Real Estate Question

[aracko]

I am putting my South Milwaukee house on the market to move up north a bit.

 

I am curious if it is allowed for me to tell the realtor that puts my house on the market that I would like the opportunity to find my own buyer, and if I do that I only pay a certain % of commission.

 

I would plan to put up flyers here at work or perhaps among friends or maybe even on Craigslist.

 

Does anyone have any experience negotiating with a sellers agent? Is this something that is allowed?

[Barbs4339]

I would suggest just going through Homeowner's Concept. The house I bought was listed through them and it went really well. You pay a flat rate and not a commission %. I think you pay something like $3,000 no matter what the house sells for.

I sold my house by owner 2 years ago and if that didn't work, I would have definitely used these guys.

 

http://www.homeownersconcept.com/sell.php

[Chio151]

Well, of the 6% that a seller makes, about half of that goes to the buyers agent. The selling agent is not counting on that money. If anything, you could negotiate that portion. That is, if your buyer is not represented and it was just a friend or co-worker.

 

Otherwise, it would be tough to tell a full-service realtor that they may or may not get commission on a sale. Why would they take the deal.

 

So of the FSBO companies may be a better option. lakecountrybyowner.com does a flat fee MLS listing and pictures type of option for like 500 bucks. You can also step that up to a 1.9/3.9% commission full-service realtor if you'd like with them.

[Bikeage77]

Anyone know how well houses are selling right now? I'll be putting my house up on July 1st. I'm basically broke now and I'd like to sell this thing as quickly as possible. I live in Wauwatosa's northeast side if that helps at all. I'm just curious so I know what to be ready for. Realistically, I'd like to move in with my friends August 1st, but we have a friend who's moving in September/October that will need a place for a month or so, who would take my spot in the lease of the place I plan on moving to eventually.

 

Thanks

[BraunsBoyfriend]

BikeAge,

 

Right now is basically the worst time in the last 20 years to sell a house. The market has really fallen flat on its face some so you're not going to get what you would have gotten a year ago. I'd seriously reconsider selling your house now. Especially if you're on a tight schedule. You're not going to get what you should.

 

Also, I can't imagine you've had your house for 5 years. If you buy a house and sell it before you've owned it for 5 years, you pay a capital gains tax. So this is even less you'll get for the house overall.

 

Right now is about the worst time to buy a house. A lot of people bought houses a few years ago believeing the housing market would keep booming and would sell around now. Well, now there is a lot mroe supply than demand. It's a terrible time to be a seller and a good time to be a buyer.

 

Why are you so broke? Did you quit teaching?

[1992casey]

My parents found a lawyer who also had a real estate license. Essentially, they sold the house by themselves with the lawyer being there for advice and to represent them at the closing. They paid normal lawyer fees rather than a commission.

 

The only thing they did wrong was deciding that the lawyer should handle all transactions. They verbally accepted an offer, didn't want to handle signing anything without the lawyer's advice, and the person evaporated.

 

If you go this route, have the lawyer give you some paperwork that you and a buyer can sign without him being present.

[Big Reed]

loan rates are low. I've seen a lot of new homes being built flooding the market and plummeting the sales of older homes.

 

I've known several real esate agents who would let you sell your own home if you listed it through them if you give them their commision.

 

When I sold my home last year, it was listed with my agent and also with a military locater service. the people who bought it were military, so I have to believe they saw it on the military relocation service. One agreement I had to make when I listed the house on the military locater service was to include the statement that my house was being listed by an agent.

[Chio151]

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Also, I can't imagine you've had your house for 5 years. If you buy a house and sell it before you've owned it for 5 years, you pay a capital gains tax. So this is even less you'll get for the house overall.

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That is incorrect in most cases.

 

Quote:

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When you sell your primary residence, you can make up to $250,000 in profit if you're a single owner, twice that if you're married, and not owe any capital gains taxes.

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Also, if you have resided there for at least 2 of the five, you are not subject at all.

[nsimps]

The real estate market isn't that bad. There's less activity certainly, but absorption rates are still pretty good. As to the original question, there are some realtors that offer a hybrid-FSBO sale situation. In this situation, if you generate the buyer you pay a flat fee for the paperwork and if the realtor generates the lead they get a percent commission. For a bit of disclosure, I'm a realtor in Wisconsin (not in the Milwaukee market) so my opinions are colored by that.

[BMuch]

Quote:

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Also, I can't imagine you've had your house for 5 years. If you buy a house and sell it before you've owned it for 5 years, you pay a capital gains tax. So this is even less you'll get for the house overall.

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That is incorrect in most cases.

 

 

Quote:

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When you sell your primary residence, you can make up to $250,000 in profit if you're a single owner, twice that if you're married, and not owe any capital gains taxes.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

Also, if you have resided there for at least 2 of the five, you are not subject at all.

 

Please disregard the false info Chio provided.

 

The first part of primary residence sales was quoted correctly.

 

Quote:

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When you sell your primary residence, you can make up to $250,000 in profit if you're a single owner, twice that if you're married, and not owe any capital gains taxes.

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However, in order to qualify for these rules you need to have claimed the property as your primary residence for at least 2 of the past 5 years (730 days).

 

These rules only matter if you have a gain on the sale of your house. If it is going to be a loss, then it doesn't matter if you wait for 2 years because there is no capital gains tax to avoid. By the way, losses on the sale of your primary residence are not deductible.

 

Overall, the real estate market has been hurt by several factors. One not mentioned yet in this thread is that the # of foreclosures has risen dramatically the past few years, which has added to the glut of homes on the supply side.

[homer]

Quote:

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Right now is basically the worst time in the last 20 years to sell a house.

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That really depends on the market. I think housing sales in general have picked up the last few months.

[Barbs4339]

You do not pay any capital gains taxes on the sale of your first home no matter how much you make off of it. Capital gains taxes are applicable on all homes after that.

[BraunsBoyfriend]

Thanks for the clarifications on capital gains.

[BMuch]

You do not pay any capital gains taxes on the sale of your first home no matter how much you make off of it. Capital gains taxes are applicable on all homes after that.

 

Barbs - The tax law updates in 1997 changed the way capital gains on home sales are handled. Your statement is not true anymore.

[Chio151]

BMuch, thanks for the clarification. So, basically, both of my conditions would need to be met:

 

- primary residence for 2 of 5 years

- less than $250,000 in gains

 

Either way, probably not going to apply to the vast majority of people.

[rluzinski]

Quote:

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However, in order to qualify for these rules you need to have claimed the property as your primary residence for at least 2 of the past 5 years (730 days).

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I ran into this when I sold a home after only about 12 months. Because I was moving for a new job I didn't have to pay capital gains. I think that's what was going on at least http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[dadofandrew]

You can make any sort of deal with your realtor you wish, but they have to agree to it. I can't imagine a good one accepting less than normal if they list the house because the buyer says they just drove by one day. There seems to be a lot of fraud possibilities in that.

 

I'd find a realtor willing to accept less than the accepted 3% (many will take 1.5-2%, especially if they feel the house will sell quickly) rather than a two-sided agreement.