Housing market

[CascadeClone]

Why I just went with FSBOHomes for listing. A flat $3600 covers everything. Marketing, inspection, assessor, an attorney to handle the paperwork, 7% commission would be over $11k on just the bare minimum I would like to get out of the house, and that would wipe out any profit on the house in the cost of upgrades for new AC/Furnace, water heater and flooring in the house

IIRC estate agent (realtor) fees in the UK and most other countries are in the range of 1-2%. Here they are generally 6%, and as others said, sometimes you get great advice and service, and sometimes not so much. It's a racket, frankly. Luckily all that margin is drawing competition and lower cost alternatives are penetrating the market.

Figuring a fair value, advertising/marketing, closing a sale, and processing the transaction are useful services. But they don't need to be compensated at maybe $500 per hour. Selling your house isn't rocket science. I sold my first home years ago, and it cost me about $750 in legal fees which was about 1%.

 

[CloniesForLife]

We're open to any other recommendations though! We are like 7 minutes from Arbor Lakes area, so we have a good idea of what is available there, but any other places you guys (or anyone else) like we are all for recs.

Honestly not too familiar with that area other than Omni. Just went out there after I tried and really liked some of their beers. If you need recommendations closer to the cities then I can definitely help.

 

[throwittoblythe]

IIRC estate agent (realtor) fees in the UK and most other countries are in the range of 1-2%. Here they are generally 6%, and as others said, sometimes you get great advice and service, and sometimes not so much. It's a racket, frankly. Luckily all that margin is drawing competition and lower cost alternatives are penetrating the market.

Figuring a fair value, advertising/marketing, closing a sale, and processing the transaction are useful services. But they don't need to be compensated at maybe $500 per hour. Selling your house isn't rocket science. I sold my first home years ago, and it cost me about $750 in legal fees which was about 1%.

I think the flat rate is the problem. In most industries, you have variable pricing options based upon your needs/wants. In real estate, you pay that same 6% whether you get a person with 30 years and 5,000 sales or the newbie right out of school. At least that's how I understand it.

I know our realtor in MN kicked ass. He worked his butt off for us. He made several calls to contractors to get them in quickly to make repairs on our place. He even helped me negotiate for our new house behind the curtain even though he wasn't getting a commission on that one. I felt like I got a lot of value for that one.

Our realtor from Omaha years ago? Sucked ass. Dude tried to get me to cave on buyers wanting $400 in BS repairs. After I argued with him (my own realtor) for an hour, he caved and paid for the repairs himself. "I just don't want to lose the sale" was what he said. Definitely just wanted to turn the place over and not actually do good by his client.

 

[dahliaclone]

We're open to any other recommendations though! We are like 7 minutes from Arbor Lakes area, so we have a good idea of what is available there, but any other places you guys (or anyone else) like we are all for recs.

If you're ever in NE MPLS come to Broken Clock Brewing! We are part owners. Good stuff! @CloniesForLife you too!

 

[KnappShack]

I think the flat rate is the problem. In most industries, you have variable pricing options based upon your needs/wants. In real estate, you pay that same 6% whether you get a person with 30 years and 5,000 sales or the newbie right out of school. At least that's how I understand it.

I know our realtor in MN kicked ass. He worked his butt off for us. He made several calls to contractors to get them in quickly to make repairs on our place. He even helped me negotiate for our new house behind the curtain even though he wasn't getting a commission on that one. I felt like I got a lot of value for that one.

Our realtor from Omaha years ago? Sucked ass. Dude tried to get me to cave on buyers wanting $400 in BS repairs. After I argued with him (my own realtor) for an hour, he caved and paid for the repairs himself. "I just don't want to lose the sale" was what he said. Definitely just wanted to turn the place over and not actually do good by his client.

A good real estate agent cannot be taken for granted. The agent on my condo sale was beyond amazing. I interviewed two agents prior to hiring her. Glad that I did.

