fried1765
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What to look for in a realtor?
- Thread starter Sigarms
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The women can be drawn to the Handsome young men... it works both ways.
As for selling... I have done all my own sales... For Sale by Owner and it has worked out very well... no glitches and smooth transactions.
Title Companies in California do the mechanics of the sale... clear title, escrow, etc...
The Realtors turned off the Estate Sellers of the home I recently bought... several came through and really offended the family.
It turned out to be my luck in that I simply said what if you could sell As-Is and have 90 days after the close to pack up everything and leave what you don't want?
To my surprise we made the deal with the Estate Lawyer reviewing docs... each party performed to contract.
If I couldn't do it myself I would want a full time Realtor with years of experience producing sales for similar property...
Not someone from out of the area or part time... 80% of new Realtors simply fade away...
A husband and wife sales team can be wonderful because they are both on the same team working for the same goal.
One thing to look out for in long distance sales is Realtors making sweetheart deals to friends and family... seen it happen.
As for selling... I have done all my own sales... For Sale by Owner and it has worked out very well... no glitches and smooth transactions.
Title Companies in California do the mechanics of the sale... clear title, escrow, etc...
The Realtors turned off the Estate Sellers of the home I recently bought... several came through and really offended the family.
It turned out to be my luck in that I simply said what if you could sell As-Is and have 90 days after the close to pack up everything and leave what you don't want?
To my surprise we made the deal with the Estate Lawyer reviewing docs... each party performed to contract.
If I couldn't do it myself I would want a full time Realtor with years of experience producing sales for similar property...
Not someone from out of the area or part time... 80% of new Realtors simply fade away...
A husband and wife sales team can be wonderful because they are both on the same team working for the same goal.
One thing to look out for in long distance sales is Realtors making sweetheart deals to friends and family... seen it happen.
tallyho8
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I would never sign a long term agreement with a realtor again. I had 120 acres for sale in the Ozarks for 5 years because I kept relisting with the same big nationwide realtor then I finally listed it with a small local realtor and it sold in 3 weeks.
OP
Sigarms
Super Member
Thanks guys.
Both my wife and myself are leaning towards realtor #1, but the reality is it isn't my call.
I will say that the realtor we bought our current home from was amazing. He was a commercial realtor, but was golfing buddies with the former owner of our home that sat unoccupied for 6 years. This realtor made everything easy per the buying process of land and he knew everyone at the farm credit place and walked us through everything, holding our hands making sure it was done right.
I found it amazing when looking for a place, my credit union would give me so much for a home loan, however, when land was involved, forget it.
Both my wife and myself are leaning towards realtor #1, but the reality is it isn't my call.
I will say that the realtor we bought our current home from was amazing. He was a commercial realtor, but was golfing buddies with the former owner of our home that sat unoccupied for 6 years. This realtor made everything easy per the buying process of land and he knew everyone at the farm credit place and walked us through everything, holding our hands making sure it was done right.
I found it amazing when looking for a place, my credit union would give me so much for a home loan, however, when land was involved, forget it.
Travelover
Elite Member
Zillow has realtor agent reviews. I used them to pick an agent to buy and was very happy with her. When I sold , I picked the "highest selling agent in the state". He turned out to be a lazy liar and the whole selling effort was a nightmare. Good luck!
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YanmarFever
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Someone mentioned to me the other day that you can list your own home on Zilo without a realtor, is this right?
MossRoad
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Zillow,
Yes, you can sell your own home there. We have friends that sold theirs through Zillow. They gathered a bunch of good photos, listed all of the selling points, etc... put all that info up there and started getting hits within 24 hours. They had a couple appointments in a couple days and a couple offers within a week.
They have a friend that is a realtor that agreed to do the closing for them at minimal cost. You could use a lawyer, too.
Yes, you can sell your own home there. We have friends that sold theirs through Zillow. They gathered a bunch of good photos, listed all of the selling points, etc... put all that info up there and started getting hits within 24 hours. They had a couple appointments in a couple days and a couple offers within a week.
They have a friend that is a realtor that agreed to do the closing for them at minimal cost. You could use a lawyer, too.
tom3
Bronze Member
Look for a realtor that doesn't have a big listing with 'agent owned' places. They'll sell theirs before yours. Quite often the house will sell itself, the sign just shows it's available. If realtor 2 is a friend of your folks that might be a deciding factor here, a bit more effort to move the property perhaps.
YanmarFever
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Thanks Moss, if this trend continues, it could put realtors in the back seat like travel agents..
