Author Topic: advice for someone selling house  (Read 3595 times)

partgypsy

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advice for someone selling house
« on: September 12, 2017, 07:07:21 AM »
My mother needs to sell her house. She has an interested buyer who is interested in moving fast. He (and my mother) would prefer to do it without the help of a realtor. What are the main things she needs to do, consider in selling her house to protect herself and not have legal problems? She lives in IL if it makes a difference. she has a heloc on the house. The person is a cash buyer.

boarder42

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Re: advice for someone selling house
« Reply #1 on: September 12, 2017, 07:24:10 AM »
every state has standard forms for selling a house.  There is no reason for a realtor but it sounds like you dont know much and she doesnt either so you may want to get a real estate attorney on your side to make sure you don't sign up for anything you dont want to support.  Or just do your research a quick google search will tell you all you need to know to sell a house.

You'll just need to get a title company involved and they should have all the necessary paperwork needed to draw up the contract and they can take it from there. but again read up on it or get a lawyer so you're covered.
« Last Edit: September 12, 2017, 07:25:41 AM by boarder42 »

frugaliknowit

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Re: advice for someone selling house
« Reply #2 on: September 12, 2017, 09:19:46 AM »
Your mother needs to know what her house is worth.  She should consider either hiring an appraiser or getting a free CMA (comparative market analysis) from a realtor.  She can compare the buyer's offer to the appraisal or CMA.  If this interested party won't pay market value, your mother might consider listing the property with a realtor.

Once this interested party makes an offer that your mother would accept, she should hire a real estate attorney to handle the transaction.  If she lists the property, she should do the same.

partgypsy

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Re: advice for someone selling house
« Reply #3 on: September 12, 2017, 09:21:17 AM »
She is going to meet with a realtor this week to get comps, estimated value. But both she and the buyer would prefer not to use a realtor if feasible to make it more cost effective for each. I'll let her know about the forms by state to use, thanks!


boarder42

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Re: advice for someone selling house
« Reply #4 on: September 12, 2017, 10:59:11 AM »
She is going to meet with a realtor this week to get comps, estimated value. But both she and the buyer would prefer not to use a realtor if feasible to make it more cost effective for each. I'll let her know about the forms by state to use, thanks!

you dont have to use a realtor why do you keep bringing this up.  real estate agents serve little to no value in general and in your case they serve absolutely 0 value.

partgypsy

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Re: advice for someone selling house
« Reply #5 on: September 13, 2017, 02:16:56 PM »
She wants to see what the realtor thinks about pricing. Agree though at this point if she has a willing buyer and the price is agreeable to her, exact comps may not be the most important thing at this point. She is not intending to sign with realtor, just get info. At this point I think there are more important things for her to work on, namely getting a real estate lawyer, forms and paperwork in order.
Thanks for the advice. 

Another Reader

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Re: advice for someone selling house
« Reply #6 on: September 13, 2017, 02:25:17 PM »
This cash buyer is likely offering her significantly less than market value.  These equity thieves usually offer 50 to 70 percent of fair market value, hoping the seller just wants to be rid of the property.   Someone that can provide competent market analysis of the property will help her set a reasonable price for the property, based on the current market activity. 

If the below market cash buyer does not come up in price to something approaching fair market value, hiring an agent will save her thousands, maybe tens of thousands of dollars in this transaction.

Depending on where she lives, transactions are handled by an attorney or a title company.  The agent can advise her how escrow is handled in her area.

frugaliknowit

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Re: advice for someone selling house
« Reply #7 on: September 13, 2017, 02:43:13 PM »
This cash buyer is likely offering her significantly less than market value.  These equity thieves usually offer 50 to 70 percent of fair market value, hoping the seller just wants to be rid of the property.   Someone that can provide competent market analysis of the property will help her set a reasonable price for the property, based on the current market activity. 

If the below market cash buyer does not come up in price to something approaching fair market value, hiring an agent will save her thousands, maybe tens of thousands of dollars in this transaction.

Depending on where she lives, transactions are handled by an attorney or a title company.  The agent can advise her how escrow is handled in her area.


+1

Many times when buyers approach folks like your mother, they are looking to "steal" the property (i.e. pay below market) wasting your mother's and everyone else's time.  By your mother knowing the market value of her home, either through an appraiser (yes, she'll pay a fee, but get unbiased information) or a realtor, she will be able to intelligently evaluate and negotiate any offer. 

