Realtor Advice

Also, the support system the realtor has. The office doesn't have to be real fancy, with lots of bells and whistles, but an experienced and supportive brokerage staff is helpful in so many ways. You can get a feel for the place with a visit - busy, but not overloaded. An agent should be active, but too heavy a listing/transaction load can be distracting and split the agent's attention to detail.

Smiln32, when I ask him those questions, how do I know if they're good answers? Especially with closings... I don't know what's a good number. :)

Yikes! New developments:

Just as I got the information on other recommended realtors, our realtor pulled through and gave us the heads up on our dream property (just listed today). My husband and I quickly went out to look at it and loved almost everything about it-- we just wish the house was a little bigger, but we can add on in the future when we have children. This is acreage in a prime area, so we want to snatch it up if we can. We're planning on making an offer tomorrow morning, but the buyers have agreed not to look at any offers for a week. We could easily be outbid. We've just got to put it all in God's hands and trust everything will work out as it's supposed to!

But here's my big question: Tomorrow when we sign papers, will we have to sign the contract with this realtor? If this house goes through and we don't get it, will we then still be bound to her??

Also, we haven't told our realtor this yet either, but we have a friend interested in buying our current house. We haven't talked nitty gritty details yet (maybe we need to talk to him tonight!), but tomorrow our realtor is wanting us to sign listing papers, when we might not even need her to help us sell... I don't know how to approach that either.

I'd love to hear anyone's advice now that our situation has changed! This is all so nerve-racking!

Thanks,
Dana

This is just from dealing with our realtor so I might be wrong. First I wouldn't list the house with her till you talk to your friend, second the contract you sign will be for her to bid on the that one property, not another. We bid on several different houses and signed new ones with each. So if things don't work out and yours works like ours did then you aren't stuck with this realtor. Please make sure you get it inspected ASAP (this includes termite etc) Also check to see what the houses in that are in the neighborhood have sold for, what the insurance is (do you need flood etc) this will help you determine what the resell should be and how much your payments etc will be.

Saint

Level with your realtor. You want her to give you all the pertinent facts - you should do the same with her. Tell her about the friend and that you have agreed to give him first chance at buying it directly from you. Ask the realtor if she will oversee the escrow process for you for a lesser fee than the listing commission would be. After all, unless your friend is prepared to pay cash, you don't really know whether he can get a loan. Assuming a loan is needed the requirements will include at least a property appraisal, pest control clearance, title search and possibly other items. You can arrange all those things yourselves, true, but it is easy to overlook details when you're new at the process. Then if the friend is unable to go through with the transaction you can consider listing your home in the standard manner. Terre's suggestion of a bridge loan is a good one. You can hang on to the new transaction, if need be, while your current home is processing.

When we listed our home, we were asked if there were any people we had already shown it to, that should be excluded on the contract. Yuska is right, level with the realtor. If you already have a buyer, she will have much less work and expense handling the sale. But use a realtors advise as to the sales price. You should ask for an comparative market analysis from multiple realtors before listing with her.

You guys are great! Thanks for the advice. Not only is this whole process stressful (we feel like we don't have our heads on straight), but we're new at all this, too. It's nice to get some opinions of other people who are neutral! We don't have many real estate savvy people to talk to as far as friends and famliy go, either... Thanks again!

Oh we're great at giving advice. We're nothing if not an opinionated bunch!

Taking advice, however is another matter entirely!

This message was edited May 23, 2005 6:57 PM

Your offer to purchase is totally seperate from a listing contract. You do not have to sign a listing contract tomorrow. As was advised above, tell the realtor you would like a market analysis on your home and will consider listing it when you have enough information to set a fair listing price. YOu don't have to list it for the amount the realtor advises. Some like to list the property high and say " that way you can come down a little on the price when you get offers". This most likely will backfire and those who are looking in a lesser price range will discount your house because it is too high. Other realtors will use your house then to make a comparison to their prospects by showing your home first and then showing the house they want to sell and saying" look , this house is less than the first one I showed you and is priced less than the first one".You are better off to arrive at fair price according to a current market analysis . Don't be rushed into anything. Lou

I think the realtor is advising us to do the listing paperwork tomorrow so that we can turn it in with our "contingent" offer. That way we look serious about selling our house, I guess is the point. Also, there are two houses in our immediate neighborhood (one with the exact same floor plan) that sold quite recently. Since we know what they sold for, they make a good comparison for us as to how much we'll list our house for, too. I think what I'm most worried about is how to talk to our realtor about our friend's interest while she's been preparing this listing paperwork. She has (as mentioned above!) quite a strong personality. I guess that would still be good to turn in, even if we don't have to list it. Unfortunately, our friend hasn't gotten back to us this evening about the house, so all we have still is this "possible" interest... Either way, the way the markets are going now, if these sellers accept our offer, I know our house will sell in no time. I can't wait until this is all over! But then again, if they don't accept our offer, it's back to square one...

You can still list your house, but you need to tell your realtor that you already have an offer pending. Your friends do not need to go through a realtor in order to buy your house. If they make you an offer, be sure it is in writing, and tell your realtor they have bid, and now have the right of first refusal. Also tell your friends that you are still listing the house for sale, but their bid comes first If another offer comes through, they can decide to meet or better the new offer or refuse it.

If the price they are offering you is fine with you, then just tell your realtor the house is sold,and will not be listed. Then, you will need to get some legal help if your friends buy the house, because there are things that will need to be done, title search, etc. There are attorneys who specialize in real estate. This will not cost as much as a realtor's commission. Your realtor will still handle your offer on the other house, as there is a commission there for her. Here, the realtor's fees can be 7%, but it gets split up a lot of ways, as Yuska mentioned earlier, and the individual realtor doesn't get it all, but that's what comes out of your pocket.

This message was edited May 24, 2005 5:39 AM

Okay, I'm getting ready to go. Thanks, meezersfive, now I know how to address this with the realtor. Also, good info about hiring an attourney. Especially since we're not totally thrilled by our realtor, it would be nice not to have to pay the realtor commission for this part, and then we can put more down on the house we buy.

The sellers aren't reviewing their offers for a week, but I'll let you all know how it goes. Thanks so much, everyone!

Fingers crossed here for you!

Okay, the offer is in!! We decided to take a little risk and NOT go contingent, since our friend is interested and our realtor says it would sell in a day or two anyway if our friend's offer falls through. Hopefully the offer will be more attractive that way to the sellers. We think there is quite a bit of interest in this house... I'll let you know when I hear! :)

Pictures we want pictures of the dream house! The DH wanted to kill me when we looked cause I'd bug him every five minutes making him come look at a picture on the computer.


Good Luck

Well, there are no pictures posted even on the listing for the house. And it's not so much the house that's the dream, it's the property! There are five private and secluded acres in a perfect location minutes from downtown and the water. The yard is big, and there are gardens and walkways in the back. The gardens are in patches, big enough to still have trees in the patches, along with decorative trees, shrubs, flowers-- lots of rhodies, all in bloom right now, and the biggest hostas I've ever seen. There are a lot of these walkways, which are hidden since the gardens are tall. Behind the gardens are the woods. I think that would be perfect for raising kids-- lots of opportunity for discovery! And while we were there we saw woodpeckers and other birds, a snake, bees pollinating the flowers, and a wild bunny in the yard. Just what we're looking for! I'll post pictures if we get the house, and I'm sure I'll be needing lots of gardening advice!! I don't know how I'm going to get through this week, though-- can't stand the suspense!

*G* Well I hope you get it and I can't wait to see pictures.