4/13/2009  (SAVED 6%!)

Most of the effort to sell your home is associated with getting it ready for prospective buyers to view it in its best light.  While you are preparing your home for sale, you need to decide whether to use a realtor or to sell it yourself.  I interviewed a number of local realtors who I thought were quite capable of selling our home.  Since this is a buyer's market, everyone advised us that our home needed to be priced "appropriately."  As part of my research, I searched the internet to identify different approaches for selling my home myself.  Important criteria for us were the need to work with a local firm and we definitely wanted to have our home listed on MLS. 

List2Move is sponsored by Roxwell Properties located in Fairport.  There is a lot of valuable information about selling your home yourself on the List2Move web site and I talked the owner of List2Move, a number of times.  Based on this homework, we decided we could offer the most attractive price for our home by not using a realtor and by listing our home using List2Move.  (Our listing did offer a 3% commission to Buyer's realtors to encourage them to show our home).   

I took the pictures of our home myself and I entered all of the specific data for the MLS listing using the tools on the List2Move web site.  (This requires some organizing, but is not rocket science).  The support staff at List2Move.com was very helpful as I worked my way through these details. 

Our listing went live on the MLS on February 8, 2009.  We held an Open House two weeks later and more than 20 couples came through to view our home.  The couple who purchased our home had seen our listing on MLS and then they came to our Open House.

The results of our efforts are quite clear.  We sold our home without a realtor and our closing occurred on April 8th, 60 days from the time our listing went up on List2Move. 

We are very pleased with our experience with List2Move and would recommend them to anyone thinking about selling their home themselves.  The List2Move team was always available and offered helpful advice.

Sincerely,

Dorrance and Jeanne Lamb

12/30/2008 (Taryn sold her single family for $110,000 and only paid $1000 in Commissions vs. $6600., and then used us to write the offer for her condo and received over $1200.00 back....!)

Not sure what else to say here but wow!  These guys are great and always available to talk to if you have any questions.  I offered $1000 commission to a buyer's agent and thaft's all I enfded up paying.  Saved me almost $6000 in the end!  I am definately recommending List2Move^® to all my friends!   Taryn Bross

8/18/2008

"The staff at List2Move^® was extremely professional, courteous and responsive. They made the process of selling my own home very simple, saving me time and money."

JB

Jeffrey Baker

List2move^® is the right way to sell a home at the right time.  With the national real estate market in a downturn and homes in our neighborhood selling below what they did a few years ago, I just couldn't bear to part with the standard 6% realtor commission; but I knew that it was essential to get our home onto the MLS.

I checked a few other "for sale by owner" sites, but they were charging $600 or more just to list, plus additional fees that quickly added up to more than $1000.  I happened to see a sign for List2move^® in a nearby neighborhood, so I decided to visit the website--what a deal!  We signed up for 2 months and loved the option of being able to add more time (if needed) at a discounted rate.  Needless to say, the next day Tim and his crew had delivered a professional sign and installed it in our yard.  Within days we had multiple inquiries and had shown the home 4 times.  By the end of the week we had two offers and were thrilled!  Not only did we get our asking price, but we did so saving 6% without realtors!

A few things I learned along the way...  

Before listing your home, have a couple of local real estate agents give you an appraisal.  It is free, but they may price it a little high, knowing that they want to earn your business.  Also check out sites such as zillow.com which will give you an idea of what other homes in your neighborhood have sold for.  Once you have set a price, be aware that you will still be negotiating--even if a realtor is not involved.

All of the usual rules of selling a home still apply:  it must be clean, uncluttered, and staged.  I found that some buyers are a little hesitant about a "for sale by owner" transaction, so it is all the more important that the property be in excellent condition and beautiful for showing.

Agents may call you wanting to negotiate the terms of their commission if they bring you a buyer.  You can certainly choose to offer the usual 3%, but I quickly learned that they buyers are looking at the MLS as well, and if they want to see your house, they will demand it regardless of what you choose to offer their agent.

Once you receive an offer, be prepared to negotiate.  Buyers may feel that they can take advantage of a "for sale by owner", especially in the current market.  Be realistic and fair.  You may need to give 3% seller's concessions which would normally go to the buyers agent.  Have your real estate attorney review all offers and supervise negotiations.  Once you have agreed on a price and the contract is signed, you will need to stay on top of everything that follows-- the inspection (which will likely result in further negotiations), obtaining any necessary work estimates, etc.  A realtor is typically motivated to get all of this done as quickly as possible, and you should be too!  Tim and his team at List2move^®  are also readily available to answer any questions and guide you through the process.

I don't think I will ever use a traditional realestate agent again!  Best of luck, now go sell your home with List2move^® and save!

Jared Christenson