Real Estate help needed

ReaItor wrote:

Uncle Ezra wrote:

I'm selling a propery of mine without the aid of a real estate agent. I was sondering who normally pays for fees such as survey, transfer tax, septic pumping and inspection...

Also, what other fees should I expect?

You wouldn't have those questions if you'd hired an agent!

The average realtor mindlessly fills in the contract forms he/she gets from his state realtor association, doesn't know what those forms actually mean, and is more concerned with closing the deal to get a paycheck than actually representing the buyers/sellers best interest.

Hire an attorney to handle anything harder than staging an open house.

I hired and met with an experienced attorney who found many problems with the buyers purchase offer. By the time he was finished it was full of red ink. There were many issues that would result in additional cost or burden to me that needed fixing. If this buyer will not comply, I will sell to another.

I had a few realors look over the place and they gave me catch fraises and BS about how they would market the place. They even mentioned what they would start at. I ended up puting it on Craigslist for higher than they were going to start and had an offer the same day.

I am glad I went to the attorney despite the $800 cost. I think it will be money wisely spent. I got some good advice on this forum, and this is not the first time.

I have a good friend/coworker who sold his own house and was very detail oriented about the legalities and hired a lawyer to help him out and joined some FSBO forum for tips. He swears by it and wouldn't go any other way, and it worked out great for him.

My spouse and I just each sold our houses and are buying another one. His house was sold on the third showing because our realtor got the word out. My house took a lot longer and a lot of showings, but I did not have to be there for the showings to hear all the stupid comments that people made. For the house we are buying, we are having to negotiate a lot with people who are crying and behaving all emotionally. I am glad there are two realtors between us and them. Our realtor has also been able to do things like get a good inspector out the same day we asked for it and provided me with references to a loan officer who ended up producing the best loan I could find. I think he's earned his money.

I think anyone can do their own realtor work if they want to educate themselves and don't mind dealing with prospective buyers/sellers themselves. My preference was to hire someone else to handle it, just like I might hire someone else to handle a sewage leak under the house. I could probably fix that myself, too. So basically it's just a matter of preference for how you want to conduct business.

As far as who pays for what, you can probably go to a library or even google the rules for your state and your area. Where I live, the seller buys the survey (if nothing has changed, just use the one you got when you bought the house) and the title insurance. The buyer pays for inspections and anything related to their loans. Some title company expenses are shared between buyer and seller. The title company you choose can tell you how their fees would be handled.

Good luck!

Uncle Ezzra wrote:

I had a few realors look over the place and they gave me catch fraises and BS.

That's quite a PHRASE right there!

kaitainen wrote:

and i don't understand how the person posting as "realtor" suggests that using a realtor will somehow protect the buyer from being responsible for selling a property with undisclosed liabilities attached. are you suggesting the realtor will voluntarily take on responsibility for such liabilities? i sort of doubt your standard sales contract provides for that, or else you'll be out of business pretty fast.

I'll try to fill you in Mr. Know-it-all. First of all I was talking about protecting the seller not the buyer. One of the ways involves what in my state is called the Residential Property Condition Disclosure. By state law it's required of all sellers when selling their home. It doesn't matter if an agent is involved or not. Most FSBO sellers don't know as much as the uppity Lets Run poster. You'd be amazed how many of them had no idea they had to provide that.

I know sellers that have had pest control contracts with nationally known companies. When they call to get a termite letter done (required from the sellers in this state) they're shocked to find their years of customer loyalty amount to being charged $100 to $200 for the termite letter. I can get that done for $40 by a local guy. I also know how much the title companies charge and who is worth it. I can help save money there.

I know those amounts don't equal 6% of a typical sale and yes some Realtors are pricks. Name one field that isn't filled with pricks.

Here's how I work though. I actually get a lot of business from FSBO's. They become frustrated when they find out every call asking about the house doesn't turn into a showing. They hate sacrificing time on weekends to stay at home to show the house. They can't show it during the weekdays if they're working. They also have to pay to advertise it and put the ads together. Many buyers, often first time buyers feel reluctant to deal with FSBO's. They feel they're at the mercy of the owner.

As for commission I know a lot of realtors asking for and getting six and seven percent. I ask for six and often will take five. Of course if there's another agent involved that amount is split. One thing that really helps is I make it standard with my listings that I'll drop it to four if I bring the buyer. I'm still making money, the seller is saving and it often gives them more negotiating room.

I don't fault anyone for trying to sell by themselves. I just find it doesn't work out well. I'm sure you'll be different though. You post on Lets Run so you obviously know almost everything. What knowledge you're lacking, the rest of the posters will provide.

Thought his post was good. But your rebuttal is very good too...

I'm going through the process of buying and have been researching the process for months.

First of all, there are very good resources on-line to answer your questions, and all the others you didn't even know you had.

Second, realestate agents are not as important as they used to be since, at least in my state, everyone now has access to the listing services as agents. Not that this helps you directly because you can't list it on those websites, but while prospective buyers are looking on their own anyways, they'll check out the FSBO sites (Craigslist for example) as well (which you should definately advertise on). BTW, buyers like the idea of FSBO because there's less chance they'll get taken advantage of AND because the agents won't take 6% off the top, that could lead to the seller accepting a lower price.

And third, just get a good realestate attorny or title or escrow company to handle the third party stuff. Fact is they'll have to be involved anyways and they can help you with all of your questions too.

The bottom line is it makes a lot of financial sense to educate yourself as much as you can no matter if you get an agent or not.

OK I slipped on spelling a wod. I thought this site was doind away with the spelling police.