sell by owner

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calFriend

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I plan to sell my single story condo in Northwood. I have a few questions to ask the experts on this forum.

1. If selling by the owner, i.e. myself, should I still pay the commission to the agent who brings the buyer to me?
2. If yes, how much should I pay?
3. I bought this house in 2011. The seller bought it at 580K in 2006. The current Redfin estimate is just a little bit over 540K. Do you think it is reasonable for me to ask for 580K? I have impression that Irvine house is back to the highest price around 2005-2007 in average, right?

Any comments or suggestions will be appreciated.

 
Judging by your questions, I would recommend going with a discount selling agent.  FSBO is doable, but it sounds like you'll probably end up leaving money on table if you do it yourself.  I know the commission part of RE transaction sucks, but it's a fact of life.  Best you can do is get the selling agent to lower their commission to something less than the standard 2.5%.  1.5-1.75% is pretty fair.  Buying agent will still need the 2.5%.
 
You'll definitely want to offer up a buyer agent commission to get foot traffic and you'll want to make sure to get the home onto MLS with professional pictures (please don't take cell phone pictures).  You'll only do yourself an injustice if you don't.  I can email you comps if you PM me with the address and floor plan along with your email address.
 
Thank you, woodburyowner. Even 1.5% is nearly 9K so was trying to save this portion.

Do you think that Irvine house is generally back to the level higher than 2005-2007 price?

If using an agent, I don't need to worry about what is the right price to ask since the agent will do a market comparison to reach a recommended listing price for me. Will continue to think about which way to go. Thanks for the input anyway.
 
CalFriend, another question that I ALWAYS ask my seller clients is...have you considered renting it out?  Or you need/want the capital from the sale of the home?
 
USCTrojanCPA, I am no waiting for the capital from the sale. I also know the renting price for this house is as good as 2400-2500. But my main point to sell it is to take the advantage of primary home capital gain since I obtained it at the lowest in 2011. I did a math and feel the saving from tax free is bigger than the saving from a lower rental property cost.
 
MLS gets you way more eyeballs and exposure.  If your condo is empty, then a discount MLS agent would be ideal as its mainly pictures, listing, and lockbox.  The rest is done by the buyers agent.

The redfin estimate is really meaningless.  You can easily do a basic comp analysis on redfin by zooming onto your tract and then looking at sales history for last 1 year.  Model matches will be ideal comp candidates.

A private party transaction is not a bad thing and the savings is meaningful.  We have a rental condo that our renters are considering buying and the process is pretty straightforward.  We would split the 5% that typically goes to agent commission so both of us come out ahead and pricing the condo was easy as the same model sold a few times in last 6 months all in the same price range. 
 
Thank you, rkp, for sharing your wonderful selling experience to your tenant.

I don't believe the estimate from Redfin either. That's why I tried to get more insights from you guys since I know many experts here.

It's hard to get a comp analysis for my house from Redfin though. The very last sale of the same model as mine happened in Jan 2012. That price can't be used as a reference at all due to the big market difference between now and then. Even though there are other models in our neighborhood sold or one on listing right now, but they are all two story units which are not comparable either. We all know that single story price/sqft is higher than 2 story, right?

Hopefully that I can get the same good luck like yours :)
 
I recommend you seek out an Agent to represent you. Having someone in your corner to guide you is worth a lot.

Small things like hosting an open house, taking professional photos, installing a yard sign, and listing on MLS all take significant time. Also, you probably want a professional to read the contract. Addditionally, there are disclosures and regulations that a seller must fulfill, the buyer agent may guide you but how do you know you're not getting taken advantage of?

I know it seems easy, but a buyer has all the power in a purchase. I had a messy transaction last year where the buyer was very close to failing to perform on multiple occasions and having an Agent saved my bacon. Something to think about...and usually you get more when you sell with an Agent.
 
thank you, best_potsticker_in_town. Yeah, I agree with you for those advantages by using an agent. I am just hesitating between the benefits and the savings:)

Will thinking about it more...
 
best_potsticker_in_town said:
I recommend you seek out an Agent to represent you. Having someone in your corner to guide you is worth a lot.