My agent on the purchase sucked to the point where I had to remind her that she had a duty to her client. Flat out told her that she didn't appear to be working in our best interest.

 

[BCClone]

My parents got their current house doing the same.

Bought a farm the same way.

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

Bought a farm the same way.

******* right! 'Murica!

 

[srjclone]

If you're ever in NE MPLS come to Broken Clock Brewing! We are part owners. Good stuff! @CloniesForLife you too!

Dang, wish I would have known this sooner! the wife and I are big fans of trying out new breweries and have lived downtown and then victory memorial parkway the last 3 years! Would have definitely stopped by sooner if we had known. We'll add it to the list though! PM direct, I'd love to say thanks in person for the rec

 

[BCClone]

******* right! 'Murica!

I don’t see the point of people being offended when asked if they want to sell. At least people are interested in your property and don’t think it’s a pile of crap.

 

[Cyclonesrule91]

We built a house in 2005 and live there until 2019. My wife wanted a new house for the past 5 years probably but I was happy where we were at. In 2019 the wife was diagnosed with breast cancer and in the midst of surgery and chemo she wanted to look at houses. We found one that both of us loved and even tho I thought it was nuts we were doing that when she wasn’t feeling well it got her mind on something positive and that was huge at the time. We paid $345k and closed July of 2019 at 3 5/8% and pretty happy. I kept checking rates and in July of 2020 I locked in 2 5/8% with almost no closing costs and lowered the years on the loan. They wanted to appraise the house again and I figured it would be about the same but it came back at $36,000 more than what we paid for it a year earlier and that was before this market really went absurd.

We love the house and the wife is doing great now so life is good.

I would be scared to buy something today though. Won’t take much of a correction to to be in an upside down equity position unless you have a lot of cash down.

 

[srjclone]

We built a house in 2005 and live there until 2019. My wife wanted a new house for the past 5 years probably but I was happy where we were at. In 2019 the wife was diagnosed with breast cancer and in the midst of surgery and chemo she wanted to look at houses. We found one that both of us loved and even tho I thought it was nuts we were doing that when she wasn’t feeling well it got her mind on something positive and that was huge at the time. We paid $345k and closed July of 2019 at 3 5/8% and pretty happy. I kept checking rates and in July of 2020 I locked in 2 5/8% with almost no closing costs and lowered the years on the loan. They wanted to appraise the house again and I figured it would be about the same but it came back at $36,000 more than what we paid for it a year earlier and that was before this market really went absurd.

We love the house and the wife is doing great now so life is good.

I would be scared to buy something today though. Won’t take much of a correction to to be in an upside down equity position unless you have a lot of cash down.

Congrats and happy to hear your wife (and you) is doing well now! I went back and forth on this situation in my head hundreds of times, man. My wife is very much a person who when she has it in her head we are doing something, we are doing it. And I push back enough, but started waning when I worried things were going to sky-rocket too much price wise. I got my rate locked in at right at where you got yours, and although I think the home we got is probably not at the full price we paid (maybe 10-15k high), it is far closer what it would regularly appraise for than what i think most of the houses we bid on were. I was heavyily pushing for re-sale value and location was huge for that in my mind. Although I know I probably paid more for the home we got than what I would've gotten it at 2 years ago, I think we got as good of a steal as we could have in the market. (I saw at least 2 homes go for almost 100k more than asking....)

I digress, but your last sentence gave me a pseudo-ptsd of my worries before buying and I am just trying to justify my purchase hahaha

 

[Cyclonesrule91]

I digress, but your last sentence gave me a pseudo-ptsd of my worries before buying and I am just trying to justify my purchase hahaha

Thanks for the kind words about boss woman. Definitely a scary year and definitely happy to be on this side of that deal.

And my last sentence wasn’t intended to scare you in your 10-15k to high purchase price. I was more referencing the posts where a house worth $175k 2-3 yrs ago, was listed at $225k and had buyers bid it up to $300k post above. That’s a train wreck in the making.

