Moving from Jupiter- NEED suggestions (Port St. Lucie, Palm Beach Gardens: rental, countertops, mortgage broker) - West Palm Beach - Boca Raton - Boynton Beach - Florida (FL) -Palm Beach County - City-Data Forum

Amywpbfl · 08-07-2007, 09:25 AM

We are getting ready to move to NC, we are relocating. I have four children and we all are born and raised in South Florida (Palm beach area.) We own a 3/2/2 in Jupiter and I wanted to try to sell the house without a realtor. Can anyone give me suggestions (first time selling/moving) We do have a great house and we have done so much to this house and we do live in a great neighborhood with Great schools. We are just not sure our steps with selling a house. SUGGESTIONS?

THANK YOU!

momix5 · 08-07-2007, 10:30 AM

try craigslist of fsbo website.

NYBill · 08-07-2007, 10:47 AM

Tough time to be selling ANYWERE I have firends stii in NY that have there home on the market for 6 months and not even a touch...so it's not just Florida.

First off try to find a realtor and make terms of the deal around 4%, most of the time they want 6%. Explain to them that you want quailified buyers only, pre approved mortgage would be nice but in todays market it might be a bit tough.

Lenders are not giving out money like they used to. The buyer must have at least a credit score of 625

or better for them to even consider a note/mortagage.

Get a list of houses that are like yours( comps) that have sold in the last 6 months. On that list it should tell you how long the home was on the market, what the asking price was and what the home sold for.

If you find a realtor you like this information should be presented prior to you signing a contract.

That's another thing to work out with the realtor is the length of the contract. I would suggest a 3 month contract to start off with. If after 3 months there is no movement then you can do another 3 month contract and adjust the price of the home if needed.

I have had my Dad's home on the market for 4 months and it has shown plenty but the abundance of homes on the market makes it difficult for buyers to chose from if they quailfy.

I just saw on the news the other night that some banks are not even going to write anything until this credit thing gets somewhat staightened out.

Tough time we are in now.

NYBill · 08-07-2007, 10:50 AM

Sorry didn't see that you wanted to sell without a realtor...IMHO with the glut of homes on the market you might be sitting a long time.

5FLgirls · 08-07-2007, 10:54 AM

Friends of ours buy and sell homes through MLS.com all the time and they swear by it. Once your house gets on MLS, realtors will see it and bring people through. I've always found that open houses are a waste of your weekend but others disagree with me. There's such an inventory in PBC that it seems as if people going to the open houses are "looky-loos." Just be prepared for a slower time selling your home. It took us 15 months to sell (in Jupiter--1/2 acre, 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath in Whispering Trails that had been 90% remodeled with a realtor!) from Jan. 2006 to March 2007. We had a lot of traffic but pathetic offers. Price your house just below what the others in your area are asking because it will get you more traffic. I know it's hard to hear but try to get your emotions out of the deal--you love your house but you don't know why others don't--or it will get you really stressed out. It helped us to paint our home a neutral color and get the majority of our personal items (kid's toys--I have four kids too) out of the home. We rented a pod for the time it took.
Here's some quick steps we've taken with our three moves (in the last 18 months):
De-Clutter - get rid of everything you haven't used in 1 yr.
De-Clutter again
Put away personal items
Clear all countertops
Put away all unncecessary furniture/items/kitchenware
Paint
Mulch and make sure curb appeal is great
Fresh flowers in house (it works for some--I don't like it)
Pressure wash driveway and patios
Get windows washed
Fix any small thing so they won't come up during an inspection (we've paid for our own inspections of the house but we've been told you have to disclose this to the new homeowner or realtor--we haven't disclosed this and it's helped us figure out if anything significant needed to be fixed).

Hope this helps. Good Luck. My friends who I mentioned earlier moved from Palm Beach Gardens to Charlotte, NC and think it's a fabulous place to raise kids.

JimKing · 08-07-2007, 11:22 AM

You will know you have set your price right when you start getting offers within 10% of your asking price.

No matter how great you feel your house is, those are the cold hard facts. Set your price right, you get showings and offers.

Set it too high and you don't. Zillow, a realtor, nor an appraiser can't tell you the right price. Only potential buyers can through their offers.

ideascubed · 08-07-2007, 11:34 AM

Here's my 2 cents! Watch Sell My house! for ideas on staging your house. Make flyers and put them on door hangers in rental communities, try Ebay classifieds. Tell a story on your ebay ad, why is your neighborhood great, why do you like your schools, why would you stay there if you didn't have to move! For ebay, the more info the better. Plan on spending thousands on ads, advertise in areas that get snow, advertise in So. Cal, because of Scripps coming in, advertise in Port St. Lucie, because with the price of gas, people may want to move closer to their jobs in PBC.

List in the mls, do one of those 395 specials that are advertised. What's the point of listing with a realtor if they don't spend any money on advertising! Go talk with a couple of mortgage brokers, they may have clients that are looking for your house.

Tell everybody you are selling your house, tell your neighbors because they may know someone they'd like to have move in!

Good luck!

Amywpbfl · 08-07-2007, 06:03 PM

You guys are great and gave me lots to think about! The children are really excited and believe it or not they are actually helping clean the house and get the curb apeal going... I am greatful for all comments and the help a very warm hearted "THANK YOU"

Stupid question - how do you get your property on MLS.com?

5FLgirls · 08-08-2007, 01:35 PM

I googled MLS and got some web sites. Just go through that way, which is what my friend did. You can even "rent" a lockbox so that you don't have to be present with all the kids for the showings. Other than that, if you have any friends that are realtors, ask them if they won't be offended.

MMorin · 08-09-2007, 11:00 AM

Of course all realtors try to discourage people from selling their house on their own. But if your going to then I would suggest everything 5FLgirls said. Its all about traffic to the home.. if the home is on MLS and you don't get anyone then its probably overpriced.... make sure you have good pictures on the MLS. If you don't have it on the MLS and there aren't to many other people on your street in the MLS driving traffic then it is going to be difficult. Flyer your neighborhood if you can... try to reach as many people as you can ... thats the goal.

Good Luck