Any advice to sell a house??? FAST!!
 

I've been so busy lately all I've had time to do is read posts, but now I need some help. We are trying to sell our house in Winterville and move back to Richlands NC, which is really close to Jacksonville. That is where I am from and all of my family is there, and since it's just the three of us here, it's kinda lonely. Also, we have a 5 year old that we could REALLY use some help with, as Ken and I work opposite days so we can take care of him. I have a few college kids that help me sporadically, but something a little more reliable is needed.

So, I met with a realtor, he wants to charge me 10K to sell the house...that is his 6% comission. He sold me the house originally and I was going to purchase another home through him after the sale, but not now. That would be like 30K I paid him!! So, I'm trying the "for sale by owner" thing. Any ideas, suggestions, words of wisdom? I would LOVE to be out by late August as that is when school starts back home. HELP!!!

Have You Seen Flip That House?
 

There is a show on a&e,which will be on at 8:00 Sunday called flip that house. The company is Trademark Investments and they are down south by you. Maybe they would buy it, they fix and flip. Just an idea. They are in Charleston http://www.locountry.com/trademarkproperties.html http://www.trademark-properties.com/ Good Luck

OH gosh...I wish that could be the case. But besides painting the storage building, I don't know what they would do!! The house is practically new, only 2 years old, and I JUST PUT new floors in. New hardwood and carpet. It stinks! Also, just painted in the spring. Wasn't planning on moving, but...now it's gotta go!! Thanks for the idea though. I think I'll watch the show to see if I can get any ideas from them.

I can't really help you with how to sell with or without a realtor as I am trying to decide that also for a property I'm about ready to sell too. I just hate paying so many thousands for a few hours of work. :confuse2:

To get your home ready clear up any clutter or personal items such as family pictures.

If you don't mind a little bit of hard work spend some time to make sure your yard is nicely landscaped and inviting. A fresh coat of paint in the house in a neuteral color helps too.

I am one of those that believes a little bit of hard work and investment can gain you a quick sale and help you make thousands more on your sale.

All the best!! :)

You know, that's kinda what I thought too when we wanted to sell our previous house. Seemed like those realtors make a lot of $ for doing not much. BUT after dealing with people traipsing though our house while we were there and having to make all the appointments - a lot of which never even showed up, I got fed up with it all. That's not even the worse part. You really have to know quite a bit about all of the laws and contract issues so that you don't get taken advantage of. There are so many things that you can do wrong without realizing it that can leave you wide open for a lawsuit.

A friend of mine sold hers recently "by owner" but she paid a realtor a few hundred bucks to draw up the basic contract and make sure they were handling everything correctly.

We ended up hiring a realtor for ours after messing with it for only 2 weeks and then she had it sold in less than 2 weeks! Such a relief for us. It would have felt better to not have to pay that commission but she had actually put a higher price on it than we did so we ended up coming out pretty much like we wanted.

Good luck! If you do decide to do it yourself, there are a lot of websites out there (I sure did look at quite a few) that can help and you can even buy all the right forms with instructions too.

only advice?? I have is bury a starue of St. Joseph upside down on your property and it will sell. It always seems to work for everyone I know including myself!!

I am a licensed realtor in Maryland, and have a couple of pieces of advice for you. #1 place a couple of ads in newspapers in your area nothing elaborate just a couple of pictures of the house and your information. #2 Stage the house minimize any clutter that you have so the house is inviting to perspective buyers. #3 let all of your neighbors know as well since they may have family that would be interested and like to live close to them. I would also reach out to any Realtor friends that you may. Doing FSBO's are tough because Realtors aren't as likely to bring buyers there since there is no commission set in stone. Let the Realtors you do speak with know that you are willing to pay them a commission maybe 2%. I know from experience it's much easier when the people interested in buying your home have a buyers agent so offering a commission will help get the house sold. That way you also have a better chance of knowing they are qualified. PM me if you need more suggestions I don't want to make this too long.

PS If you get a private buyer with no Realtor suggest that they provide you a pre-approval letter from the lender that way you feel safer. Good luck and keep us posted.

Where can I find a statue??? I've heard this before, so I guess I need to get diggin'!

I will pm you later this evening...Thanks

I've heard that it's a good idea to remove all family pictures when you have an open house- apparently it's easier for potential owners to picture themselves living there when they're not looking at your family in the house. I'm not sure if this actually has any affect, it's just an interesting point I've read along the way and remembered.

We have someone in our neighborhood selling their home themselves. They have a really nice banner saying "House for Sale" (or something), which I think looks a lot better than the "For sale by owner" signs that you can get at any store, and an informational sheet with lots of color pictures available for people to see the interior of the house. I know it can be done on your own; I would definitely try to do tons of research to save $10K- that could be a remodel of one of the rooms in your new house, a hot tub...

Good luck!!

I was also told to do this. I didn't bury it upside down and I'm not Catholic, but it worked. I guess he is known as the traveling saint?

Seriously, make your house as clutter free and keep it as clean as possible. If you have a lot of furniture or stuffed closets pack it up and move it to a storage shed. Ask your friends to evaluate your home and give honest opinions and suggestions. All appliances, and bathroom fixtures should shine. Sometimes we can look right past things just because we are use to seeing them. Make the front door as inviting as possible, flowers are always a nice touch.

Here homes are actually selling for more than their asking price by bidding wars so the realtors are definitely "earning" their money by being able to get a higher price for the house.

Good luck, you can always try it yourself for a few weeks and if you're not getting the response you need to sell it that quickly you can then list it.