[Dlbonivich]

At this time inventory is low. Houses are staying on the market longer. Agents are having to be creative to sell your property. Hire an experienced agent. The newbie’s do not know how to sell in this market, what makes you think you can do it. Agents are not renewing licenses at a huge rate. The reason is now you actually have to work at selling a listing. Good luck

[deborahcme]

Think like a potential buyer. Yes price is important, but buyers also search for listings based on location, then number of beds and baths. So you want to ensure that your listing is on a service that allows buyers to search on those specific terms as well as any extras like "corner lot" "pool" or "pool ready" "backs to woods" "backs to golf course" "backs to water view", "bonus room". Photos (as others have said) are key. If your photos look flat to you it's worth hiring a pro to take great pix (something that relators do) to really give prospects a good idea of what the home looks like. Including an aerial view (especially if there's water or golf nearby), is important. Look at listings that would catch your eye and try to make yours look like those. Also look at those comp prices and consider slotting your price somewhere in the middle. (I expect you've already thought of some of these things.) Finally, make it easy for prospective buyers to tour the home either via an appointment or open house schedule included in your site. As to how to keep agents away? No idea, sorry.

[Pat2015]

I received almost double for what I paid for my home that I built two years ago, and sold in March of this year. I don’t think that would be possible at this point, and will probably never happen again. The first person who walked in bought it within hours of the appt. I was very lucky and paid a big commission, but it was worth it.

[gighilton]

For 2.5 % get a villages agent . Cheryl McDaniel or Sonja pinson are great and worth the little extra. You will get eyes on the property.

[airstreamingypsy]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

I'm sure you're familiar with the famous quote about attorneys & doctors.

It's the same for folks who try to sell their own home. Doubly true, it a difficult market.

Good luck, you'll need it.

I've sold my last three homes myself. I wasn't a fool for a client. It's not rocket science.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by MandoMan

The market dropped a lot last October and hasn’t recovered, thanks to interest rates. I expected my house here to sell in days. A couple months earlier and it would have. Instead it took about four months, and I lowered the price $75,000. There were a lot of open houses. I didn’t like paying the agents around $30,000, but they worked hard for the money and did a lot of advertising. If I’d tried to do it myself, it might still be on the market. This is really not a good time to try to sell a house on your own. The other suggestions made here are good ones.

Interest rates don't mean "that much" if you're looking for a retirement home in The Villages. Most sales are cash sales, with no mortgage involved. The only interest a buyer would worry about is the interest they're earning by keeping their money in the bank, rather than investing it in their new house.

The buyer would also be concerned about who's going to buy the house they're moving OUT of, because of the interest rates - since most people who are looking for "non-retirement" property do take a mortgage.

But folks who've been renting, and are now looking to buy a retirement home, don't have that problem at all.

[Lisanp@aol.com]

I was licensed for over 15 year up north and became a Real Estate agent because I can't stand Real Estate agents and I never wanted to have to have one represent me ever again in a transaction! That being said, if you are already willing to pay 2.5% to a buy side agent, you really should just list it with an agent...
The additional 2.5% this will potentially cost you is more then worth it for professional photography, marketing of the home, not having to wait home for no show appointments, and dealing with the closing/title/appraisal/potential mortgage documents.
Do the math and figure out how much your time is worth. A top agent will probably get you a higher price then you can get on your own too because a savey buyer is deducting the commission of a FSBO from YOUR proceeds of sale already.

[OhioBuckeye]

The only complaint I had with a realtor (we used a outside TV realtor) we had was they put a price on it & was happy with it but when they couldn’t sell it they gave us a offer, it was $30,000. less than their original offer plus their realtor fees of coarse we said no & counter offered they took it. All I’m saying is make sure whatever the realtor appraisal price is make sure you tell them that’s a solid price I want to stick with it. Don’t let the realtor talk you into a rediculous price, they said what your house is worth so stick with it within a couple thousand dollars. Ask them to adjust their realtor fees & see what they say!

[jparsoneau@aol.com]

So many answers.
So I am looking to purchase a house in the next 10 days in the villages
I am on a 1031 tax exchange timeline if you’re familiar with that if not, I can explain it
But if you have a good house, that is a good price feel free to let me know what you’ve got.
Thank you Mike, 541-951-6904.

