I don't mean to preach to the choir, but I think that sharing a real life experience of selling my house to you proves that it really does pay to use a REALTOR®.
Back in November 2010, my wife and I decided it was time to move. We've only been looking for about 7 years or so - trying to decide which neighborhood to settle in. We knew we wanted in the "Deer Creek" school system, because now that our kids are getting older, it's all about the school system, right? At least a really big part.
Ashlyn (my wife) and I decided to build, and not buy. Based on what we figured we could get out of our house and what we've saved, we could actually afford to get exactly what we want in the neighborhood that we fell in love with. So we put our house up FSBO back in November 2010.
Why FSBO? For a number of reasons but mainly to try to save money. Jack Pratt Signs has been supplying the local Oklahoma City Metro with yard signs since 1950, so we pretty much know everyone in town that is in real estate. So, who am I going to use? I felt that I was damned if I used a REALTOR®, and damned if I didn't. We weren't in any rush necessarily because we were building, so we gave it our best shot.
Guess how many offers we got? One (1), and it sucked, real bad. One formal contract that lowballed us so bad that I was tempted to not even counter. But we did, and then got into a counter match via text messaging with the buyers agent that lasted through a weekend. It finally fizzeled away - she put a contract on another house less expensive than mine in a different area.
Though Ashlyn and I were not in any rush, summer was approaching and we found ourselves in the middle of June with nothing, nada, ziltch. Finnaly, we decided to use a friend of mine, TJ Jordan, whom I've known for 23 years. I was a little nervous using a friend, but I got exhausted trying to figure out what agent I should list with.
The first thing TJ did was remeasure the house. Guess what? We picked up an extra 80 - 100 square feet (legitimate, too). So, we were able to list the house with MLS at a higher price but at the same dollar/square foot. Basically, it went down like this:
We initally asked FSBO at $289,000. Got nothin... TJ took the listing, and recommended we ask $299,900
For 5 weeks we got more action than we ever did in the last 7 months. TJ suggested we reduce the price to $289,000. In the 6th week, we got a solid offer - we countered and they accepted!! $282,000. $7000 off our initial offer - pretty good, huh??
We closed last Friday and are now officially homeless - which I guess is better than having two mortgages.. We'll be living with my mom and dad until late October when our house is scheduled to be finished. So what have I learned?
Just because one can list a house FSBO doesn't mean it ought to be done. You can drive a car with your foot if you had to, but that doesn't make it a good idea, right??!!?
You guys don't tell me how to make signs, so I won't presume to know how to sell real estate either. That sounds pretty fair, don't you think?
Furthermore, the money paid in commission to TJ pails in comparison of what I could have saved every damn month if only I listed it with him last November!! But, that's water under the bridge. Ashlyn and I got what we "needed" and the buyer felt like he got a steal of a deal. Plus, I'm glad to help TJ as a friend and a loyal customer to my company.
I hope to stay in our new house forever and ever, however, if we do decide to move again, rest assured, I'll be calling a REALTOR®!
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