Real estate agent
My wife was my real estate agent and I used to be at one time. You are right about agents not showing homes for sale by owner or low commission unless their client finds the home and wants to see it. Our strategy was to offer an extra 1% to buyer's agent if sold within 30 days. We had no illusions about selling it that quickly but what it did was result in a lot of showings and therefore a lot of agents from different agencies seeing the house. It was not sold in 30 days so we withdrew the extra commission but we had showings every week from the same agents and others who worked with them.
With the end of the first time buyer credit quickly approaching we made the decision to lower the price to an amount we calculated would get more interest. If that did not work we were going to pull it off the market and just stay whet we were. Well we sold it and it appraised right on the nose so I think we did a pretty good job. My agent commission was less due to my wife being my agent so that helped plus i will get my $6500 repeat home buyer credit next year which i would not have gotten if i waited With my greatly reduced cost of living here I will be able to save almost 40% of my salary each year. If I stayed in NJ I would save very little if any.
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