I want to sell a house, and I don't want to pay 6%

[Franco]

I want to sell a house here in Austin, and I don't want to pay 6% in commission to "those people". How can this be done? Is there any FSBO website where buyers and sellers can come together without the pesky middlemen? Should I try to pay a broker a few hundred $ to list it on MLS? If I were to list it on MLS as FSBO, I suppose that buyers' agents would probably call me first before showing it, to make sure that I will pay them their 3%? What if I told them to collect their 3% from the buyer instead of from me? I'm just brainstorming here. I'd like to reduce the 6% by at least half, but on the other side, I don't want to have the house on the market for 6 months and then have to move to plan "B" and pay "them" their commission. Just how much more difficult is it to sell a house outside of the 6% route? By the way, we are talking about a $150k house, not half a million. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

[Bernard]

Realtor fees are negotiable. Start calling some Realtors and see what you can do. You NEED the MLS. That is the bottom line. You will cost yourself money most of the time going any other route. If you really want a DIY job, yes, you can pay some Realtors a flat fee for an MLS listing and little else. You'll field all the calls and offers. Your listing in the MLS must disclose how much you are willing to pay the selling broker. If you put in 1% instead of 3%, there are going to be a bunch of brokers who WILL NOT show your house.

Saying "get your 3% from the buyer" makes little sense. At the end of the day, all the money comes from the buyer. Asking the buyer to come out of pocket with more cash at closing isn't going to help you cause.

When it's all said and done, the best economic outcome for you will be to create the absolute most interest in your house and the shortest amount of time. Multiple buyers are what you are looking for. That is very hard to acheive with a sign in your yard and classified ad in the paper and photo on Yahoo Real Estate. The MLS is VERY powerful tool. Use it to your advantage.

Bernard

 

[OrangeChipper]

Or find a relative. They'll give you back the half of their 3% or most if they love you.

 

[Ramathorn]

My momma didn't give me no 3%. Maybe she don't love me.

 

[Craigcito]

Do you have a realtor brother who could list it for you and save you the fees? You could repay him by renting him some furniture perhaps.

 

[jimmyjazz]

Is it that big a deal to lose a few buyers because their agent won't show a house with a 1% commission? Don't most buyers scour the MLS themselves these days? If a buyer tells their agent "I want to see this house", they can't (ethically) say "I'm not showing it to you because my commission will be too low". You'll have your phone # in the MLS, anyway, so that buyer could call you directly.

Buyers' agents that are doing all the searching might conveniently forget to disclose your property to their client, but what percentage of the market relies completely on their realtor? Maybe at $150K it's a big percentage, I don't really know. I bought our house through an agent who rebated me 2% of his 3% commission because I found the house and he just had to do the minor legwork to close the deal. (I found him here on horfans, by the way.)

 

[axle hongsnort]

if you are selling and buying in the same town negotiate with one agent to get both sides at 4.5% total . assuming you are upgrading to a bigger house the agents will jump at your business i.e. take a hit on selling your 200K house at 1.5% but reap the prize on buying your 400K house at 3%. being a buying agent is easier than being a selling agent, which sucks because it is harder work.

 

[CottonEyedHorn]

^ that's what we did, 4.5%.

 

[chuychanga]

One Percent Realty

I don't know anything about this company or about real estate in general, but I've seen their signs up in yards in my neighborhood before.

 

[JohnnyM]

Stick a sign in the yard for a couple weeeks at least and don't spend a dime more. I sold my house in Austin this way in about 2 weeks.

Spend that time contacting agents or looking into your other options.

 

[LocoDino]

Here's something that might interest you:
The Link

 

[Tailgate]

In all three of my experiences, I have never paid 3% to the person representing me. But, they were happy and it was a fair deal.

 

[CelisHorn]

You can print up the documents from the Texas Real Estate Commission's (TREC) website and do it yourself. My first house i bought was for sale by owner and i had no rep. Caveat, I do have a law degree and had taken a real estate class where we went over these sorts of things but we didn't have any problems. Just be careful if you choose to do it yourself.

TREC

 

[Hornin Hong Kong]

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[jimmyjazz]

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