[JimJohnson]

The properties of the villages charges 6% fee. What agency will list my home for less 5% at closing?

[John_W]

The last time I sold a home was in Maryland in 2011. I knew of a local realtor that charged 4.5%, so I had focused on them. I went to their website and found they had about 30 agents. I looked at each agent and most of them had 1, or 2 or maybe 3 listings except one agent had over 30 listings. I called her and listed my home that night and it sold by noon the next day. True Story.

Here is a link to Zillow and a search of the top selling and listing agents in Sumter County. Since we don't know their commission rates, I would click on each agent and look at their website and see what info is available and the listings they have. Skip the top 3, featured means they paid for their spot. Start with Robbie Shoemaker and work your way down.

https://www.zillow.com/sumter-county...%20County%20FL

[The Gerbs]

There are cons to listing with a brokerage house which charges less than the standard market commission.... There are realtors that will not show your home to prospective buyers as they will be receiving a lower commission. They will have to do the same amount of work for less money. When there are many homes on the market, it is not always wise to try to reduce the commission you will be paying.

[John_W]

There is also the flat rate broker, these were popular in Maryland. The normal commission split is 4 ways, 1/4 to the listing agent, 1/4 to his broker, 1/4 to the selling agent and 1/4 to the selling agent's broker. The flat rate broker will charge a fee of $75 - $300 and that is all they will get. You pay them and they will put your home in the MLS system, they may take photos depending on their fee and they will not do much more. The other 3 parties will still get their normal commission, so your saving the difference between $75- $300 and what a normal 1/4 would of been. On a $300K home at 6% would be 4 way split of $18,000. However in this case, the llsting agent would not be getting the 1/4 share of $4500, but instead already received $300. There is a savings and you're getting MLS exposure. Here I did a search of flat rate brokers

flat rate broker sumter county florida - Google Search

[retiredguy123]

I don't think the initial listing fee is all that important. You can list the house with a 6 percent fee, but, if they bring you an offer less than full price, you can always renegotiate their fee at that time.

[Toymeister]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

I don't think the initial listing fee is all that important. You can list the house with a 6 percent fee, but, if they bring you an offer less than full price, you can always renegotiate their fee at that time.

No you can't. The listing fee (almost always a percentage of the sale price) is set at the time of the listing. Now, some agents may throw some of their commission into the price but that is not a renegotiation it is also unlikely.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Toymeister

No you can't. The listing fee (almost always a percentage of the sale price) is set at the time of the listing. Now, some agents may throw some of their commission into the price but that is not a renegotiation it is also unlikely.

I don't agree. The last house I sold had a 5.5 percent commission in the listing agreement. The agent brought me an offer which was less than the asking price. So, I asked her to reduce the commission to 5 percent. She agreed and modified the listing contract. The deal went through. I considered that to be a renegotiation of the commission because I had no obligation to accept a lower offer than the full listed price.

[Nucky]

List the house at whatever percentage the Realtor asks for. When they bring you the offer shed a tear and tell them how close they are but it's going to take a little more
$$ MONEY $$ to ring the bell. The thing that makes this work is that you have to say you are going to take the house off the market if this deal doesn't fly. It's amazing what they will do when they know you are serious. They want to close the listing and a smaller piece pie of the pie is better than no pie at all.

I never ever give more than a 90-day contract. The could stand on their head and spit Chicklets more time isn't going to happen.

[JimJohnson]

Good advice. I will probably use the villages properties. We want to downsize to a courtyard villa, and they will give back one % so, that may be in our best interest.

[ColdNoMore]

Whatever happened to honesty, a person's word meaning something or adhering to a contract...they willingly signed?

If you want a 5.5% commission...it should state that in the contract upfront.

To give your word on a percentage, then try to change it or play games by threatening to take it off the market when an offer is made to purchase...shows a real lack of integrity/honesty/ethics by the seller IMHO.

It's just like agreeing to a price for work, deciding to not pay the agreed price based on made up excuses...then telling the contractor to "just sue me."

Despicable.

[jacksonbrown]

Call around, there are MLS, Licensed Realtors that do business here, in The Villages, that will place your home under contract for less than a 6% commission.

You will be represented by a Realtor, not a "sales agent" AND your home will appear in Zillow, Trulia, and other on-line, world-wide listing services.

[JimJohnson]

We are going to sell our designer with large lot, T&D pool/birdcage. Any thoughts on the best time of the year to sell. The snowbirds are coming back now, but the hot summer would be more appealing for the pool. We are ready to sell, but not in a rush.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Bay Kid]

You usually get what you pay for.

[justjim]

Suffice it to say, we have purchased and sold several homes. The main thing to keep in mind is to list your home at a “fair market price”. A good Realtor will make a market analysis for you. I’ve seen it happen several times where an owner tried to “squeeze” more money out of his house and ended up in the long run taking much less than the market price for his house. In The Villages, if your house is priced at or just below “market”, it will sell rather quickly and you can then move on.

[JimJohnson]

Originally Posted by justjim

Suffice it to say, we have purchased and sold several homes. The main thing to keep in mind is to list your home at a “fair market price”. A good Realtor will make a market analysis for you. I’ve seen it happen several times where an owner tried to “squeeze” more money out of his house and ended up in the long run taking much less than the market price for his house. In The Villages, if your house is priced at or just below “market”, it will sell rather quickly and you can then move on.

Great point, and the Villages does a market analysis before you list. One more reason to go with them. They also give 1% back if you buy new from them so that’s the 5% I’m looking for anyway.
While looking at the cost of living on their website, I see a cost Development District Assessment. what does that mean?