 

[srjclone]

Thanks for the kind words about boss woman. Definitely a scary year and definitely happy to be on this side of that deal.

And my last sentence wasn’t intended to scare you in your 10-15k to high purchase price. I was more referencing the posts where a house worth $175k 2-3 yrs ago, was listed at $225k and had buyers bid it up to $300k post above. That’s a train wreck in the making.

Totally, I was more just joking in that last part, we are content with where we got our house at and very happy with the home and location.

You are totally right though. I sent a home to the "I just bought a home" thread and it was comical what they were trying to flip and how much for. I believe the initial list price got brought down 25k after it didn't get an offer for a week (in that market and location, it has to be a **** hole or way overpriced to not get snagged that quick). but just shows you what people thought of the buyers in the market and the amount of bare-minimum flips that were growing monthly.

 

[CloniesForLife]

If you're ever in NE MPLS come to Broken Clock Brewing! We are part owners. Good stuff! @CloniesForLife you too!

Hell yeah! I love Broken Clock. Was there a couple weekends ago and enjoyed a couple Dankasaurus pints on the patio.

 

[BCClone]

We built a house in 2005 and live there until 2019. My wife wanted a new house for the past 5 years probably but I was happy where we were at. In 2019 the wife was diagnosed with breast cancer and in the midst of surgery and chemo she wanted to look at houses. We found one that both of us loved and even tho I thought it was nuts we were doing that when she wasn’t feeling well it got her mind on something positive and that was huge at the time. We paid $345k and closed July of 2019 at 3 5/8% and pretty happy. I kept checking rates and in July of 2020 I locked in 2 5/8% with almost no closing costs and lowered the years on the loan. They wanted to appraise the house again and I figured it would be about the same but it came back at $36,000 more than what we paid for it a year earlier and that was before this market really went absurd.

We love the house and the wife is doing great now so life is good.

I would be scared to buy something today though. Won’t take much of a correction to to be in an upside down equity position unless you have a lot of cash down.

Glad the Mrs is doing better. I would have agreed to just about anything if I was in your shoes.

 

[83cy]

Upgrade in a down market, downgrade in a hot market. We're looking to upgrade, I guess we will wait for the bubble to burst.

 

[Gonzo]

We built a house in 2005 and live there until 2019. My wife wanted a new house for the past 5 years probably but I was happy where we were at. In 2019 the wife was diagnosed with breast cancer and in the midst of surgery and chemo she wanted to look at houses. We found one that both of us loved and even tho I thought it was nuts we were doing that when she wasn’t feeling well it got her mind on something positive and that was huge at the time. We paid $345k and closed July of 2019 at 3 5/8% and pretty happy. I kept checking rates and in July of 2020 I locked in 2 5/8% with almost no closing costs and lowered the years on the loan. They wanted to appraise the house again and I figured it would be about the same but it came back at $36,000 more than what we paid for it a year earlier and that was before this market really went absurd.

We love the house and the wife is doing great now so life is good.

I would be scared to buy something today though. Won’t take much of a correction to to be in an upside down equity position unless you have a lot of cash down.

Good for you. My wife had a health scare last year and I was seriously f*cking petrified thinking about life without her, without trying to show it. Sounds like you guys handled the situation perfectly. Happy for you.

 

[besserheimerphat]

I'm most likely going to have to buy at my next project site since it's a relatively rural area (Mt Vernon, WA). Not looking forward to being a first time buyer in this market. I've got no issue renting (been doing it for 13+ yrs now) but in a relatively small town there aren't many options (especially when you are used to being in much, much larger markets).

Maybe things will calm down by September?

I've lived in Mt Vernon, WA since 2012 - let me know if you need any info on the area! Can you disclose your project, just for the nosey?

 

[83cy]

Why do you think it's a bubble going to burst?

Why do you think it's going to last? It can't and it won't.

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

I see the point of people being offended when asked if they want to sell. At least people are interested in your property and don’t think it’s a pile of crap.

I don't see why it's something to be offended by. People are too thin skinned.