with all the end of year stuff. Once the kids are settled in summer programs, is when I would start looking. Also the weather here has not been so nice for house hunting. I would wait until the end of June and if things are not moving any better and interest is not there, I would then reduce the price to a new level. But give it through June.</p>
<p>Jym,
I sold my house across country, with a belligerent ex-. I didn’t try to lower realtors’ commission, as I wanted them fully invested in the showing and advertising. I even suggested a lower price that would be acceptable to me. After the ex- lost the first bid by trying to negotiate for too much, the realtors fought for the next bid, even throwing in some of their money for repairs. House sold. (The realtors also let the jerk know he’d be fined for each day he delayed the buyers’ move-in date, which got him to move his junk after years of delay.)</p>
<p>Good luck. Don’t hesitate to lower the price.</p>
<p>Just an update on this old thread. Our house is still on the market. We had a couple come through and were interested. The husband wanted to buy it, but the wife said it was a mile away from some power lines, so she was afraid her unborn child would be born autistic. I’ve never seen the power lines, so I didn’t even know they were there! A mile away, huh? I guess she’s going to have a really hard time finding a house that meets her requirements in the area we live.</p>
<p>Then another couple came through, and made an offer. We arrived at an agreeable number, everything was signed. We were getting out the champagne glasses, when they suddenly backed out. No reason given, but they were within the 3 day window, so no repercussions. </p>
<p>Another couple really liked it, but said it didn’t meet their “feng sue” (not sure I got that right) requirement, since the house faced the wrong direction. Not much to negotiate there. </p>
<p>Anyway, I’m getting pretty discouraged. The real estate agent said it’s not price, since we are far and away the lowest-priced house, and the house is all freshly updated, etc. She’s a top seller for the past 10 years or so, so I tend to think she knows her job. Nevertheless, I reduced the price, and nothing. I’ve been checking the house sales in our paper, and there have been no - as in zero - sales in the past two months. And this is a populated area. Unbelievable. Anyway, I hope you all have better luck.</p>
<p>Good luck hayden - sounds like a roller coaster you’ve been on lately, and what a pain to keep a house on the market for so long. You can mitigate some of the negative feng shui - you might want to look into that.</p>
<p>Feng shui is important where I live (large Asian population). A house at the end of my street took a relatively long time to sell. I asked a (non-Asian) real estate agent why he thought it had taken so long. His response, without pause: “bad feng shui”. The house was at a “T” in the road. The perpendicular road was equivalent to a street running directly into the front door. Something about an arrow through the heart. Not good. All the agents here have to have some understanding of where their buyers are coming from.</p>
<p>I know I have to remove the mirror from my entry hall when I stage my house. Here’s why:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[Feng</a> Shui Mirror Placement](<a href=“http://www.feng-shui-vibes.com/feng-shui-mirror.html]Feng”>http://www.feng-shui-vibes.com/feng-shui-mirror.html)</p>
<p>Why risk that?</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Location matters. Our area thought in months before the market got tough, now more than a year, even two… There just aren’t that many buyers out there now, sigh.</p>
<p>Hayden…I would have your agent call the agent of the buyers that walked out and ask why they pulled out.</p>
<p>Just on the off chance that information might help you.</p>
<p>Sorry to read that you haven’t sold your house.</p>
<p>I am living in an apartment right now. I am really liking it. It has really nice views. It is located up in the hills, but I can walk to restaurants and grocery stores. I thought I wanted to buy a home in the flats…but now I am not sure I want to live in the flats or buy a home. :)</p>
<p>I prefer living at some elevation given the floods that we’ve had in the last decade.</p>
<p>I can see where living in flood zones is a turn off.</p>
<p>hayden, I feel your pain! We had two sets of buyers poised to make an offer - like really serious prospects - but both backed out after our annoying neighbor took it upon herself to make sure they knew things like how seriously she takes the neighbor’s yard maintenance habits, interest in building a fence that would block her view, etc. One set of buyers she told a complete untruth - that they would get water in the basement every 5 years. Once we got wind of this, our agent was dispatched to have a chat with her, asking her not to come to every open house, and not to accost the buyers while they enjoyed the serenity of our backyard. She was shocked that her outreach efforts had not been helpful! It’s hard to get over being mad about this. Coupled with the horrible news reports about the housing market, selling is a huge challenge. We’re just not getting enough traffic through. </p>
<p>We did our second price reduction this week, down 10% from where we started 53 days ago. This moves us into a new bracket of shoppers, so if this doesn’t work there’s just nothing more we can do.</p>
<p>Good luck to all!</p>
<p>What an idiot that neighbor really is! She just effectively lowered the value of her property.</p>
<p>dsatrk, hills have their own issues when it rains hard… Mudslides. Very common in my neck of the woods.</p>
<p>BunsenBurner…that’s true.</p>
<p>I think where I live now is ok…and I am renting anyway…:)</p>
<p>The questions going forward for me are should I buy instead of rent…to protect against inflation…and I am unsure of this…and if I choose to rent…will the place I live in now work for my family? I need good public transportation and I don’t kmow if this place is good enough. I have my doubts. But I guess that is a personal question that only my wife and I can answer. :)</p>
<p>In the mean time…I just love this place…am happy I don’t gave to take care of a house and a pool, and enjoy the view…</p>
<p>It is much smaller than my house was…and for some reason I like that too…the human brain must change quite a bit as we age. :)</p>
<p>I am looking forward to seeing my first bill from PG&E.</p>
<p>I dunno, dstark. It all boils down to what you like, dislike, and can tolerate. I like to grow things, I dislike the busy atmosphere of big cities, and cannot tolearte loud noise. Therefore, we will stay in our house for as long as it is feasible.</p>