Title Companies
 

I'm thinking about selling a house on my own, FSBO. If you've had experience with that in The Villages what title company did you use? Looking back, would you have used a realtor instead?

It's worth it to give it a shot FSBO, but be prepared to be bombarded by realtors who will tell you they have a buyer, but they really just want to list your house. Don't believe the "realtors won't show your fsbo house" line, they absolutely will if you agree to pay them their percentage.

Anyone who doesn't use a Broker, is making a huge mistake .. especially in a down market.

Tri-County and Freedom Title and I would not use a listing realtor but always welcome buyer's realtors at 2.5% commission. I would also suggest paying the small fee to get on the MLS.

"Anyone" and "huge" is not accurate. I'll give you most and significant.

. Are you simply trying to avoid paying broker commission? If your home is move-in ready and offers things similar homes in your area do not, you can still work with a broker and add extra to the purchase price to cover their commission. I would at the very least have a broker look at your home and advise you what sales price they will be asking. You are under no obligation to work with them if you can not agree on price.
But, on the other hand, you may be pleasantly surprised. Sometimes, they already have a buyer looking for your type of home. You will never know unless you try!

I am amazed at how many people do not understand the value of marketing and sales experience. They think that they will save the broker commission by listing their house as a FSBO. It just doesn't work that way. The broker should be able to sell the house for enough money to cover their commission.

All my friend's houses, including my own, were sold/bought without agents. Word of mouth is all is needed usually. It's easy to figure out fair value price of your home and you just fill out a couple pages of info at title office. I used Advantage Title 352 430 1328. Good luck!

Tri County will give you a package for your closing to help you fill out what's necessary - all title companies do not do that anymore even if they once did. I used Tried County and was up north 2 years ago to sell a rental courtyard villa and all went smoothly. Call around - that's what I did. And for what it's worth try a FSBO especially if your home is tip top.

For either a FSBO or realtor sale I would avoid Advantage Title. I had a dispute with the buyer who walked away.

I had to sue Advantage to get my defaulted good faith deposit. I prevailed but not after tolerating their arrogance and ghosting. It took seven months to drag them through the court system.

I have no doubt that they could handle a smooth transaction but as a seller, you never know when you will get a troublesome buyer or a difficult situation.

I am shocked, SHOCKED, that the most frugal poster on TOTV would pay a Realtor commission. I'm at a loss for words...

They would need to earn it.

Can't remember the name of the title company we used, it's the Bldg on the left going east past Buena Vista. I think it was Advantage Title.

I remember selling my father's house years ago. The commission was 6%. For that, the listing agent had to place newspaper ads (which they paid for), drove prospects around (which they paid for), arranged the paperwork (standard forms designed to protect the sale and the agent, not the seller) and so forth. The total commission was about $6,000. The listing agent and selling agent split the 6% and then the listing agent split her commission with her broker. That left the listing agent about $1,500 which was about right for all the work they put into it.

Now though, if I sell my house for $600,000, the commission would be $36,000. There is little advertising cost (no one puts ads in the newspaper, it is all online), the agents may or may not drive people around (instead they ask the prospect to meet them at the address), the paperwork is standardized, again to protect the agent and the sale and not the seller). So, what are they doing extra that commands they get $9,000 (after the splits with the selling agent and the broker) instead of $1,500. I really do not see what they do as creating that type of value. Moreover, many listing contracts now call for the seller to pay an additional $295 for some ridiculous kitchen sink expense (which is total nonsense).

Moreover, the listing agent has one interest only...get their commission. So, if they can't sell my house immediately for $600,000, they will say the price is too high. They suggest, perchance lowering it to $550,000. By doing so, I immediately lose $50,000 by negotiating against myself. What did it cost the listing agent. ...$750 (1/2 of 1/2 of 6%). That is what the price reduction cost them of their share of the $36,000. Wow! Talk about high way robbery! I lose 50,000. The agent loses 750. Yeah, as you can see, I like to deal with agents (cough cough).

So when would I use a real estate agent? If I needed to unload the property yesterday and had no interest at all in maximizing my return. Most agents I have dealt with in my life have been less than straightforward. Some have just been total losers or liars or charlatans. I am not charmed by an agent who is nice and knows the market (the internet gives me current asking prices of houses nearby in similar condition and size to my own--the tax records show me what nearby houses of similar size have sold for). Show me an agent who can give me a fair price evaluation (a competitive market analysis is derived in large part by what I just illustrated here) and sell it at that price (without suggesting a price reduction) and show me an agent who is willing to sign an exclusive contract for 30 days or less and I might wish to deal with them. But, most agents want you to tie you down for six months or a year and will try to get you to negotiate against yourself in selling a valuable asset. Meanwhile, during the course of the contract, they will continuously whittle down your price without bringing me a prospect who has cash on the barrelhead and an executed purchase and sales contract in hand.

FSBO can work. The Florida Bar and the Board of Realtors uses a standard sales contract. You can get one on line. Any closing agent can hold the escrow and conduc the closing. If an agent approaches me and says they have a prospect for my property, I offer them 2 (afterall they already have the prospect in hand and they don't have to drive the person around or waste lots of their time) or 3 %, nothing more. If they want me to first sign a contract with them, I ask them...politely...to leave my presence. Selling a house is not that difficult. Just be prepared for flaky prospects who will try to identify every flaw in the house as they walk through. That can be quite annoying. So, my response to them is to make an offer based upon what they see. By the way, I have never sold a house subject to any conditions. I sell it "As Is" and give them ample time to send an inspector. I do disclose any defects that I know about (that is the law). But, I do not allow financing contingencies or anything else. If they want the house, they want it. Period. I do not deal with flaky agents of flaky prospects!

The use of real estate agents (who often can find no other work elsewhere) is highly overrated!

Been there done that
 

In VA were I'm from I have sold 3 properties FSBO. I had my own contract that aligned with VA laws, etc. Listed my house in the Villages FSBO and it didn't go well. I think it is a mentality thing with the buyers wanting to feel "safe" with a realtor or Villages sales person. I had THOUSANDS of calls from realtors, it was obnoxious. I was going to give 3% to a realtor if they brought me a client, so I ended up adding 2% (VIllages is 5%) and gave The Villages my listing and it was sooo worth the extra 2% just to have someone else deal with the whole thing. BTW, our house was under contract in 3 days at full asking which was more that I was asking FSBO.

My advise, list it with the Villages realtors.