Friday’s USA Today carried a story about how the internet is changing home selling methods.
The seller, one Jim Blair in Redmond, WA, seemed so excited to have sold his home on Zillow. He originally placed the home on the site for a “Make Me Move” price of $699,000. Probably tired of no activity, offers or serious buyers, he later decided to list with an agent at $659,000, when he received an email from a prospective buyer. The offer came in and the buyer and he eventually settled on a sales price of $619,000. Wow! And he didn’t have to pay the 6% REALTOR commission! He only paid the agent 0.5% ($3,095) of the sales price to “handle the paperwork.” Seems like a good deal, huh? He perceived that he was saving over $35,000!
Let’s look at the real picture. Had Mr. Blair listed his home with a reputable, professional broker, and assuming that the $659,000 was a saleable price, the REALTOR commission would’ve been $39,540. Subtract that from the $659,000 sales price and you get $619,460. Next, subtract the $3,095 he paid the so called paper handler from the $619,000 sales price and you get $615,905. The difference between what he could’ve netted from listing with an agent and what he netted by selling on Zillow and paying the paper manager is $3,555…..$3,555 more it cost Mr. Blair to sell his home himself….$3,555 left on the table….and he’s excited about this! Gives credence to the old adage, “an attorney who represents himself has a fool for a client.”
Selling your home can be a simple process, provided things run smoothly. In the current market, however, nothing ever runs smoothly. Mortgage programs change. Values are forever adjusting. Inspections turn up serious issues. Many people wouldn’t think of self diagnosing an illness, representing themselves in a court case, or even doing their own taxes. I learned long ago to trust the professionals in their respective fields…doctors with treatment of disease processes, attorneys to represent me in legal matters, and a CPA to do my taxes. Trust your real estate transactions to the professional, full time REALTORs at My Arizona Home Team.
So, anytime Mr. Blair wants to throw away another $3,555, I wish he’d call us! We’ll gladly take his money since he’s so willing to give it away!
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