OTHelp with Relocating OUT of Ohio!
 

I know tihs is a travel site but I figured maybe someone would have some ideas.

We want to sell our house ourselves and we don't really want to have the sign in the front yard in case it takes a long time to sell.

Does any one know of any good, high traffic sights to list a house on the Internet?

Any and all tips are welcomed.
Jenny

craigslist.com?

It would probably be worth it to sign up with one of those 'FSBO' companies that put your house into the MLS system. I think it would cost maybe a few hundred dollars, and anyone using a computer to search for homes for sale would easily find it. (I don't know to what extent you might have to pay a buyer's agent in that case, but it might be minimal, or you might be able to specify no agents.) You could also get an agent but negotiate a reduced commission up front (Not sure what part of the state you are in, in Northeast Ohio, Realty One won't negotiate, Prudential definitely will, & I think Smythe-Cramer will, or at least they would before being bought out.)

Good luck, Ohio in general is a terrible market to try to sell in, hopefully you are in one of the slightly better areas of the state. It took us 11 months and 2 price drops to sell a place in Northeast Ohio last year, and my in-laws have friends in the same area who have been on the market since last summer. You'll have to price aggressively or get lucky to sell fast.

There is nothing like having your house advertised in the place you are selling it. Put the sign up and have at it. List all you want on the internet--also local papers. By selling it yourself, you may limit your market. As someone suggested, negotiate a lower commission. There are many ins and outs to real estate and sometimes it pays to pay for the expertise.

I guess I understand the idea of trying to sell your own house, but nearly every house I've sold or known about selling was because a professional realtor called someone who maybe called someone else and through the networking they came up with the right buyer. By selling it yourself you actually eliminate the biggest number of potential buyers who don't look at the internet or drive around looking for signs, but rely on a realtor to find them the house they are looking for.

The great thing about realtors is they do all the work, newspaper listings, signs, online listings and they deal with the people who are difficult.
They show the house , keeping it secure and allowing you to leave the house, they take the phone calls, it is just so much more worth not dealing with doing it yourself.
I have just sold 2 houses in 2 years, it is worth it to get a realtor.
There is a company here in Portland that only takes 1%- see if there is something like that in Ohio.
Good luck !

A realtor will also see your house as you don't see it--and what needs to be changed/fixed/painted to make it sell. After all, they REALLY want to sell it also. Investing several thousand in cosmetics can yield ten often.

Scarlett said it all "the great thing about Realtors is that they do all the work"....and yet so many of these posts suggest asking them to reduce their commission! By the way, not all real estate agents are Realtors. Realtors, (with a capital R) are members of the National Association of Realtors. You would be well advised to find a good Realtor. You get what you pay for.

Thanks for all your great ideas. The main reasons we don't want to use a realtor is because we are sitting in a negative equity home. Our house has dropped $90,000+ in the last few years not to mention they have not increased at all. So we are about 30K negative. :( Price drops will kill us as well as commission.

The other reason is because we live amoungst the worlds' most nosey neighbors. So we know that if there is an open house, our neighbors will be the ones parading through the house to see what we have, not buyers.

I looked at one website that is really a good source to check your value of your home (zillow) and ours dropped another $3,000 last week. It has dropped 5K in the last month alone.

Right now the local fox news anchor woman's house is for sale at the top of the street and has been for over a year. Across from her is a surgeons home that has been empty for 8 months, they finally gave up trying and just left. It really scares me.

If I am with a realtor, they will have access to it and everyday of my life I have to have the house ready to show sinc eI won't be able to leave work to come home and quickly clean up again. If we try on our own, at least I have the luxury of not making my beds one day.

The surgeon up the street told us (before he left) of miscommunitcation problems that would happen and he'd he laying in bed in his boxers only to find a realtor and people staring in at him. YIKES!

Plus if it sits on the market for a year, then they will use that as a marker as to how long we have been trying to sell and bid accordingly.

Anyway, thanks for the tips. I know this is off topic but I figured I would see if anyone had any great ideas they could share. Everyone helped me out a lot. Thanks!

>>If I am with a Realtor, they will have access to it and everyday of my life I have to have the house ready to show sinc eI won't be able to leave work to come home and quickly clean up again. If we try on our own, at least I have the luxury of not making my beds one day<<

If you are selling it yourself, you will not only need to keep it clean each day, but will need to field calls all day and evening and take off from work all the time to show it! Buyers want to see it on their schedule, not yours!

If you have a Realtor, there is nothing to stop you from asking for a day off...Just tell them, No Saturday (or Wednesday, or morning, or whatever) showings, unless you have a buyer with cash in a suitcase...

Having your neighbors look through the house is part of any sale, and a good part, as often they will let their friends know about your home afterwards.

Buyers are very well educated these days, They know exactly how much you are saving on commissions and will subtract that from their offers on a FSBO.

Whether you use a Realtor or not, the best way to get top dollar on your home is to price it properly and market the heck out of it. This means signs, newspaper ads, MLS, Craigslist and flyers in the lunchroom at work. Anything less means you will earn less.

So let me get this right. You don't make your beds one day and someone calls you at work (however they get your number there I'm unclear) and these people say they are in the area today and want to look at your house. You tell them to forget it as your beds aren't made and you are at work anyway?

And I agree about what goes on in the mind of a buyer. No matter what price your house is listed at -- the buyer will expect to take off the usual real estate commission if you have unlisted and selling yourself. He will not say, "oh, I'll pay your asking price because I know you didn't include what the realtor would charge and I'm already getting a bargain."