Small things like hosting an open house, taking professional photos, installing a yard sign, and listing on MLS all take significant time. Also, you probably want a professional to read the contract. Addditionally, there are disclosures and regulations that a seller must fulfill, the buyer agent may guide you but how do you know you're not getting taken advantage of?

I know it seems easy, but a buyer has all the power in a purchase. I had a messy transaction last year where the buyer was very close to failing to perform on multiple occasions and having an Agent saved my bacon. Something to think about...and usually you get more when you sell with an Agent.
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Totally agree. These transactions are unbelievably complex, with nearly ALL of the leverage with the buyer. You want a professional representing your interests. When we sold our agent did all of the expected things as far as marketing, open houses every week (catered food, wine), professional photography/videography, etc. but also things like helping us declutter, arranging (and paying for) storage unit while our home was on the market, cleaning our backyard and side yard, paying for a dumpster for discarding our junk. He also got us free escrow (we only paid for title).
 
CalFriend, you definitely have a little unicorn property.  I couldn't find any close comps in Northwood even going back 2-3 years.  So I looked in Woodbridge which has similar type of homes like yours.  You are looking at $600k+ for your home in my opinion. 
 
USCTrojanCPA, your estimate drove me do a simple math. If the house can be sold by an agent at a price higher than $(FSBO) * 1.025, there will be enough reason to use an agent :)
 
yeah, i'd suggest to just use usc aka realty king and call it a day, he'll help you sift through good buyers/offers (just because someone made an offer doesn't mean escrow will close on time or close at all)
 
calFriend, I'm a licensed real estate broker but only deal in multi-family.  When I sold my house two years ago, I used a single family real estate agent that is very active in that neighborhood.  My friends thought I was crazy to pay someone for something I could do myself.  What I told them was that being in a similar business, I know the value that can be added by a good agent that knows the product type and area.  My house sold within the first two weeks to an all cash buyer at almost list price.  The buyer came in much lower in price but my agent was able to get the buyer up significantly in price as he had credibility due to the number of homes he had sold in the area.  I would definitely recommend using a good agent to represent you.
 
AW said:
yeah, i'd suggest to just use usc aka realty king and call it a day, he'll help you sift through good buyers/offers (just because someone made an offer doesn't mean escrow will close on time or close at all)
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Thanks for the kind words AW.  One of the things that really helps me go above and beyond for my clients is having awesome service providers...from Solyent for lending, to my escrow officer rockstar, to my inspectors, and my contractor referrals.  I try to make the sales experience as fun and stress-free as I can.  My clients are busy professionals and they don't have that time to handle all the nitty-gritty and sift through through the BS and red tape that comes with buying or selling a home so that's where I come in. 
 
irvine buyer said:
calFriend, I'm a licensed real estate broker but only deal in multi-family.  When I sold my house two years ago, I used a single family real estate agent that is very active in that neighborhood.  My friends thought I was crazy to pay someone for something I could do myself.  What I told them was that being in a similar business, I know the value that can be added by a good agent that knows the product type and area.  My house sold within the first two weeks to an all cash buyer at almost list price.  The buyer came in much lower in price but my agent was able to get the buyer up significantly in price as he had credibility due to the number of homes he had sold in the area.  I would definitely recommend using a good agent to represent you.
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Very interesting point you bring up.  A few years ago I had a licensed commercial broker approach me to help him and his family buy a home in Irvine.  I asked him if he was sure since he could do it himself and he said he wanted someone who knew the market and would execute for him.  Just like you did in your situation, he valued the knowledge and experience that I bought to the table. 
 
USCTrojanCPA, the successful agents recognize the value of representation as they see that in their own business.  BTW, fellow Trojan and also a former AA CPA.
 
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