Sold my house in 7 days...

[SampSon]

Why did you drop the price that much? You could have dropped it less and still made the sale.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: KK

Originally posted by: Krazy4Real
There is always a certain % of commission that is split between the buying and selling agent. Since he didn't have a selling agent he got to keep that portion.

why would he have to pay an agent though, he's not using one? the buyer should be the one paying.

Doesn't work that way...you can elect not to sell to them though.

 

[smack Down]

Originally posted by: richardycc
you took the $12k off, so you ended up taking the same amount of money, on top of that you had to pay the buyer's agent??? you could've used an agent and had him do all the work for you for more money, and why didn't you? if thats not stupid, I dont know what is.

Your assuming that he would have gotten more money with the agent. Nothing supports that claim.

 

[TitanDiddly]

Yesterday, I sold my truck in 50 minutes.

 

[richardycc]

Originally posted by: smack Down

Originally posted by: richardycc
you took the $12k off, so you ended up taking the same amount of money, on top of that you had to pay the buyer's agent??? you could've used an agent and had him do all the work for you for more money, and why didn't you? if thats not stupid, I dont know what is.

Your assuming that he would have gotten more money with the agent. Nothing supports that claim.

no, learn how to read, he took $12k off, which would have been the commission if he hired a Realtor, and he is paying an extra 2% for the buyer's agent, so he is essentially paying the buyer the Realtors' commissions to buy his home, and an extra 2%, not to mention another $200-$500 to get on the MLS, and he is very proud of his accompishment...:roll:

 

[smack Down]

Originally posted by: richardycc

Originally posted by: smack Down

Originally posted by: richardycc
you took the $12k off, so you ended up taking the same amount of money, on top of that you had to pay the buyer's agent??? you could've used an agent and had him do all the work for you for more money, and why didn't you? if thats not stupid, I dont know what is.

Your assuming that he would have gotten more money with the agent. Nothing supports that claim.

no, learn how to read, he took $12k off, which would have been the commission if he hired a Realtor, and he is paying an extra 2% for the buyer's agent, so he is essentially paying the buyer the Realtors' commissions to buy his home, and an extra 2%, not to mention another $200-$500 to get on the MLS, and he is very proud of his accompishment...:roll:

Your assuming that the 12K is the full commission and not just the commission he would have paid the selling agent. And it is 12K off some imaginary price, we have no idea what the house would have sold for if a realtor was used or how long it would have taken.

 

[Rogodin2]

I'm curious. How did you acqure your home?

Rogo

 

[Greenman]

I think it's really odd that no one wonders why you would sell your house to go to school. Unless you're going to make a pretty huge salary when your done, it just doesn't seem to add up.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Greenman
I think it's really odd that no one wonders why you would sell your house to go to school. Unless you're going to make a pretty huge salary when your done, it just doesn't seem to add up.

More than likely he didn't own the home free and clear. He is merely reacquiring his equity to use as a springboard to a degree.

It doesn't really take a HUGE salary to make a substantial life improvement.

Many here seem to have no clue how things work though...

 

[Rogodin2]

Many here seem to have no clue how things work though...

OHRLY?

How do 'things work'?

That's not even elitist-it's just a logical fallacy

Rogo

 

[xgsound]

To those wondering why the OP lowered the price by $12K, it's to get the other $XXXK sooner. He can also get his tax and insurance money back sooner. Until the deal is done and the check is cashed he has $0 and probably a payment. Time is money. This way even if this deal falls through, he can still get another buyer (still summer selling season) by the fall and get to his graduate (whatever city that is in) program on time. He also says that the closing date works well for him, which is a very important consideration made easier to negotiate with a lower price.

I say he did good. Good luck in grad school.


Jim

 

[Greenman]

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: Greenman
I think it's really odd that no one wonders why you would sell your house to go to school. Unless you're going to make a pretty huge salary when your done, it just doesn't seem to add up.

More than likely he didn't own the home free and clear. He is merely reacquiring his equity to use as a springboard to a degree.

It doesn't really take a HUGE salary to make a substantial life improvement.

Many here seem to have no clue how things work though...

I know pretty well how things work. Selling your home for an education might make sense, but if he has equity, it might also make a lot of sense to leverage that equity and produce an income flow from it. Right of the bat he gave away 12k, and lost his mortgage interest deduction as well.
Obviously I don't know the OP's situation, but you don't either, so how is your speculation any better than mine?

 

[chuckywang]

Originally posted by: jiggahertz
If you took the money you would have paid the agent and dropped the price by that amount, then you're pretty much doing their work for free. Would have been smarter to drop it by maybe half of their commission. Otherwise, what's the point? The buyer gets the money instead of the Realtor.

