Do you need a realtor to sell?

thehebrewhero · #1 05-02-2011, 08:44 PM

I understand the importance of having a realtor to buy a house as they look out for. In these day and ages with everything just on MLS craigslist and marketing does a realtor really bring anything to the table for selling your flipped home? 6% really digs into the margin and if you are a good sales person and stage well are they really necissary? On A&E it looks like the flippers do there own selling...

realestatehound · #2 05-03-2011, 03:23 AM

The shows you see on A&E are just that shows. In the real world time is money and truth is that most flippers and builders are just that flippers and builders. They are not salesmen and besides the time you spend trying to sell you house yourself you could be looking for your next flip. I think that it is possible for some flippers to sell their own home, but it is hard. When you list with a realtor you are actually putting every realtor on the MLS system to work for you selling your home. I think that about 85 to 87% of all homes sold are sold by realtors. I'm a real estate broker and I offer a 3% commission on all my flips and sometimes I even offer a selling bonus because I want my homes sold as fast as I can get it sold. Of coarse I want every penny I can get out of them, but if I can pay a realtor $3,000 to sell my house and I can still make $20,000 I will pay it every day of the week.

thehebrewhero · #3 05-04-2011, 02:46 PM

3% sounds nice my realtor hasent offered that up yet.. I should ask and if she cant I quess just use someone who will take it

MayoRenovations · #4 07-16-2011, 07:18 PM

I've read that you can pay to make your own MLS listing. Has anyone found that to be worthwhile?

homealone · #5 07-17-2011, 05:52 PM

I have never bought or sold a house, but from all the reading I have done about it I would have to say that it is much easier to have a realtor sell a home than to attempt to do it yourself.

I know there are several people in my area that are trying to sell their homes themselves. Those home have been sitting empty for months now with their for sale signs and it doesn't look like anyone has even bothered to look at the houses.

Real estate agents I would say are the very best way to go when your trying to sell a flipped house.

JaredfromIndiana · #6 08-09-2011, 01:34 PM

Selling a home is more than just sticking a sign in the yard and posting it on craigslist. Also, those discount brokers that charge you a one time fee to list in on the MLS do NOTHING else for you besides that.

nicohohman · #7 08-31-2011, 04:49 PM

I think having a real estate agent - no matter how much they cost - is a good idea. Sure, you could do it yourself, but you also have to consider how much time you are spending trying to sell your house. All that extra time costs money too, I'd rather pay an expert to do something when I could be doing something better with my time.

TexasRealtyBlock · #8 09-18-2011, 02:54 PM

Years ago I had a good fried who was a Realtor. I used him in all my transactions and it worked very well. He always gave me back half of his commissions or just took a flat fee for a MLS listing. He passed away due to cancer and I found myself asking other Realtor to help me locate properties, do CMA's and submit offers for me. I couldn't find anyone that could keep up with the amount of work I was asking of them. I try to look at a minimum of 3 homes per day. So I ended up getting my own license and represent my "Company" in all the transactions. My girlfriend owns the "Company" of course. I do recommend having a Realtor as they can be a great resource. But get one that understands the investing side of the business. It's a lot of work! They have to be FAST and Resourceful so you don't get outbid.

Tom

JaredfromIndiana · #9 11-07-2011, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TexasRealtyBlock

Years ago I had a good fried who was a Realtor. I used him in all my transactions and it worked very well. He always gave me back half of his commissions or just took a flat fee for a MLS listing. He passed away due to cancer and I found myself asking other Realtor to help me locate properties, do CMA's and submit offers for me. I couldn't find anyone that could keep up with the amount of work I was asking of them. I try to look at a minimum of 3 homes per day. So I ended up getting my own license and represent my "Company" in all the transactions. My girlfriend owns the "Company" of course. I do recommend having a Realtor as they can be a great resource. But get one that understands the investing side of the business. It's a lot of work! They have to be FAST and Resourceful so you don't get outbid.

Tom

Did he actually give you back half of his commissions or give you a break on commissions when he sold your remodeled homes?

There are some Realtors that will work with investors and that have the time to show them 3 houses a day. Personally I don't work with any investors but we do have a guy on our team that does. Good luck to you!

BT5150 · #10 02-05-2012, 12:00 AM

I sold one house on my own before I went and got my broker's license and started selling my stuff through the firm I work with. Now that I'm on the "inside" of the RE broker's world, I honestly think that in almost all circumstances, you are much better off listing your home with a broker to sell. I don't know how it is in your market, but in my area, its not just 6% or nothing anymore. We have the limited service listings, where you pay a flat fee and they stick it on MLS and that's basically ALL they do, I don't think that's a great idea and you still have to pay at least a 2.4% co-broke fee anyway. The company I work with is a smaller company that's very technology oriented for selling its listings and we will usually take listings at 5%, not 6%. If it was for a real regular customer, like a flipper who sold something every 1, 2 or 3 months, we could shave a bit more off of that commission and its still a full service listing.

I just think that with all of the legal hassles (and possible legal pitfalls) involved in selling a house, its best left for someone who knows exactly what they are doing and who can very likely get a better price than you ever will on your own, which will pay for the commission (and maybe more) right there, plus its hassle-free. Wouldn't you rather be spending that time working on your next flip project?

The only circumstance I could see where it might be worth it to sell on your own would be if you had a completed project (or nearly complete) and you already had people beating down the door to buy the place and they were offering you more than you were hoping to get. For instance, maybe its a lake property where things don't change hands often and people are lining up to get in your place. Even then, you'd be absolutely NUTS not to hire a lawyer to walk you through everything, which is gonna cost you, too!