Monday, 7 February 2005 - 11:07 AM EST

Guide to selling a house

Monday, 7 February 2005 - 9:21 PM EST

Many people start with a FOR SALE BY OWNER (FSBO) and then give up after awhile because it is a huge hassle. Christa, Clark Howard?s executive producer, recently sold her home as a FSBO, but she was ready to give up after two weeks into the process. Dealing with "questionable" or rude people every week and constantly having to keep the
house clean nearly caused her to give up.

If she had the sell the house again, she will use an agent.

Wednesday, 20 April 2005 - 11:43 PM EDT

I borrowed this from another website:

Schedule interviews with 3 local real estate agents who?ve been referred to you by friends and/or co-workers.

Each Realtor should come prepared with a "Competitive Market Analysis" (CMA) and each will recommend a specific sales price.

A couple of the Realtors may come up with prices that are lower than you expected. Although they back up their recommendations with recent sales data of similar homes, you remain convinced your house is worth more.

When you interview the third agent?s figures, they are much more in line with your own anticipated value, or maybe even higher. Suddenly, you are a happy and excited home seller, already counting the money.

If you?re like many people, you pick Realtor number three. This is an agent who seems willing to listen to your input and work with you. This is an agent that cares about putting the most money in your pocket. This is an agent that is willing to start out at your price and if you need to drop the price later, you can do that easily, right? After all, everyone else does it!

The truth is that you may have just met an agent engaging in a questionable sales practice called "buying a listing." He "bought" the listing by suggesting you might be able to get a higher sales price than the other agents recommended. Most likely, he is quite doubtful that your home will actually sell at that price. The intention from the beginning is to eventually talk you into lowering the price.
Why do agents "buy" listings? An agent who really wants the listing can feel pressure from a homeowner who has an inflated perception of his home?s value. There are some agents who engage in this sales practice routinely. They are going to get paid a commission on your house when it sells, as long as he has is listed for you....even if it sets on the market for months!

Contrary to popular opinion, the listing agent does not usually attempt to sell your home to a homebuyer. Local agents who do work with homebuyers.

BUT: If you and your agent have overpriced your home:
fewer agents will preview your home. After all, they are Realtors, and it is their job to know local market conditions and home values. If your house is dramatically above market, why waste time? Their time is better spent previewing homes that are priced realistically.

Later, when you drop your price, your house is "old news." You will never be able to recapture that flurry of initial activity you would have had with a realistic price. Your house could take longer to sell.

Even if you do successfully sell at an above market price, your buyer will need a mortgage. The mortgage lender requires an appraisal. If comparable sales for the last six months and current market conditions do not support your sales price, the house won?t appraise. Your deal falls apart. Of course, you can always attempt to renegotiate the price, but only if the buyer is willing to listen. Your house could go "back on the market."Once your home has fallen out of escrow or sits on the market awhile, it is harder to get a good offer. Potential buyers seem to think something is wrong with the house that everyone else is seeing and backing away from
you might be getting desperate, so they will make lower offers. By overpricing your home in the beginning, you could actually end up settling for a lower price than you would have normally received.

Avoid These Mistakes so you aren't asking Why hasn't my house sold?


Professional appraisers tell us that your home is worth as much as some member of the buying public will come forth and pay for it. After it's been on the market for months, you've been given a clear message that the property may not be worth what you're asking for it. This is particularly true if there haven't been many prospects coming to see it. What you do at that point depends on whether you really need to sell, and whether you're working with a time limit. If you're not really motivated to move soon, you can always wait - years if necessary - and hope inflation will catch up with the price you want.

The problem is that in that time, your home begins to feel shopworn. Buyers become suspicious of a house that's been for sale for a long time. If, however, you really do need to sell, discuss with your REALTOR? a schedule for dropping your price gradually until you find a level that attracts buyers. There's no point in saying, "We simply can't sell our house." Anything will sell if the price is right.