<p>Help!!! I’m planning on downsizing in the early spring and have met with a real estate agent. I have never bought or sold a home and have not moved since my early teen years. When I was first married, I moved from my parents home into an apartment while our house was being built on land gifted to us. So I have a gazillion questions and I have to do this alone. And I’m scared!!! And all the real estate estate advice websites say the same basic canned things over and over. So I really need a forum like CC for real estate! Thanks!</p>
<p>There is a gardenweb that deals a lot of real estate questions. But here at CC a lot of agents are on line as well. </p>
<p>Where are you located? And what are your questions?</p>
<p>I agree - plenty of agents and lenders online here - go for it.</p>
<p>city-data dot com has a very active Real Estate section too.</p>
<p>And a few experienced real estate buyers, too, who can help.</p>
<p>I will check garden web. I have been on city data and the real estate forum is fairly active. I was hoping for a forum more similar to CC.</p>
<p>How do I know if I’ve found a good agent? How many should I check with? How far do I go with repairs/updates? Two agents have already told me different things. Home inspection before listing or not?</p>
<p>What are the hidden costs involved in selling? And in buying?</p>
<p>And, further down the road: how do I move? Friends, uhaul or movers? What do I do about utilities at old house and new place? What if I get an offer and haven’t found a place? Live on a friends couch?</p>
<p>Clearly, I’m scatter-brained and overwhelmed!</p>
<p>As an experienced mortgage lender, here are my opinions:</p>
<p>Interview 3 agents that you have selected based on recommendations from friends and neighbors. Someone who has sold homes in your neighborhood is ideal. Compare what price they would list your house for, their analysis of area comps and their marketing plans. Open houses are not enough - be sure the agent you select plans on professional photography and lots of internet exposure.</p>
<p>Do needed minor repairs. Fresh paint and recently cleaned carpet is great. Painting the front door and freshening front landscaping enhances curb appeal. I would not necessarily do major updates as long as kitchen and baths are functional.</p>
<p>A home inspection before listing is not a bad idea - you can address any obvious issues before they scuttle a contract.</p>
<p>There are various online sites provided by title companies to help a seller determine what they will net from their sale - just find one for your state. It will show you what a seller in your state pays for things like transfer taxes.</p>
<p>I have a related question; how important are buyer’s agents? My brother-in-law has a broker’s license but isn’t really in the biz and he offered to write offer and give me back commission when I buy a new place. The agent that just sold my house told me he’d split the buyer’s side commission with me if I use him to buy a place. The agent is very active in my area and did a great job in coming up with a deal structure that worked for buyer and me on the place I’m selling – though it was very weird to me that he represented both buyer and me. (We did negotiate a decent commission – 4% total – because he already had a buyer for my place before I even put it on the market and he didn’t have to do any marketing). </p>
<p>The real estate commission stuff is dizzying.</p>
<p>Many of the concerns you have are negotiable. Sometimes sellers pay a lump sum towards the buyer’s closing costs - sometimes not. It depends on what is typical in your area and the price range of your house. Pick a realtor you trust and then follow their advice.</p>
<p>If you have a good offer on your house, you won’t want to lose it even if you have not yet found your next place. You can request 60 days until closing. You can close and then rent back for up to 60 days if the buyer is willing. You can move into an extended stay hotel for a few weeks. </p>
<p>Are you relocating to a different state? Will you be buying or renting your next home? If you are buying, do you need the proceeds from the sale for the down payment? </p>
<p>The house I am selling is in escrow now – only contingency is appraisal contingency but it is a long escrow. I am significantly downsizing and will likely be able to buy a place for cash with my share of the equity (proceeds will be split with my ex). I don’t plan to buy a new place until the sale closes because I figure I can get a good deal with a cash offer. Plus, I am very picky and it will likely take me a while to find a new house I like. So I’m planning to put most of my stuff in storage and rent a small apartment or something until I can find the perfect place.</p>
