The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Real Estate and Landlording => Topic started by: Quist on March 13, 2017, 08:18:44 PM
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Hey all, first time poster here. I'm freeing myself of a second home I own and am planning on listing it in the next few months. It's in a rural area a couple hours outside of a large city that has a slow but steady vacation/second home market that is on the upswing. It's my first ever home sale, and I'd love any experienced opinions on brokers, as I'm a bit torn between two:
The first, who sold me the house, is local to the town, knows everything and everyone in the immediate small town area. This is a plus for people looking specifically in this town (though often people are just looking in the larger area it falls into), but otherwise the operation is small--essentially just the one person--and doesn't have a huge reach or much of the typical broker marketing/hand holding occasionally required. The broker is fine and personable, but not your typical salesperson type.
The second, who I haven't had contact with, is well known for the larger region the town is in (a collection of other towns and similar rural getaway areas), and is much more of an established entity with a reputation. Has a brokerage with a dozen or so agents, gets quoted in the occasional news article about the area, and objectively seems like more of a true salesperson. However, the firm also gets a bad rap sometimes for their handling of rentals in the buildings they own (tons of turnover/complaints from college kids etc in the area), which may or may not reflect on their general approach.
I know every house/situation is different, but I'd love to know what people have found most successful in the past in selecting their broker. I'd like to get a good price, but also don't plan on sitting on it for too long. Local knowledge or marketing reach? More approachable, or more sales-inclined?
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Brains. Hire the smartest person. I say this because I have encountered so many agents who make dumb or selfish decisions on behalf of their clients to close a sale. If you hire someone, understand that they are talking in lieu of you, so get the person who aligns with your ideals and has high intelligence.
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I agree: you want the smartest, most experienced marketing for the sales side, one who has extensive contacts & can reach multiple types of buyers. Above all, you want an agent who will skillfully represent & negotiate your side of the transaction.
When you say that agent #1 sold you the house, was that agent representing you or the seller? It makes a big difference -- buyer and seller should each have their own agent.
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Would you consider doing FSBO? You can save quite a bit of money. Also, you wouldn't believe how nice it is to work with 100% transparency with the buyer. It's really nice.
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If the property is any distance away from the owner, FSBO would be a disaster, IMO. A remote and/or vacation area needs more marketing than a city area to make potential buyers aware.
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If the property is any distance away from the owner, FSBO would be a disaster, IMO. A remote and/or vacation area needs more marketing than a city area to make potential buyers aware.
If it's far away from OP, yes. But if the OP is in the area, it could be worth a try.