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Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jack of All Trades who wrote (3308)	7/10/2002 1:42:34 PM
From: GraceZ	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306849

I have a good friend who has made a boatload investing in real estate. He almost always tries to get deals before they get to an agent so he has done a great many deals without any agent involved. If he does deal with an agent, he goes directly to the listing agent because he feels he has more bargaining power when the commish isn't split. I also have friends, a couple, who have made a bundle buying up historical waterfront properties, fixing them up to be luxury properties on the Eastern shore of Virginia. She is an agent and he does all the extensive rehab work. They almost always buy their properties before they get listed. In the past, they frequently bought older farm houses where the owners had passed away where the heirs just wanted the quickest settlement and the estate may not have had cash enough to pay the estate tax without selling the house. OTOH I had an agent recomend to my husband that he try to sell a property himself that we owned back five years ago at the bottom of the cycle. He even sent someone to us who was interested in buying a property directly without an agent. I don't expect anyone to work for free, but he did this of his own accord letting us know that was the extent of what he would do for free, that if we expected him to act as agent we'd have to negociate a fee. We passed on selling the house at such a depressed price and now five years later, we've sold it at a far better price directly to a buyer. We may even wind up financing the buyer. This means our selling cost is half the title company charges, a far cry from that 6-7% commish. This will enabled us to net far more from the sale. Since then I've talked with a number of people who sold their houses without listing them, without an agent because the market is so hot right now. Because we own several properties, I'm constantly getting letters or postcards from individuals who want to buy one of my houses from me directly.

To: Jack of All Trades who wrote (3308)	7/10/2002 4:50:14 PM
From: Jim McMannis	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 306849

RE:"Do you see much self listing going on, where the seller actually lists the house him/herself and only has to pay half the commish? Is there any downside to this?" Seeing more and more of it. From FSBOs to real estate agents who will put your house in MLS for say a $500 fee. Your listing will come up of Realtor.com if the lister is a Realtor. You show your own house. You may have to pay an agent a commission if they bring you a buyer. IMHO, you'd be better off with a full service broker. You can find ones that discount commissions. Even 4%. Then you get some service. Jim