Buying or Selling a Home/selling my home

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Expert: John Hendricks - 11/13/2007


Question
I am going to sell my home. What is the normal rate of compensation for a real estate agent to sell it for me?  Also if I decide to sell it myself what are the normal charges i can expect to pay??

Answer
Dear Ernest;

Thank you for your good question…

All broker fees are negotiable. There is not a standard fee that is charged by a real estate brokers although 6% is the customary amount paid for selling a home. 3% would be paid to the listing broker, and 3% would be paid to the buyer’s broker. But once again it is all negotiable.

If you are currently living in a market which is depressed like so many of the regions are experiencing, it would definitely be worth your while to not focus on the compensation as much as interviewing and hiring the right agent for the job of selling your home. This market requires you to concentrate on getting an experienced agent who will market your home successfully and negotiate the deal to your advantage while offering a customary commission of 6% for their services. A discount broker or an inexperienced agent could cost you more money in the long run due to the potential lack of the standard of care involved in marketing and negotiations. As an example, on a $500,000 home that you would sell, the savings of 1% equals $5000.00

True, that is a lot of money to spend, but in the big picture, it is an insignificant amount of money to spend in relationship to not having the best advocate for your financial position in selling your home. By selecting the wrong agent it could cost you thousands of dollars more and some sleepless nights.

Regarding selling your home on your own, I am not sure what state you currently own your property. In California, a home owner who would like to sell their home on their own home can call a local title company to get an estimated cost to the seller if they were to receive X amount of dollars for their home. It does not cost you a dollar for the inquiry and the information is estimated, but it will give you a good idea of the costs of selling your home on your own. Remember though, it is an estimate and the cost could vary depending on your actual sales price and concessions you may make during negotiations.

If you decide to sell your home by the means of a ‘For Sale by Owner’, you may want to offer a 3% broker fee to a Realtor for an acceptable offer on your home. Remember, if you are offering your home for $500,000 and they were to bring you a full price offer on your home, a 3% commission would be an acceptable payment. If it is anything less than full price, the 3% broker fee can be negotiated. And remember; do not sign any listing contracts with the broker bringing you the offer. Some agents will get you to sign a listing agreement prior to presenting you a contract. It is not necessary, as the contract that will be provided by the agent for the purchase of the home would be adequate. If they want you to sign a 24 hour listing agreement or compensation agreement for their one client, this should be okay as it is a matter of procedure within the company before presenting you with a offer.

Make sure though, before you sign any contracts obligating you to sell your home that you seek legal council to review all facets of the contract for your protection.

If you decide to employ an agent, and you have not selected an Realtor to work with, let me know via e-mail or phone, and I would be glad to put you in touch with 2 or 3 of the premier agents in your area. I have been selling real estate for 22 years and established business relationships throughout the country with some of the best agents in the business.

I am a Realtor in the State of California and may not be aware of some of the customary laws and regulations in the state in which you reside. I would highly recommend that you do seek legal council to get a full explanation of what could be expected by selling your home. The more information you have, the better decision you will be able to make for yourself.

Good luck on whatever direction you decide to take…

Warmest Regards;
John Hendricks
JohnHendricks@Marin1.com
415-259-4518
www.LundmarkHendricksFineHomes.com

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John Hendricks

Expertise

As a California Realtor for 23 years practicing in Marin and Sonoma Counties, it is now time to provide counsel through AllExperts.com to those who need advise in real estate. My knowledge and experience includes a wide range of resale residential real estate purchases, new home sales, income related investment properties involved in 1031 exchanges, and land. Let me help you in any of these areas...

Experience

John Hendricks has established himself as one of Marin & Sonoma Counties premier Realtors. A native Californian, John is a well-known and respected Realtor in both Marin & Sonoma Counties who has resided in the Northbay since 1976. John began his real estate career in 1986, and since then has distinguished himself as one or Northern California's top producing Realtors. Before joining Frank Howard Allen Realtors, John was an associate of the Prudential California Realty from 1990-1992 where his outstanding sales achievements earned him one of the company's highest honors, the prestigious "President's Circle Membership", presented to the top 2% of associates for sales and earning excellence. Since his association with the highly regarded Frank Howard Allen Realtors in 1992, John has once again established himself as one of his company's Top 10 Producing Realtors in Marin & Sonoma Counties for the years 1993 through 2007 and now in 2008. Five continuous years of outstanding performance has now allowed John to join 15 other Realtors in the prestigious "Lifetime Hall of Fame" for Frank Howard Allen Realtors. John established a group of professional individuals who specialize in a variety of areas in real estate called, 'Lundmark-Hendricks Fine Homes' This group of professionals are dedicated to the success of representing clients with the greatest amount of care and service when either buying or selling real estate.

Organizations
California Association of Realtors National Association of Realtors

Education/Credentials
Upon Request...

Awards and Honors
Frank Howard Allen Realtors "Hall of Fame Member" Chairman's Circle for 10 consecutive years

Past/Present Clients
Joe Louis & Sharon Sigurdson We want to thank you again for your excellent representation of interests during the recent purchase of our home in Petaluma as well as the sell of our home in Mill Valley. We had the unusual pleasure of working with you during the last year both as sellers and buyers. We felt that our interests were always paramount and that we received a very fair price for the sale of the Mill Valley house as well as our purchase of our new home. This speaks particularly well of you, because of the recent unstable and chaotic real estate market. Will Finke "Quite frankly, we came out of a very difficult situation, which time does not allow elaborating on. This was one of the greatest experiences of our lives as clients. John Hendricks is one of the top businessmen I have ever met." Bruce & Nancy Rosentreter "I chose John Hendricks to sell my house. I picked him because I thought he was professional, aggressive, and that he could get top dollar for my house. He fulfilled my expectations completely." Joy Schuelke "Since we were trying to sell a high end home in a very tough market, and in the middle of a very rainy winter, the prospects seemed quite bleak. I was convinced at the time, and am even more so now, that without John's tenure, patience, and tenacity, we would have not been able to move the property." Lynn McCarthy "I cannot stress strongly enough how impressed I was with the service provided to me by John and his group. Throughout the entire transaction, John was always available, always forthcoming with excellent advice based on his years of experience, and always willing to put in the extra effort to make this a positive experience for me. I feel lucky to have had the experience of working with him." Lea Lieurance-Turk "Thank you John for your outstanding real estate services for the past 5 years I have known you. You have made my dreams come true as far as selling and buying property."
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