What kind of property is this?  Is it "cookie cutter", in which case there are a bunch of similar sales?

affordablehousing

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Re: advice for someone selling house
« Reply #8 on: September 13, 2017, 10:59:24 PM »
Let's not assume the poster's mom doesn't know what she's doing. Agents are easy to play to get MLS comps, just pretend you're looking for a house like your house. Depending on the market zestimate/redfin/trulia estimate are useful. Otherwise the sale process is straightforward, especially without a buyer needing a mortgage. The title company should direct the funds to pay off your mother's mortgage/heloc. Most important is your mom getting a fair price. I do agree that a lot of cash buyers are low ballers, but so be it.

I'm a red panda

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Re: advice for someone selling house
« Reply #9 on: September 14, 2017, 07:07:02 AM »
She is going to meet with a realtor this week to get comps, estimated value. But both she and the buyer would prefer not to use a realtor if feasible to make it more cost effective for each. I'll let her know about the forms by state to use, thanks!

This seems really rude to use a realtor to get something of value, but then not use the realtor when it comes time to pay.

If you don't want to use a realtor, don't- but then you need to do the leg work yourself.  Hire an appraiser. They'll tell you estimated value.  Unless you are in a non-disclosure state, pull comps yourself.

But don't use a professional's services if you have no desire to pay them.

(We sold our house without a realtor. We pulled comps ourself and had an appraisal done. Our buyer was our tenant and we were eager to sell, so we came down just a bit from the appraisal, but less than if we would be paying realtor fees. We hired a closing attorney to facilitate the sale.)

Villanelle

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Re: advice for someone selling house
« Reply #10 on: September 14, 2017, 07:22:48 AM »
My dad inherited his mother's condo and then sold it to my husband and me.  No need for a realtor, but we did contact one and had her do all the paperwork for us, since she was a professional.  We went in telling here that there was already a buyer (me!) and an agreed upon price and we just needed help with the paperwork.  IIRC, we paid her $2000 in 2001.  Realtor fees would have been about $18,000 (assuming 6%). 

partgypsy

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Re: advice for someone selling house
« Reply #11 on: September 14, 2017, 09:04:48 AM »
OK here's a follow up question. She has a real buyer, who has offered 370-390K. The realtor met, says even with all the work that needs to be done with her house, it's closer to 420K in value. And that she should counter offer with a significantly higher number. And that she shouldn't be scared about scaring that guy off, because there are a lot of flippers who would be interested in her house.
In that situation, what number would you counter-offer with? The thing is, she really does need to sell her house. She can't afford a long drawn out process. Zillow estimate is a little over 430K.

I'm a red panda

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Re: advice for someone selling house
« Reply #12 on: September 14, 2017, 09:22:49 AM »
OK here's a follow up question. She has a real buyer, who has offered 370-390K. The realtor met, says even with all the work that needs to be done with her house, it's closer to 420K in value. And that she should counter offer with a significantly higher number. And that she shouldn't be scared about scaring that guy off, because there are a lot of flippers who would be interested in her house.
In that situation, what number would you counter-offer with? The thing is, she really does need to sell her house. She can't afford a long drawn out process. Zillow estimate is a little over 430K.

"Closer to $420,000 in value"? In a sale that is done by a realtor. So what's the 6% cut that the realtor gets? about 25,000.

So if she gets $390,000 with no realtor fees to pay, she is only about $5k worse off than she would have been listing with a realtor.  And she has the buyer now. No waiting.

Counter with $405k, accept $390k.
« Last Edit: September 14, 2017, 11:30:03 AM by iowajes »

frugaliknowit

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Re: advice for someone selling house
« Reply #13 on: September 14, 2017, 10:20:41 AM »
Realtor says 420K based on what (her intuition...)?  Has your mom at least seen and driven by the comps?  How does the buyer come up with 390K?

This is why you should do "first things first":  An appraisal or full CMA before a negotiation.

Maybe the counter should be:  We will put it on the market for full market value + ~5%.

Finallyunderstand

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Re: advice for someone selling house
« Reply #14 on: September 14, 2017, 10:22:07 AM »
Another option if the current cash buyer won't come up (call them buyer A), is to list with the realtor with an exclusion for buyer A.  You can try a higher price with the realtor to see if their services are really providing a positive benefit.  Do a 1 month contract if they feel the market is "hot" and can get a quick, high priced sale.  If it doesn't sell in a month go back to the cash buyer at a lower price but without the realtor fees. 

I'm a realtor and I've seen people sell many homes themselves and remark how they saved the realtor fees.  Many of those times they would have made more with the realtor, at least in my area.  Homes have been in multiple offer situations left and right and with proper exposure can drive prices above list price. 

boarder42

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Re: advice for someone selling house
« Reply #15 on: September 14, 2017, 12:14:02 PM »
You could also just put it out on zillow yourself.  Most people in my area check zillow as their source for real estate listings be it MLS or not.  Really We should get rid of the MLS racket the Real Estate agents have drawn up but who knows when that will end with lobbyists.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!