And if the house was priced $12k higher, it might have taken much longer to sell.

Anyways, I thought the "Realtor" was the middle-man between the buyer and seller, ie, he doesn't work for either of them, but rather for both of them to try to pair them up. Does it not work like that? I keep on hearing "buyer's agent" and "seller's agent" in this thread. I thought they were one and the same....

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: NoMoMoney
I'm amazed. I had to sell my house to go to grad school this fall. I talked to several Realtors (4) and was unimpressed with them all. 2 were owners of their offices for big name franchises.

I decided to list myself paying someone to put me on MLS. I took the 12K that I was saving by not paying commission to a listing agent and dropped my price by it. Had 2 written offers and a third verbal one the first week. Accepted one on Friday and have the inspection this week.

I still had to pay the buyer's agent 2% and about 1K in listing and legal fees from my side of things. 7 days, not bad, probably means I could of asked for more $! Oh well, quick sale and a closing day that I wanted.

I'm in Boston area, so the market is doing OK. Not good, but I don't think bad. Average house is on the market for 60 days or so.

If you dropped the price by the amount you would have paid a listing agent then what was the point? You did all the work and saved no money. Congrats! Oh, and you probably sold your house for less than it was worth. Congrats again.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Greenman

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: Greenman
I think it's really odd that no one wonders why you would sell your house to go to school. Unless you're going to make a pretty huge salary when your done, it just doesn't seem to add up.

More than likely he didn't own the home free and clear. He is merely reacquiring his equity to use as a springboard to a degree.

It doesn't really take a HUGE salary to make a substantial life improvement.

Many here seem to have no clue how things work though...

I know pretty well how things work. Selling your home for an education might make sense, but if he has equity, it might also make a lot of sense to leverage that equity and produce an income flow from it. Right of the bat he gave away 12k, and lost his mortgage interest deduction as well.
Obviously I don't know the OP's situation, but you don't either, so how is your speculation any better than mine?

If you are going to school full time chances are the interest deduction is not going to matter. Going to grad school is usually a full-time proposition. Also it's fairly expensive. Using the equity to start over fresh IMHO is pretty smart.

Being a landlord is also going to be a difficult deal if one is planning on going back to school unless you have already a lot of experience in it. Either way though your tenants calling at 2am because a water heater burst and you having a final exam that morning is a no win situation.

To the other poster: I don't know what elitist has to do with it...it's pretty clear when you have people that have not even lived on their own, and many more not ever owning a home commenting here.

It's like many threads though, people feel the need to post even though they have no idea about the situation other than what they think is the right answer.

 

[mdcrab]

1. Maybe his house is in a different location than the Graduate School and that is why he had to sell. Taking care of an out-of-town rental property while doing graduate studies could keep one pretty busy.

2. Sometimes it is better to leave some money on the in exchange for a quick sale.

3. Not a done deal till it closes.

mdcrab

 

[Greenman]

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: Greenman

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: Greenman
I think it's really odd that no one wonders why you would sell your house to go to school. Unless you're going to make a pretty huge salary when your done, it just doesn't seem to add up.

More than likely he didn't own the home free and clear. He is merely reacquiring his equity to use as a springboard to a degree.

It doesn't really take a HUGE salary to make a substantial life improvement.

Many here seem to have no clue how things work though...

I know pretty well how things work. Selling your home for an education might make sense, but if he has equity, it might also make a lot of sense to leverage that equity and produce an income flow from it. Right of the bat he gave away 12k, and lost his mortgage interest deduction as well.
Obviously I don't know the OP's situation, but you don't either, so how is your speculation any better than mine?

If you are going to school full time chances are the interest deduction is not going to matter. Going to grad school is usually a full-time proposition. Also it's fairly expensive. Using the equity to start over fresh IMHO is pretty smart.

Being a landlord is also going to be a difficult deal if one is planning on going back to school unless you have already a lot of experience in it. Either way though your tenants calling at 2am because a water heater burst and you having a final exam that morning is a no win situation.

To the other poster: I don't know what elitist has to do with it...it's pretty clear when you have people that have not even lived on their own, and many more not ever owning a home commenting here.

It's like many threads though, people feel the need to post even though they have no idea about the situation other than what they think is the right answer.

Hi Pot! My name is Kettle!

 

[Conky]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: NoMoMoney
I'm amazed. I had to sell my house to go to grad school this fall. I talked to several Realtors (4) and was unimpressed with them all. 2 were owners of their offices for big name franchises.

I decided to list myself paying someone to put me on MLS. I took the 12K that I was saving by not paying commission to a listing agent and dropped my price by it. Had 2 written offers and a third verbal one the first week. Accepted one on Friday and have the inspection this week.

