I have a few questions. Here is a little back ground...

I am wanting to sell my very small modest home i have lived in since 02. This was my first home on a FHA loan. Paid 60,500 for the home now owe 51k. I has since got married and really outgrown this small 900 sqf house.
I was really unsatisfied with the realtor i used to purchase this house. No need to go into why but it wasnt nessasarily all her fault. But i am choosing not to use here again. She was referred to me by a friend.
Any i have done many updating/grading. But have the exterior to deal with.It has asbestos siding that is just ugly and needs to be either replaced or gone over with siding. Both exterior doors need to be replaced.Then there is a two car detached garage that the doors need to be replaced and need to be resided.
I want this to be done in the next 3-4 months so we can begin to look at trying to sell it.
Should i start working with a realtor now and get her/his input on what should be done and what i shouldnt do? Or would i be wasting the realtor time?
We really need to double our space now that we are "adults". I was also curious about the cost of this house being so little will many realtor even wanna sell this house.Its not in a horrible area just a small cookie cutter home similar to many in the area. I know that the commish is very small on such a transaction. But the last realtor really didnt give us much time and i think this had much to do with it.
We are now looking for something in the 130k-170k area so still isnt a huge commish coming from it.
Any helpful insight would be great. Just kinda point me in the right direction would be nice.
I hope it is ok that i am posting this here. I figured if i wanted answer what better place then a realtor forum!

Keith

I would absolutely recommend finding and consulting with a Realtor prior to making these improvements. Not only can they help you to know what buyers are looking for and what will net you the most money, they might have great contacts that can get you materials and/or labor for less.

And any Realtor that makes you feel like you are wasting their time is not the Realtor you want for your transactions, no matter how small the commission seems.

Thanks for the response.
So my options for finding a realtor is just calling a local c21 or larger "named" company and just tell them my situtation and they will try and set me up with someone that fits my needs? I assume u should just interview them like i would if i were hiring them for a job. Or is this an insult to a realtor?

If you use the same realtor to help you buy your next home as list your current home I feel that they would make plenty of commission. Every Realtor I know would want to list your home especially with you having an open mind to making improvements plus possibly helping you buy something new. Hopefully values in your market haven't gone below the price you bought your home for.

It's not an insult to interview realtors. If they try sales tactics and try and pressure to list with them right away show them the door. Find out what they would do to market your place. But make sure they give you a good quality market analysis.

Fitting your needs is the right criteria, and there is nothing wrong with interviewing. Slightly different than "hiring them for a job" - more of a collaboration than an employee-employer.

Maybe I just missed it; but "where" in the United States might your current house be located ?

And I presume you want to stay in the same general Community ?

I am in Granite City IL which is just across the river from St louis Mo. Yes i am looking to stay in IL within a 10-15 mile radius.
Looking at other similar homes in my area actually there are 6 or 7 homes exactly like mine for sale from 62k to 82k.Most have no garage or only a one care gargage. Mine is the only one with a oversized 2 car garage but is located on a busy main street.
Sounds crazy but i am not looking to get squeeze as much out as i can in the sale. I just wanna sell fast so i can get into a larger home. So i was wondering if i really should take the time and money to side the exterior. All things i need to ask the realtor obviously.
Its just a small 2 bed 1 bath 892 sqf with partially finished basement. Basically a young couple with no kids or single adult first time home buyer like i was 6 years ago.

Thanks for the clarification. That will be helpful information for someone on this Forum; and you sound like you've got your head screwed on right ! Too bad you're 1500 miles away. Good Luck !

Is there a referral services that i can use or is just calling or emailing an office all i really need to do. Also should i stay with the "big" name companies or can smaller local realtors be considered?

Just one parting comment regarding that Asbestos Siding. I'd paint it. It is usually a problem to dispose of, and the stuff is so hard (it lasts forever), Siding over it is going to be costly . . . . plus a Buyer may think you're hiding something.

Everything else you mention sounds reasonable . . . . or generous. I'd focus on whatever will enhance the Curb Appeal; and avoid making it perfect. You're finished with it, pass along a good price and let the next person do it their way !

P.S. The now defunct Asbestos Mines are here in Vermont about 25 miles to my west, scaring a mountainside.

Thanks for your opinion on the siding.I like your thinking on this.
Although i replaced all the windows in the house so i need to "wrap" the exterior windows to "finish" the job. Just painting would be a huge cost saver thats for sure.

