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Real Estate Question?

We have a FOR SALE BY OWNER sign in our front yard. Well, yesterday a man came up here and asked if we would pay him 3% for him to bring a buyer to the table. He then proceeded to say that it was ridiculous to ask 170k for our house. It has 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bath, a crystal chandelier in the dining room, a small shed, a huge 2 story shed and a dog house with, I kid you not, heating and air. It is a brick ranch style house that was completely remodeled two years ago. Is that too much to ask for our house? We live in a very nice neighborhood. Up the road like a mile away, houses go for like 500k. I checked that website and there is a house like 6 houses away for 175k. As for the realtor, he came up knocking on my door and said "I'm A.W. Myers" That gave me nothing. I have yet to hear of this man. And I have asked.

Public Comments

1. Location is everything in real estate. In the right location you home might go for over a million dollars. In others, you might be luckily to get $100K. Carefully compare your home to others* that have recently SOLD (not just for sale) and see what they got for their home. You might try zillow.com to get some of the recent sale prices. It might even offer an estimate value. Be aware that if your home has something very special or very bad, zillow is unlikely aware of it and will not include it in its estimate. Good: Best looking home on the block when you drive by. Bad: Neighbor next door fixes cars in his driveway. Be aware that there are a lot of legal requirements. For example you need to disclose certain information to the buyer and have him sign a document acknowledging that he received that information within a certain time frame. You MUST have a real estate lawyer involved unless you are an expert in real estate law in your area. You could end up costing yourself tens of thousands of dollars if you don't follow all the local, state and federal laws. *Ignore home values in another neighborhood, even just a mile away. Compare only homes, close by in the same or very similar neighborhoods, that have same style, yard size, traffic on the street, etc. These are the factors that the buyer will be using, you are just wasting your time if you price it too high.
2. Why don't you have a Realtor come out and give you a price. Then you can see if your price matches up with the Realtors. Who is this guy? Is he a Realtor? Attorney? Is he going to help with the closing? 3% is a standard realtor commission. Make sure he is going to earn it. Also remeber he doesn't get paid until your house sells.
3. HUM, not professional in my book. Ya know, I don't think I would have said that to you after asking if you would pay me 3% to help sell your home. Sounds like a Rookie Realtor to me. Be careful. While he may be legit, chances are he has no buyer. Some newbee's handle things this way, that is how you know they are new in the business. What I suggest is to affirm to pay him 3% verbally, don't sign anything unless it's a purchase agreement. Then I'd ask for 24 hours to think it over. In that time, I would check this Realtor out to see if he is legit for one, and how long he has been in the business. If he hasn't been in very long, maybe you should ask for him to bring his Broker with him when he presents the offer. Oh and don't forget, there should always be a qualifying letter from the buyer's lender! I hope it works out for you, but my gut tell's me it was a come on to get your house listed.
4. We can't comp or appraise your home here. If he has a buyer to bring to the table you might want to sign a contract with him. Just make sure it is buyer specific, " for transaction between Mr. Such-n-such and Mr. You for the property located at 123 Your St." Don't let him scam you into listing with him. Also remember, he really works for the buyer and is not your friend and will not try and get you a goos price, he is trying to help them get a steal.