OK..so you've got some nosey neighbors. i suspect they won;t troop through more than once..just don't be there when there is an open house...You are LEAVING the neighborhood (hopefully) and those nosey neighbors behind...or would you rather allow their not-so-nice attributes to vruin a possible sale for you by limiting the exposure?

A qualified agent can give you a much better idea of what YOUR house is actually "worth" rather than using some arbitrary internet site which is probably, as much as anything, a dragnet for names of people who might need financing services, etc. A qualified agent will know what the comparables in your area are and how much they are selling for.

In terms of the surgeon's "experiences" yes I am certain it was all based on "miscommunication" and hopefully he isn't one of those people who "miscommunicated" and amputated the wrong leg!

House don't sell for reasons which could include being overpriced/not worth the asking price.

You've got your work cut out for you and that may include keeping the beds made. Is it worth the "trouble" to minimize any losses? Only you can answer that one.

Whether you sell the house or a realtor does it, you have to put some effort into it.
You have to keep it clean, beds made and make it as appealing as possible.
You want your house to "Show well"...there is a trick to selling a house and it is about making the people who look at it think of it in terms of it being Their house..you have to put away personal things, photos etc and make it as close to perfect as you can. And be sure it smells good!
It is work, but you do get something very good out of it. You sell it.
Signs don't protect you from the nosy neighbors..sigh, nothing can protect you from a nosy neighbor :)
You don't care, you are selling the house and they will no longer be your neighbor, good for you! So forget about the neighbors and concentrate on what is important. Make the house look good and show it and sell it.
Some realtors will work with you on commissions, it is true they work hard and that is their pay but in your case, perhaps someone will be helpful in that way..
The alternative is you stay home and wait and show and wait and deal with the lookers and perhaps a year will go buy and then you will give in and get a realtor.
All the people I know who sold houses themselves, had such amazing homes that they did not need any help, the house sold itself.

Good luck...

<i> lol, notice my typo is buy instead of by...that is a good omen, someone will buy your house :)</i>

Just curious, what happened to make the value of your house drop 5k in a month?

I'd interview real estate agents and find one that you are comfortable with. They do this for a living and know how to sell a house. And they work on commission so they want to sell the house.

NC Grrl.....nothing happened other than we just live in a depressed area and it gets worse by the day :( This is why we are getting out.

I understand all everyone is saying to me and I know that a realtor is the best way to go, we were just hoping to avoid that extra expense.

Of the 4 houses sold in this neighborhood, 2 were sold by the owners and so that gave us hope. Our house is bigger, we are on the greenbelt (which none of them were) and we have tons of upgrades (they didn't) so we are keeping our fingers and toes crossed.

Thanks to everyone for your tips and comments. I know I have my work cut out for me.

Until then, I'm stuck in Ohio :(

Where in Ohio do you live? If nothing happened in your area to cause Real Estate values to plunge, I find it very, very hard to believe that your home would drop in value! Unless you paid way too much for it to begin with and have only lived there a little while. Real Estate is our (everyone's) best investment! I have never known it to not appreciate, at least some, unless something drastic happened to the area or like I said, you paid too much to begin with.
I live in Ohio, I've sold real estate in Ohio, and I would be interested in hearing what area you are talking about.

I really feel a lot of people will not make an offer to the owner feeling they will offend them if it is below asking price. Same thing with negotiating over price for &quot;flaws&quot; in the home. People who do not bargain in normal life may not feel comfortable doing it or not know how to do it. People may not feel comfortable with spending a lot of money in a way that does not feel &quot;official&quot;. People are afraid of making a mistake. Lots of reasons the realtor experience is attractive to people.

Also, will the property keep lowering in price while you try to sell it yourself? If so, that money will never be seen again.

I think people who will deal with an owner expect to get the price less the realtor's fee. If going with FSBO or similar, look at it and see how many homes sell with them where you live. In other words, is selling by owner well accepted in your city/region.

Sorry to hear that you have lots of extras. They may not get the price they might get in a desirable area. People may only be shopping for bargains in a &quot;depressed area&quot;.

My advice - get a realtor and save the hassle. No, I am not a realtor or related to one either.

Let the realtor know exactly what you want and will accept (as far as when to show, if you want open houses - they rarely create sales was what I read in a home selling book, how long you need to get the place ready to show, etc.). Interview a few realtors before picking one. A person that is pleasant, easy to talk to, who listens and knows their market will appeal to other people, too. Also, directly ask their sales per year - how many homes and total dollars - for them and the agency. Look for someone who does very well in the area where the home is. Almost every home will sell if marketed and most important priced right.

Wish you the best.

CD,

You must be in a very lucky area in Ohio. I am also in NE Ohio and the houses in this area are just sitting and owners are taking huge hits. (Medina Ohio)

Real estate is a good investment but some areas such as Ohio are not places investors would look to make some money.

Keep in mind the jobs that have been lost in this area. GM, LTV Steel, etc. I believe in 2001 houses had dropped at that point by 6%. So although I am sure you mean well, NE Ohio is not a good investment for real estate.

I wish you luck Jenny. We too have houses in our neighborhood that the owners have been in these houses for 5-6 yrs and they have dropped the prices below what they paid for them and they are still sitting.

My best to you, we too are planning on relocating.

Although I am no fan of Realtors, it would seem that in this particular case one is required. In addition, the info on zillow is not at all up to date, &amp; though it may give you some indication of the general value of your home, it is only as good as the information that they have...I would be interested (being originally from Ohio) as to where you reside. I suspect you are getting all upset over nothing, particularly if you don't even know what your home is worth or, an asking price should be. You may want to check out www.realtor.com just to get an idea as to what similar homes may be listing for in your area.