You need a broker in your area to come and evaluate your property for recommendations. Any comments here may be off base as we can't be there to actually look at it and we don't know your market.

Having asbestos sealed or not is definitely a negative selling feature.

Keith

Size doesn't matter. You could end up with the worst agent in a large office or the best agent in a small office, the latter being better. One secret of real estate is all offices are the same size, and that size is one.

Each agent is independent, and an agent in an office with 300 agents is not going to have the other 299 agents rush to assist him/her. They each have their own business to attend to, and your individual agent is the success factor.

My first suggestion is to find the most recent sales in your area and find out who the listing agents were and start interviewing them.

Wish you were in my area, I'd help you out.

Ask anyone that you know who has bought or sold a house recently that was satisfied and ask for their Realtors info and interview them.

As mentioned above, if a Realtor does not impress you because they think their payday is not big enough, they are not for you. I've had past clients call me asking to help find a Realtor in other state to assist them.

I would bring in a Realtor though before putting to much money into the property.

Brian: Tell that to all my ex's. LOL

REO:Thanks yes i made a call to a Prudential office which is just about 200 yards from my house and called a small independent firm here in town that looks like it has been selling house every bit as fast as the "big guys".

Have 2 appointments for nextweek. Both said they would come to my home and assess the house and tell me what they think.
Both told me the market is very slow. They really let me know it was hard out there right now.So it may be some time before i can get out of this house. :(
Not what i wanted to hear but in the back of my mind i knew this was the case.
One positive is my house payment is so cheap it allows me to save much more until it does get sold.
I will check back once we talk with the two realtors.

Keith, have you considered renting it? I don't know what your market is like, but with mortgages being difficult to attain, rentals are booming in many places with rents skyrocketing. It might not be *that* great in your area, but maybe you could make it work until the market improves. Just a thought (which I am sure you already had)...

Not really sure that would be something i would wanna deal with. Plus how would this affect me obtaining a new loan? Not sure many would make a 150k+ home loan on top of a 50k current loan while only making just over 100k household income.

I also only have about 5-6% down payment on hand so the rest of my down payment would be coming from the sale of my home.I am assuming i need minimum 10 to 15% down in these current times.I have even heard many are wanting the 20% down from many years ago?In which case i may need to wait a year to accumulate.
We have spent the majority of our last year paying down debt and just recently began saving cash.

Keith,

Let me know if the other 2 agents you are interviewing don't work out for you. I would be happy to refer you to an agent in my network that is located in your area. I am also with Prudential and we are a great company with a great reputation.

"Keith,
Let me know if the other 2 agents you are interviewing don't work out for you. I would be happy to refer you to an agent in my network that is located in your area."

I'll be more than happy to do the same, and I don't charge a referral fee to the receiving agent, to make sure that you will receive the best service you can negotiate for your money.

pikes peak, I am not sure what your intention was by writing this. Are you trying to make me look bad or something? Because I never said I was going to charge a referral fee either. It's a very small amount. I am just willing to help this person by connecting them with one of my contacts in their local area.

Len I wouldn't take it to heart. We all have different ways and views of running our business.

Ultimately the poster will decide what makes the most sense and is the best choice for them.

I use to have people call me a MONSTER for preying on people facing foreclosure! That's how they said it to me anyways.

I told them the real monsters were the people who promised things they could not deliver and left the people facing foreclosure at the last second. If I didn't help these people they would have gotten taken by someone else. The horror stories I heard day after day from people that did them wrong was mind-boggling.

Perception is everything and either your a demon or a saint.

Me personally I wouldn't spend alot of time and energy on a MAYBE that someone is going to send me a refferal back with no strings attatched once I send them one.

It all goes back to BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY.

Everyone keep doing there own thing and everything will stay right as rain in your own worlds.

So am I! It's a competitive business, isn't it?

Since Keith's Property is in Illinois, I think someone from Illinois should handle the Referral. If all else fails, Rod Bagojevich knows the Territory better than any of us, and his Wife, Patty Bagojevich, is also well known in Illinois Real Estate Circles. I think Rod would be willing to use his power and influence to nominate someone to fill this vacancy in Southern Illinois.

For the record, I'm happy to pay a referral fee when someone offers to give me business. Most agents are. The agents who don't want to pay a referral, are also ones who will probably turn it down.