Ahh no lawyers for me, just a title co.
OP
Sigarms
Super Member
Taking my father out to dinner tonight, he's paying because I'm going to inform him that his house was sold today.
The realtor was worth every penny, partiuclarly since we (including my father) live close to 500 miles away.
2 weeks ago we were supposed to have "settlement day", and the that morning, found out the lender was missing something. Thought the house was snakebit as the "under contract" time was probably pushing two months.
1 - Had to go up and clean the house in April, meet some relatives, and give stuff away to people who wanted it. Cleaning up was no fun.
2 - Had to buy a new boiler as it broke the first night my wife and I got there (I installed the first one in 1994, and for what my dad paid for one back then with me doing the work, overall I couldn't complain). No water for some reason in the boiler and found out to late as it got a pin hole leak in the heat exchanger. Had to laugh, never even thought about a low water cut off in 94 if it weren't already installed on the boiler.
3 - Had to get the house rezoned out of the flood plane as the lower 2 acres has a creek flowing through it. The house sits on a hill though. Apparently the feds rezoned it around 2004, and since my dad had it paid off in 2001, he apparently never knew.
4 - Biggest pain in the butt, getting hooked up to water and sewer to the town. They put in a new water line (never there) back around 2005 and my dad said no way is he paying to hook up. Since he was in his 70's at the time and he served on town council and knew bunch of the people, they were not going to push the issue "on a old man". That said, when the house went up for sale, it did become a big issue. $5,900 JUST PAY TO TOWN TO ALLOW YOU TO DO IT without any materials or labor!
That said, realtor pretty much handled everything...
If I didn't mention it, went with realtor #1 and after about a 2 month "under contract" period, my father will be very surprised tonight. The realtor was worth his weight in Gold. Dad put his house on the market in April, and he hasn't even set foot in Pennsyvlania since the last time we were up there in February. Realtor really did take care of a lot of issues that I didn't have to touch as well (lining up a boiler guy and getting one installed at the price he did was impressive even if he didn't believe that it probably wasn't the hot water coil which he replaced first oops).
More importantly, the realtor IMO got more money out of the house than I would of thought. After all is said and done, no complaints for the commission that guy is getting as he worked hard for it IMO.
Texted back and forth, along with e-mailing the appropriate paperwork. Never had to drive back to Pa for anything.
The realtor was worth every penny, partiuclarly since we (including my father) live close to 500 miles away.
2 weeks ago we were supposed to have "settlement day", and the that morning, found out the lender was missing something. Thought the house was snakebit as the "under contract" time was probably pushing two months.
1 - Had to go up and clean the house in April, meet some relatives, and give stuff away to people who wanted it. Cleaning up was no fun.
2 - Had to buy a new boiler as it broke the first night my wife and I got there (I installed the first one in 1994, and for what my dad paid for one back then with me doing the work, overall I couldn't complain). No water for some reason in the boiler and found out to late as it got a pin hole leak in the heat exchanger. Had to laugh, never even thought about a low water cut off in 94 if it weren't already installed on the boiler.
3 - Had to get the house rezoned out of the flood plane as the lower 2 acres has a creek flowing through it. The house sits on a hill though. Apparently the feds rezoned it around 2004, and since my dad had it paid off in 2001, he apparently never knew.
4 - Biggest pain in the butt, getting hooked up to water and sewer to the town. They put in a new water line (never there) back around 2005 and my dad said no way is he paying to hook up. Since he was in his 70's at the time and he served on town council and knew bunch of the people, they were not going to push the issue "on a old man". That said, when the house went up for sale, it did become a big issue. $5,900 JUST PAY TO TOWN TO ALLOW YOU TO DO IT without any materials or labor!
That said, realtor pretty much handled everything...
If I didn't mention it, went with realtor #1 and after about a 2 month "under contract" period, my father will be very surprised tonight. The realtor was worth his weight in Gold. Dad put his house on the market in April, and he hasn't even set foot in Pennsyvlania since the last time we were up there in February. Realtor really did take care of a lot of issues that I didn't have to touch as well (lining up a boiler guy and getting one installed at the price he did was impressive even if he didn't believe that it probably wasn't the hot water coil which he replaced first oops).
More importantly, the realtor IMO got more money out of the house than I would of thought. After all is said and done, no complaints for the commission that guy is getting as he worked hard for it IMO.
Texted back and forth, along with e-mailing the appropriate paperwork. Never had to drive back to Pa for anything.
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