[Bill32]

People who have done both.Here in TV preferably. Experiences, pros cons, 6% on $300,000.00 is $18,000.00. Seems like a lot of money for advertising and prescreening.

[JB in TV]

Originally Posted by Bill32

People who have done both.Here in TV preferably. Experiences, pros cons, 6% on $300,000.00 is $18,000.00. Seems like a lot of money for advertising and prescreening.

Wife and I are former Realtors (from another state) We haven't been licensed in probably 20 years, but knew the business well. So we could have done it ourselves. However, we sold our home in TV in 7 days using The Villages sales staff. We briefely considered the same issues as you, $18,000 is a lot of money. However, they have access to many more eyes and ears than we do...their marketing expertise is amazing. We didn't think we could compete. And, I'm not sure all buyers will feel safe buying from an individual seller....Additionally, many buyers may feel a home for sale by owner should be priced less knowing the seller isn't paying a commission...

Those are my thoughts

[gomoho]

Interesting this thinking about a home being priced lower because there is no commission involved. The value, is the value, is the value no matter who sells it. I can promise you an appraiser does not take into consideration whether or not a commission is being paid. Some sellers will reduce their price because they are saving the commission and the buyer obviously benefits from this; however it should be priced at exactly what it would be priced if a REALTOR listed it.

I am closing on a home I sold myself on June 30th. I can tell you I sold it for more than TV sales agent said I should list it for. They price them as low as they can get away with it for a quick sale 'cause they want to move them. FYI - it appraised for $2000 more than the contract price which is about $10k less than TV suggested price.

[Bonanza]

Villages' agents are used to quick sales and many of them. A fast turnover is what they want to see. Their marketing is only available to those who click on the Internet to specific Villages' sites and their printed material is only available locally.

Outside of the Villages, a good Realtor will do a true market analysis. They have many more marketing tools than the Villages. There is no question that TV get the foot traffic, however.

It's a craps shoot. A good Realtor or agent is what it's all about. And don't lose sight of the fact that the seller is in control. If you feel a suggested price is too low, take charge!

[JB in TV]

For what it's worth, we listed our home higher than what the TV agent suggested, and higher than any other recent comperable resale in our village (Charlotte, so it is only 1.5 years old), and still sold in 7 days.

I mostly agree with gomoho, about values...the property is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Just saying that some buyers might expect to see a lower asking price on a resale by owner... Converesly, some sellers, especially in a flat market, might choose (or need to) avoid a commision to be able to sell without having to come "out of pocket" to sell their home. Having been a Realtor for many years, and a buyer and seller of many of my own homes, I see both sides. If I wanted to sell the house myself, I might have been able to price it less than what we did (and less than TV listed competition), and perhaps netted more than if I had paid a commission, but I truely believe that there are many buyers who are not comfortable dealing with a FSBO, and that reduces ones audience.

[TrudyM]

I am on the other side when it comes to the villages (looking not selling) and I am looking at both MLS listed and villages listed but am waiting until I am down there again. Many of the listings I see in the MLS listings are upon further examination listed by owners using a flat rate broker. I am considering this when I list my home next month here in the Pacific Northwest (if I ever get it spruced up and staged) For around a thousand plus the 3% to the buyers agent I can have it in the MLS, have a professional take the video and pics for the listing and have all the flyers signs and lock box that I would have with a realtor. As houses priced correctly are selling in my area in 3 to 7 days, turning over an additional 3% to a listing agent for a weeks work just doesn't sit right with me, especially since all say it is correct pricing and the staging of the house that sells it.
When I sold real estate (back when we wore those stupid gold jackets) I previewed properties I was showing a client so I wouldn't waste their time with listings that didn't fit there must haves and I knew all the features of my listings. I was astounded at how many of the agents in the villages didn't have any answers to questions I asked and in some cases I knew more about the listing from looking on the internet than they did. I really hate it when an agent takes me to see a house and they haven't ever been in it how can they sell something they have never seen?
It doesn't make me want to shell out an additional 3% ($27,000) in my case for the service. Am I nuts?

[George Bieniaszek]

I wonder how successful Villagers are when they post their home foe sale here on TOTV. I see adds almost every day with people inquiring with questions and/or phone or contact information. Seems like the demand for homes here in The Villages is great and it would be much easier than "outside the bubble" in selling real estate.

As far as dealing with a broker or directly with the owner, as long as you have legal representation that specializes in real estate sales, and handles all the paperwork, you shouldn't have any queasy feelings.

My neighbor listed a CYV last year thru The Villages. The home sold for $6,000 over the asking price, all in 6 hours. House listed in the evening and was sold by noon the next day. The commission was $15,900 on a sale price of $265K. Didn't seem like a lot of work or marketing went into the sale to earn that amount of money, other than a couple of phone calls to people that that the sales agents knew were looking for a Grantham.

I tend to agree with some of the previous posters that it seems that the sales people will try to list the home at a lower price to move it quickly and then say to potential sellers, "Your home will sell very quickly".

[dewilson58]

I'm a non-broker kind of guy.

I like meeting and knowing who I'm selling to and love saving the $$$$.

Couple hundred dollars for the legal stuff and out the door.

[gomoho]

George - I had my home listed FSBO on TOTV and didn't have any luck. I was more successful advertising in the paper which is ridiculously expensive, but did the trick!

[Halibut]

This is another fwiw personal anecdote, but we listed our first house here with a non-Villages Realtor. He was the former owner and the person who sold it to us, so it seemed logical. After 4+ weeks with no action, we switched to a Villages agent and had 2 offers within a week. Maybe coincidence, who knows. This was almost 3 years ago, when it wasn't a seller's market like it is now. If I was selling now I'd probably do fsbo.

[john2]

You can also ask the non village realtor for a 5% contract.

[LeeM]

Originally Posted by George Bieniaszek

Didn't seem like a lot of work or marketing went into the sale to earn that amount of money, other than a couple of phone calls to people that that the sales agents knew were looking for a Grantham.

But that's just it. It is knowing who is interested in buying a property that is worth the money.

As a side note, I posted my mother in laws home on Craigslist and had a buyer within days. Settlement is next week.

[Bonanza]

Originally Posted by john2

You can also ask the non village realtor for a 5% contract.

Many Realtors will take a 5% listing. However, if it's a 50/50 split between two brokers, many other Realtors won't even bother showing a property that only pays 2.5%, if it's an even split. Note that I said "many," not all.

If you must go the 5% route, I would only consider giving the listing agent 2% and have the listing pay 3% to the selling agent. I will add you probably won't have much luck with that, however. Ask yourself: Is it really worth half a point to do that???

[gomoho]

Originally Posted by Bonanza

Many Realtors will take a 5% listing. However, if it's a 50/50 split between two brokers, many other Realtors won't even bother showing a property that only pays 2.5%, if it's an even split. Note that I said "many," not all.

If you must go the 5% route, I would only consider giving the listing agent 2% and have the listing pay 3% to the selling agent. I will add you probably won't have much luck with that, however. Ask yourself: Is it really worth half a point to do that???

And are you willing and prepared to accept 1% less effort. Come on - really 1% is minimal to your bottom line, but could make the difference between showing or not to a REALTOR.

[Loudoll]

We sold our home in KY ourselves and that went well but we chose to sell our TV home by realtor. Why? We did not want to deal with potential buyers or worse, lookers only. It was worth it to us and it sold to the first couple who looked at it because the realtor knew what this couple wanted.