So, we are about to list our house (or at least meet with the realtor to discuss it) on Friday.
What should I ask him? What should I know? I've never done this before.
Here's our story if I haven't bored you with it already.
We found out from a friend early in August that there was an apartment opening up in the housing co-op we used to live in (jointly owned houses/apartments, you have to be a member, go to meetings, serve on a board, etc). It is very well run and we really enjoyed being in before we moved to Boston.
We went to see the apartment and it will be perfect for us - 2/3 bedrooms (two small rooms and one that isn't technically a bedroom but that will work for us), second floor of a two apartment house, big attic with stairs up, laundry in apartment, big fenced backyard. Walkable for work, daycare, mike's work. on all major bus routes. close to the best public schools in the city.
we applied and got it.
the best thing is that the rent is so insanely cheap for a 3 bedroom that we can afford both the rent and the mortgage while we wait for the house to sell.
and all the utitities are included so we don't have to spend that extra money.
what is his commission? lots of realtors are negotiating commission right now.
he should bring a list of comps for you to compare with. i have heard frequently that to be competitive and sell your home quickly in this market, you need to price your house 10% lower than the lowest comp. but often, people can't afford to do that.
open houses? how often? etc.
i was also a stickler for having them check in with me frequently. especially b/c you're not going to be living in the house full-time, i'd want to know how many showings you are getting per day/week etc and get feedback from the showing agents on what the buyers like and/or don't like.
are they going to have pictures available to be viewed online? if so, how many? does he do any staging for you?
will there be a sign out front? if so, will there be flyers in there? if so, how often will he come by to replace them?
what flyers will be left inside the home? (our realtor in colorado was our best and he did black and white outside and color inside)
I's want to make sure he is trying to sell your home on more than just the MLS. Negotiate his rate. Our last realtor listed for 5% while this last time he wouldn't go lower than 6.75%. Mark sure to get a virtual tour on the MLS. This helped get people through our house for sure. Our realtor also sent a stager in to arrange as she saw fit.
Where in Boston do you live? I used to live in Brighton, just up Comm Ave from BU.
Thanks for the great advice. So much I never would have though of.
Stacey, we're not in Boston any more. We're back in Canada. (But when we were in Boston, we lived downtown next to the Boston Garden/Fleet Center/whatever it is called now. Then we moved out to Winchester. We spent a lot of time in Brighton/Brookline since so many of Mike's friends from BC lived there. )
Our MLS is awesome here. It is the one place where everything is listed and you can search with a map tool that shows you all of the places listed. It's excellent and I think the only way people here find a house. Oh, and its free for everyone. It's really working hard on putting realtors out of business.
The housing market here in NS is still doing pretty well. We haven't had the economic crash that everyone else had (really). I guess when you never are that high up, you can't crash down (lol). I wonder how much he'll negotiate his rate if he has lots of people buying?
having bought this house from my parents, i dont know a ton about the realtor situation. but that apartment sounds GREAT - congratulations! great move!!
Thanks for the great advice. So much I never would have though of.
Stacey, we're not in Boston any more. We're back in Canada. (But when we were in Boston, we lived downtown next to the Boston Garden/Fleet Center/whatever it is called now. Then we moved out to Winchester. We spent a lot of time in Brighton/Brookline since so many of Mike's friends from BC lived there. )
Our MLS is awesome here. It is the one place where everything is listed and you can search with a map tool that shows you all of the places listed. It's excellent and I think the only way people here find a house. Oh, and its free for everyone. It's really working hard on putting realtors out of business.
I thought you were in Canada, that's why I was confused!!
Your MLS is FREE!! That is the only reason I would hire a realtor. Have you tried putting up there yourselves and saving the realtor fees?