Just because an agent pays a referral fee doesn't mean they're not going to do a good job. So don't be afraid that a referred agent won't do a good job. Ultimately, you have to feel good about the person you choose, and that agent has to feel good about you. Some people go together like oil and water, and it's best to back away. LOL

There is nothing wrong with referring people or taking referrals. The problem comes when agents simply look up an agent on some internet roster and don't do their research, or don't have personal experience with that agent. And all they do is fill out the referral form and call it done.

A good referral is generally born out of an established relationship, both with the client being referred and with the agent getting the referral. It's my practice to only refer people to agents that I have experience with or that my friends or family have had favorable transactions with. And then I follow up, help how I can and earn my fee.

Keith you sound like a dream client. "realistic and motivated"

Geez. Good luck!

Thank you all who replied to this thread.

We sat down with a realtor. She explained a few things to us and gave us a realistic picture of the market.
She said she was optimistic about selling our home if we do a few things.She said it would go a long way if we resided it (which we planned) replaced all exterior doors(we planned on doing including both garage doors.)
But one thing i didnt expect was a new roof needs to be put on. Lucky for us its a very small home and shouldnt be too awful expensive.
She asked what we were wanting to sell it for i said 75k-77k. She said it should be hard to get that in this market. And possibly closer to 80k once all work is completed.
Although inquiring about my credit report and score i found i owe more on my home then i thought. Thought i owed 52k but its 55 not a major difference but all of the profit from the sale will be going towards a new home.
But good news is both our scores from all three agencies are in the 750 to 800 range so i hope abtaining a new loan should be a snap.

"Although inquiring about my credit report and score i found i owe more on my home then i thought. Thought i owed 52k but its 55 not a major difference but all of the profit from the sale will be going towards a new home."

Keith it's good you have great credit. The balance of your loan reported on credit means nothing as to your payoff. For that you order a payoff from you mortgage company or there servicer sending you the monthly payments. The payoff is usally good for 30 days.

Keith, make sure that this Realtor provides you with a net sheet to make sure you know EXACTLY how much you will be getting once all commissions, fees, taxes, etc have been taken from sale proceeds. Since you are planning on using these funds, it's important to know what they will be. And she should provide you a revised net sheet with each offer you receive and counter offer you make.

And super realtor is right - I have been through some nightmare closings where sellers thought they knew their payoff, but had completely the wrong number and netted far less than they thought they would. You need to provide your Realtor with accurate info as to what you owe or it will get really uncomfortable down the road.

Good luck!

Gosh Keith . . . . with all those improvements you're planning, especially the removal, disposal and replacement of that Asbestos Siding . . . . I don't think there's going to be much left over to apply to the purchase of your new Home.

Not removing the asbestos we are going right over it with foam board. I have a friend thats a foreman for a large construction company here is St louis. Myself and him will be doing this. We are actually starting this project on Sat and will be trying to get it done pretty fast because he just bought another home to flip and closes on the 31st so he is squeezing me in before he starts his rehab on this other house.
Should be pretty simple we have a very very small home right at 900 sq feet and its just a one level home so labor should be much and the material shouldnt be outragious either.


Thanks for that info TB and Super.

She did kinda give me a general number as far as her commish(6%) and taxes fees etx she said to expect somewhere around 10%.
So it will give me an estimate of my take at closing.
As long as i can get somewhere between 75-80k which she told me i should easily get.
She pulled some comps before our meeting on Sat. BUt after walking thru our home she wanted to do another one because we have alot of updates already done
Completely new HVAC water heater is newer bathroom just redone 2 months ago kitchen remodeled last year hardwood floors thru out. I also finished the basment just need to lay the carpet but with dogs i am waiting till we get closer to putting it on the market before we install it.
And that in with new siding new roof all new garage and exterior doors and hopefully we have a nice home to show in late spring.

Couldnt log on under my old account so had to open an new one.

Update on this thread.

Its been a little over a year and i was able to put siding on in Feb of last year.I replaced all exterior doors on home and garage in Sept and i replaced the roof in Nov.

We put the house on the market 3 days before Xmas. LOL I know I know but we figured why not.
Listed it at 84,500.
We are now under contract as of Tues for 80k even.
Now all we gotta do is pass fha inspections and we will close on the 25th of March.
We are very happy and hope this all works out.

Let us know if that doesn't work out and I will shoot you a lowball cash offer