<p>However, the agent who sold my place has taken it upon himself to find me a new place to buy. I haven’t agreed to work with him but he keeps calling me with places to look at. I’m trying to decide if it is worth it to work with him on buying a place, given my brother-in-law’s offer to act as a buyer’s agent for me for free (ie giving me the buyer’s side commission, which around here is generally 2.5 to 3%). My brother -in-law is a licensed broker but doesn’t work in this market, but it’s not clear to me how important a buyer’s agent’s knowledge of the area really is, since listings are readily accessible on the internet.</p>
<p>The one thing that the agent who sold my house is really good it is finding places that aren’t on the market. He heard a rumor that I was thinking about selling my place and showed up on my doorstep with a single-buyer listing agreement and a buyer. I sold the house without putting it on the market and the buyers are thrilled bc they’ve had their eyes on my place for years. </p>
<p>We plan to sell our house as a teardown and I already have reputable local builders and one highly motivated individual just waiting for the go-ahead to submit a bid. We also have contact with a real estate attorney to review the contract and handle the closing et al. Like nottelling, we need the cash from this sale to buy a new home. Our current raggedy old house really cannot be fixed up enough to pass inspections. Our greatest asset is the location which is about as ideal as you can get in our town.</p>
<p>I’ve been advised elsewhere to use a realtor to sell but is there any advantage? What services could they provide in our specific situation? Might a realtor be willing to take a fixed fee rather than a percent to just accept bids and negotiate if they don’t have to market the property? Is it that complicated to do a cash sale to a builder?
No kidding - 4 percent of what we’ve already been offered would be $24,000 or more.</p>
<p>We do have a realtor in our target relocation market who’s been advising us for a few years.</p>
<p>“What if I get an offer and haven’t found a place? Live on a friends couch?”</p>
<p>If the buyer can wait with the move in for a few weeks, you can put a “rent” clause into the contract and rent the place back from the buyer after the closing - at his/her monthly payment rate. Be prepared to pay more than your current monthly mortgage amount! We did it in the past when our new home’s construction was delayed by a month. If you live in a major metropolitan area or in an area with larger employers, there should be some apartment complexes that offer month-to-month furnished rentals for people relocating into the area, and your realtor could give you some tips. You can rent one of those places while storing your belongings, for example, in PODs. </p>
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Some will. I’m a licensed broker and I’ve helped a few people just with minor negotiation and handling the paperwork for $1000 or so, but most agents or brokers would probably decline. Actually, I think it would be a good business model for an agent to offer these limited services at a low cost.</p>
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<p>When my husband serves as the buyer’s broker for family or friends, he just has the seller reduce the price by the amount of his commission rather than “giving” his fee to the friend/family member. He does the same when he represents us in a transaction. Rather than pay a commission, the seller just gives us a credit off the sales price in that amount.</p>
<p>DH negotiates deals for a living, so when he represents a family member/friend, he does a lot more than write up the contract; he works the deal very hard for his client. I call him “The Closer” because he has pulled off some really impressive deals. He would be a total PITA to negotiate against. Glad I don’t have to work with him, I’d get really annoyed.</p>
<p>Thanks, nrdsb4. That makes sense. I’m trying to figure out how to identify the buyer’s agents who fall into that category (great closer) and how to figure out whether it is worth paying full freight for those services (vs. reduction in purchase price in amount of buyer’s commission if i use bil). 3% of, say, $1.5 million is $45K, so we’re talking serious money. (Although I get the feeling that many buyer’s agents are willing to negotiate with buyers on sharing those commissions).</p>
<p>In real estate, everything is negotiable.</p>
<p>$45K is a chunk of change, but keep your eyes on the prize. My DH (not a realtor, but close to the industry) has seen half-million dollar deals fall apart over $5K worth of appliances. Dumb, IMO. </p>
<p>Skimping on agents’ fees may not be smart in the end. You want the best professional assistance you can get, and you should expect that an excellent professional will want to be paid for his/her services.</p>