To Realtor or Not Realtor – That is the Question????
Realtors are awesome and I’m not just saying that because my sister’s one. Realtors can bring a lot of value to the selling process if they have a wide range of tools in their tool belt.
A few years ago, all it took to sell a house was to stick a sign in the yard, put it on the MLS and wait for the phone to ring. Anyone could be a realtor in that kind of market.
Today’s realtors, at least the successful ones, will bring to you a wide range of skills, strategies and a game plan that should include:
1. Plan A
2. Plan B…… AND
3. Plan C
The days of just sticking a sign in the yard and hoping sells are long gone. Sure to come back some day, but with an 18 year market cycle and us at the tail end of 18 years. Its going to take at least 10 to 12 years before selling starts to get that easy again.
Unless of course you’re selling the property at a discount. Great deals can always be sold. But if you bought you home anytime in the last few years. Or refinanced an older home and pulled most of your equity out. There is a good chance you owe close to what your home is worth. Especially when you take into account all the fees and costs associated with using a realtor.
I personally am not a realtor, so when I find someone that wants to sell (if they don’t want to sell quickly the investor way), I refer them to my realtor and good friend Joseph Rios. Jospeh is a great realtor. He’s professional, knowledgeable and has a tool belt full of selling techniques. Joseph’s been around Austin for many years and knows this market well. If you want or need to sell, you can sit down with Joseph and he can provide you with several options that will look something like this:
- Analysis using the standard realtor sale. He’ll determine what the market value is and give you an idea of who your competition is. From there you’ll get a good idea of what its going to take to sell. What price, what incentives you’ll have to use (aka pay buyer closing costs, repair credits, buyer agent bonuses, etc.). And what you’ll potentially walk away with at closing.
- If you don’t have the equity or time for such a solution. Joseph and I will get together to provide options for selling with owner financing. By owner financing the home to a new buyer you will eliminate many of the costs associated with selling through the traditional realtor market.
- If you’re really upside down, there is always the short sale route. This is where you offer the bank less than what you owe. There are some definite pit falls to this option, but its better than no option at all. Find my article on the pros and cons of short sales in our archives here.
- Renting it out is always an option, not one of my favorites for many reasons (read my article on pros and cons of renting) but hey its an option and in this market having more than one option is key.
- And the best part, you can work with both Joseph and I at the same time. He can market the traditional realtor route and have the investor option as a plan B, and then a short sale option (or renting, or something else) as Plan C. By having multiple plans in place, you’ll have flexibility and options.
What you don’t want to hear from a realtor is “the only way to sell is to list it”. Or the only way to do it is to “short sale it” or the only way to do it is “xxx” there is always more than one way. And Joseph and I collectively have over 2,500 buyers in our buying database. And finding the perfect family for your property is something we’re experts at.
If you choose to have Joseph sell your house. He can list, then work the owner financing route and get the short sale paperwork lined up in case Plan A or Plan B don’t work. Or he’ll come up with some other customized plan to meet your needs.
So to Realtor or Not to Realtor – that was the question??? My answer: Definitely, just pick one who has lots of options for you! Don’t settle for someone who tells you what you want to hear. Make them provide proof of recent sales when they tell you “definitely we can sell for the price you want” ask them to prove it to you. It only makes your house look worse when its sat on the market for several weeks or months, then it starts dropping in price as your realtor gets real with you. That just makes you look desperate and when the sharks smell blood they come running.
If the idea of having a bunch of strangers show up on your doorstep at all days and times of week doesn’t appeal to you. Or for any other reason the realtor route, doesn’t appeal to you. Then you can work directly with me. I can work with no equity, big equity or little equity all day long. Its not about your equity, its about how soon you need a solution. No one wants the bank to take their equity whether it be big or small. Working with my team at Common Ground Properties can make that happen.
Happy Selling!