I still had to pay the buyer's agent 2% and about 1K in listing and legal fees from my side of things. 7 days, not bad, probably means I could of asked for more $! Oh well, quick sale and a closing day that I wanted.

I'm in Boston area, so the market is doing OK. Not good, but I don't think bad. Average house is on the market for 60 days or so.

If you dropped the price by the amount you would have paid a listing agent then what was the point? You did all the work and saved no money. Congrats! Oh, and you probably sold your house for less than it was worth. Congrats again.

He pulls his own teeth too to save on dentistry costs. Who needs professionals of any sort? :laugh:

 

[jadinolf]

Originally posted by: smack Down

Originally posted by: jadinolf
My hat is off to you.There are homes in my neighborhood that have been on the market for well over a year.

The only reason a home takes a long time to sale is that the price is to high or the house is different, like a light house or something.

Yep, that is usually the case but these homes all approach 900 grand and that's a lotta money.

edit: forgot two homes in the 1.8 million category.

 

[postmortemIA]

if he has nasty monthly payment on house, he basically cannot afford it anymore. Grad school=livin' like bum

 

[NoMoMoney]

Originally posted by: jiggahertz
If you took the money you would have paid the agent and dropped the price by that amount, then you're pretty much doing their work for free. Would have been smarter to drop it by maybe half of their commission. Otherwise, what's the point? The buyer gets the money instead of the Realtor.

The point is I sold in 7 days by dropping the price. I took 1 day off of work and had an open house that lasted 3 hours on a Sunday. I talked to 4 Realtors, 2 said they would not take the listing if I wanted to ask more then 420,000. One said 425,000 and the other was out in left field and said I could ask 450,000 (she was just trying to get me to sign). I listed for 420,000 and accepted 410,000 with some other perks (I wanted to get 412) from the buyer. I wanted to come out of the deal with over 400 after commissions.

Had I gone with a Realtor I would of had to get an offer for 422,000. I did very little work, placing an ad in the Boston Globe took all of 2 minutes, that was the only thing I wouldn't of done if I went with a Realtor. Oh, I took the pictures too. Other then that I did no additional work.

 

[NoMoMoney]

Originally posted by: richardycc
you took the $12k off, so you ended up taking the same amount of money, on top of that you had to pay the buyer's agent??? you could've used an agent and had him do all the work for you for more money, and why didn't you? if thats not stupid, I dont know what is.

Had I gone with an agent I would of paid 4 - 5 %, I dropped the price by the 3% that I saved and factored in paying the 2% to buyers agent. An appraisal (professional one, not just a realtor) put my house value at 430 K. See my post one up about what Realtors told me. I listed at 420,000.

A note for those that will use a Realtor. For those of you that go with a 4% commission you are shooting yourself in the foot, your Realtor will only work up to his/her full potential for 5. He will treat you as a second rate listing at 4% or you are getting a newbie that has no experience. You think you are getting a deal, but they won't run featured listings, take the time to go through and tell you what to change, or much of anything else. If it is a newbie you are better off on your own.

 

[NoMoMoney]

Originally posted by: SampSon
Why did you drop the price that much? You could have dropped it less and still made the sale.

You are probably correct. I didn't think it would sell that fast. I wish I had listed at 425,000 or 430,000. Hindsight is always 20/20.

 

[NoMoMoney]

Originally posted by: Rogodin2
I'm curious. How did you acqure your home?

Rogo

I acquired my home through a poker game.

Just kidding. I used a Realtor that sold my last house. Back then the MLS listing only option wasn't really there. It was just FSBO. I valued her help for the first time, but looking back, she didn't add any value to my house search (she had insight on selling the house, but it was a smaller commission since my last house sold for 230K, I felt it was worth it for that part). I found my current house on MLS, I went to an open house, and then I called her to make the offer. She may of had a few things to say during negotiations, but when I bought there wasn't any negotiations since it was a seller's market! Your bank/lawyer is your best friend when buying a house, they make sure you go through all the motions.

 

[NoMoMoney]

Originally posted by: Greenman
I think it's really odd that no one wonders why you would sell your house to go to school. Unless you're going to make a pretty huge salary when your done, it just doesn't seem to add up.

The basic reason is that if the roof goes, the heating system, or anything else, I will not be working and would have to take on more debt (via a HELOC or other means) to repair. There is also the constant maintenance (mowing, painting, etc) that comes into play. I had 25% equity in my house that I bought 3 years ago. But I didn't want to push the envelope on debt, not my style. I prefer to be debt free.

I can't work while I am in school and yes, I will be making a much larger pay check when I get out and will most likely have to move to another state. But this thread is not about salary e-penis, just about selling my house