Author Topic: Question - selling a house, go with an agent or with Comfree?  (Read 3392 times)

RetiredAt63

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ExDH and I are finally almost ready to list the matrimonial home.  He is looking at the extra money we will lose if we list with an agent, and I am looking at the extra work and hassle and just the unknown of listing with Comfree.
Pluses with Comfree - they do an MLS listing so the house is visible online, the pictures they take look good (I looked at a house I know that they listed) and cost is low and set.
Negatives with Comfree - ExDH lives in the house, I don't, so he would be the one fielding phone calls and showing the house - and I am not that sure he would be as energetic and responsive as he needs to be - he is comfortable with things as they are, I am the one who wants to get her equity out of the house.  Plus how good are they at arriving at a reasonable listing price?  EXDH is now talking about trying to get more money for the house - what it is "worth" and what we can get are not necessarily the same.  This is making me nervous, I can see us listing too high and the house not selling.
The financial settlement lists the procedure for selling the house, including the agent and the rough estimate of price, so I do have legal ground - but only if I push.

Given all this, could those who have used Comfree give an opinion on whether it is worth it to go that route?  The people I know who have listed with Comfree are testing the market, they are not in any hurry to sell, whereas I want it sold this summer.

Another Reader

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Re: Question - selling a house, go with an agent or with Comfree?
« Reply #1 on: May 28, 2015, 08:42:26 AM »
It sounds like you would like to extract the equity quickly and move on.  In your shoes, I would go with an experienced agent in your area that gets houses sold.  A good one will likely be able to get Ex-DH to cooperate.  The agent should have a thorough competitive market analysis that will counter Ex-DH's idea of asking more than the property is worth so it does not sell and he can continue to live there.  Point to the settlement agreement if you have problems getting him to move forward.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Question - selling a house, go with an agent or with Comfree?
« Reply #2 on: May 28, 2015, 02:13:13 PM »
Another Reader

That is my feeling as well - but given the equity that will go to the agent (5-6% is standard around here) I would be open to Comfree if I heard a lot of wonderful things about it.

One downside is that there are very few agents around here who handle houses in our price range, and not a lot of demand.  The middle-price houses sell easily, the big fancy ones, not nearly the demand.
The other downside, of course is that most houses sell in the summer, so we have basically June-September as a good market time.

Another Reader

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Re: Question - selling a house, go with an agent or with Comfree?
« Reply #3 on: May 28, 2015, 03:15:17 PM »
Generally, the more difficult it is to sell a property, the more you need an agent.  A good high end property agent will market the property to that group of buyers more effectively than you can.  Bread and butter properties in mid-range areas with lots of buyers and lots of comparable sales are much easier to sell on a limited representation listing. 

blue mutant

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Re: Question - selling a house, go with an agent or with Comfree?
« Reply #4 on: May 28, 2015, 04:15:16 PM »
My wife and I have only ever sold one property (a bottom of the market condo- 2007-Edmonton) but we used Comfree and were very satisfied with the result. The house sold for $12,000 above asking in less than a week; still unsure if we priced it too low or what. I do think that we were both very motivated; my wife really focused on staging and we decluttered immensely in the lead up. We had also done a lot of work on the condo ourselves and, in my view, were able to convey true pride of ownership better than an agent would have been able to. Don't know if our experience would have been or would continue to be widely applicable as Spring 2007 was pretty much the absolute peak of market frothiness. 

Beardog

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Re: Question - selling a house, go with an agent or with Comfree?
« Reply #5 on: May 28, 2015, 04:25:40 PM »
US Mustachian here ... my house is due to close in about 2 weeks, and after giving lots of thought to using a US equivalent of Comfree, I decided to list with a broker with about 5% commission.  For me, it has been a good decision.  I work full time at a stressful job.  The broker recommended that I do a relatively inexpensive piece of work which had the effect of allowing me to raise the price of the house significantly.  And he recommended a tradesperson who could do the work quickly and had the appropriate insurance.  I think the broker has earned his commission.

Another Reader

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Re: Question - selling a house, go with an agent or with Comfree?
« Reply #6 on: May 28, 2015, 04:37:49 PM »
.... still unsure if we priced it too low or what....

... were able to convey true pride of ownership better than an agent would have been able to.

The seller here has no idea if they got market value.  In a really competitive market, an agent will set up a bidding war.  Until you sell such a property in an "auction" manner, you won't know how far above list buyers are willing to go. 

"Pride of ownership" is not what attracts buyers, because it often means personalized décor.  Location, condition, and features sell property.  If it looks like it should be on HGTV, you will likely get a higher price.

The OP has a high end property with a thin market.  An agent that is knowledgeable about this type of property and is connected to other agents and the buyers that will buy this type of property will market it effectively.  That agent can make suggestions about changes that will get the property sold quickly and for the highest amount.  Such an agent may also be more effective in dealing with Ex-DH than the OP would.