[samhass]

Did you have success with it? What are the best days to have open houses?

[golfnut]

Sold my last two houses by owner, never did an open house. There are a couple sites on the internet that may help, forsalebyowner.com, and homesbyowner.com. They used to be free a few years back, they may be charging something now I suspect.

[Cliff]

Yes, I sold my house myself when I moved from Jacksonville to TV. Wonderful! I found an attorney who handles the sale of homes. Asked him how to handle the deal and he told me to find myself a buyer and then send the buyer to him. He prepared all forms and handled the closing. I paid less than $500 for the whole thing. I never had an open house. I put a sign on my lawn, had a buyer ring my bell and ask to see the house. First person who looked at it ended up buying it after they had their inspector look it over for them. The buyer was happy because I did not add onto the price the money I would have had to pay to a realtor. He got a deal and I got a fair asking price. No haggles.

[784caroline]

In a sellers market FSBO works great especially if you are in a desirable location.neighborhood. However the market we are in today is VASTLY different......WE have been trying to sell our house in N Va for the past couple of months using HELP-U-Sell which is an agent and participates with cooperating agents (3%) and the listing is on MLS, realtor.com, lock-box, etc. All I do is show the house during Open houses. My agents fee is a flat $4950 upon closing...so if I find the buyer it cost me $4950.....if another agent find the buyer its 3% of sales price plus $4950.

We are finding in todays market you really need a full time agent who works your area to bring you a potential buyer who is fully qualified for a loan. So many people come by but they need to sell another property which we prefer no contingent sale in order to move on. Otherwise its pure luck and we have been close twice but still no contract!

[samhass]

Well, I'm going to try to sell it myself for awhile.. Thanks for the advise about the lawyer doing the paperwork. I wasn't sure about how to do the deal once I got the buyer! The agent I had offered to do it for a percentage but the lawyer thing sounds much cheaper. The nice thing is I'm able to drop the price considerably if I can go it alone. It will be a great deal for someone. I wish I had not paid off the bond though.
I put an ad in the paper to do 10 open houses in September. I hope some TOTVers will stop by to say hello.
I read all your comments daily. The first one will be on the 5th from 10-12. Village of Mallory Square..557 Society Hill Circle.

[The Great Fumar]

samhass
I sold my Villa through PARTNERSHIP REALTY.... They only charge
$3000. and they do all the work....
PS they sold it the first day...no kidding......

[LG]

Originally Posted by samhass

Did you have success with it? What are the best days to have open houses?

http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/...6?OpenDocument

:realmad:

[gigi22]

As I wrote on a different subject line, we just sold our home by owner in Michigan. It's a horrible market here, but our house is on a lake, which makes it desirable for the right people. There were two other homes on the lake, and people drove by our house to see theirs. We sold it in less than two months. The buyer had his realtor do the paperwork (he didn't have this realtor show him our house, but the realtor is going to sell their home). When we have the closing, they're having GMAC do all the work and we're not paying for anything. We could have a lawyer look over everything, but we feel comfortable. Since the buyer is working out of the country until April, part of our deal is that we get to live here rent free until then. I would love to find a house at TV that is for sale by owner and get a better deal by avoiding the realtor's costs. If anyone knows someone near Sumter Landing that has a Lantana for sale with a golf cart garage (not on a golf course - too expensive), send them my way!

[samhass]

Thanks, everyone, for the info. Sorry gigi- mine is on the golf course and is a
Bridgeport.

[gigi22]

I just saw your ad in the For Sale section on TOTV. It sounds really nice!

[samhass]

Thanks! I'm having an open house tomorrow between 10 AM and 12PM. Stop by and say hello!
557 Society Hill Circle, Mallory Square.

[gigi22]

I definitely would, if I weren't up here in Michigan!

[samhass]

Wish you were here. Handi is going to help me make a picture show of the house I have for sale. TOTVers are the best! :bigthumbsup:

[Patty]

I preface this by saying this was three years ago....we sold one of our 2b/2b ctyd cbs villas in the villages. It was 10 months old and had been rented for 8 of the 10 mos. A potential renter was interested in buying it, we sold it to them after they looked at it for rental...It took 15 minutes on the phone and we sold it completely furnished. All we said is that "we were thinking about putting it on the market"
As we were out of state at the time, we used Millhorn to draw up the contracts and do the closing....(50% of what we had paid the Villages for the original closing)
Strangest sale we've ever done, but went smoothly....I would definitely try to sell by owner first for at least 30 days before trying an agent unless time was a major constraint.

[samhass]

Renting is a thought. I am going to try to sell it below my cost for a month. If it doesn't go, then I think I'll rent it out for a couple of years til the market turns. There will be only so many Championship golf front lots. The back of the house stays cooler due to the 60 foot live oaks. You don't get beaten to death by the sun. It's funny, so many people come to TV and end up buying more than one house. They trade up, down, and around!! Knowing what I know now, I would advise not to add all the landscaping, pavers, curbing, shutters and everything else for at least 6 months after you move in. Of course we are seniors and may not have a 10 year plan!! I heard a guy say he no longer buys green bananas! I'm still going slower on my new house.