[rsmurano]

There sure can be a commission paid to the buyers agent. When I sold my last house on my own, I had a couple of agents telling me they had a buyer and if that was so, I agreed to pay a % to the buyers agent.
It is very easy to sell a house these days. I posted a simple ad in our community that said: “I’m thinking of selling my house” and I had 6 people call me within the 1st day. No pictures, no price. I had people within our community tell their friends and the frenzy started.
I would do the same here, I would also post an ad in TTOTV, Facebook marketplace, Facebook in NYC, LA, San Fran, Portland, Seattle, and in more places. I would also use the mls if I could find a way to place it, but that would be last resort. Do not list it on Craigslist, too many problems using that site

[PJ_Smiley]

Sold our designer home in The Villages 4 years ago "by owner" in 8 days for full price and all cash. We thought, what the heck do we have to lose. Let’s go for it. Here's a few things we did:
* Piggybacked off of The Villages open homes. Had our signs ready to go. Anyone stopping for a nearby “The Villages open home” would see our house.
* Placed open home signs that were large and easily readable at cross streets and intersections. Drive by and look at your signs. Can you read them while driving?
* House was decluttered and staged.
* Made signs for each room to highlight the main points and some things folks might not notice. This is great if talking to other visitors. Used plexiglass sign holders (much more professional looking).
* Highlighted special features of house with small signs.
* Curb appeal - neatly trimmed and mulch refreshed. Pressure washed driveway and curbing around house.
* Painted outside of house prior to showing.
* Black mold on roof? Ace Hardware has a spray that connects to hose to wash away the black streaks.
* Cleaned and touched up paint inside of house. Caulked any cracks. Cleaned shower.
* Changed all light bulbs to LED daylight so house was bright and well lit. Opened drapes and blinds and let all the light in.
* Took pictures with my iPhone. Open drapes and let in a lot of light when you take photos.
* Outside photos came out almost panoramic. Use your best photos. Did not need video.
* Posted on TOTV, Zillow, and other free FSBO websites.
* Made professional looking handout just like a realtor.
* Had a handout showing how we arrived at purchase price ready to discuss with serious buyer. Showed original purchase price and all improvements and payoff of bond. Total transparency is key when it comes to talking dollars. Don’t be afraid to talk dollars.
* Know the market and home values. Study recent comparable sales in the area. Make a schedule showing comparable sales for potential buyers. Don’t sell your home short (undervalue) or think too highly of your house (overvalue).
* Our sale handout was a duplicate of the TV flyer listing all the home and homesite features.
* Bond was paid so we made a big deal about it. Some will say bond does not matter, but $20,000 or $30,000 additional owed down the road is a big deal. That’s an extra monthly/annual payment.
* Contacted Peninsula Title (The Villages title company) regarding handling escrow funds and closing. I believe the fee was about $400 paid from closing funds. Peninsula Title is busy with The Villages sales, so you may want to check other local title companies.
* Downloaded FSBO contract (per Florida state statute) and made minor adjustments for our particular sale. I was able to compare several FSBO contracts (Florida) until I felt comfortable with the legal jargon and the handling of contingencies (if all cash deal, no contingency except possibly home inspection.
* A disclosure summary is required by Florida Statutes 720.401 to be provided to prospective buyer. This can be found online and downloaded.
* If selling furniture with house, attach a separate schedule of items included (reference schedule in contract).
* If you are uncomfortable with the contract or disclosures required, hire an attorney for the legal paperwork. Most attorneys will have a standard fee schedule.
* We did not use an attorney. We did not post listing on MLS. We did not give away any commission or use any agent. We wanted to sell to buyer, no realtor involved.
* Our first open house was basically for “nosey neighbors” and “looky-loos.” That’s good! That’s exactly what you want. Buyer was friend of neighbor who came to our first open house. Your "nosey neighbors" will help market your house and spread the word to friends that may be interested (friends who may still be up north). Our neighbors probably thought we overpriced the house, but the end result increased the value of their homes.
* Escrow deposit should be at least 5% of purchase price. Too little lets the potential buyer off cheaply if they decide to walk away.
* Try FSBO for 30 days. For a $500,000 sale, you would save $30,000 (6.0%) in realtor commission. You can always list with realtor if FSBO doesn’t work out. If you would kick the sale price up to $530,000 for realtor sale, make that a selling point.
* One last point. If there was ever the perfect place to sell a house by owner, The Villages is that place. People are looking for homes every day and they are visiting open homes every day. The Villages has open homes every day in all different villages, and they have pages of ads with directions to the open homes. MLS is doing the same thing. Allow TV and MLS to drive potential buyers to your door.

[pdp07]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

There is no such thing as a buyer's agent commission. Buyers don't have agents, sellers do. Also, if someone makes an offer, do you have a sales contract for them to sign and a third party, like a title company, to accept and deposit the earnest money into an escrow account? Why not just list the house with an experienced professional real estate agent?

This is not true, buyers can have an agent.

[miadford@gmail.com]

I used Homelister, and it worked out amazing. The biggest thing that is also the most important thing is to have amazing pictures and great write up.
They can list it on the mls who’s is very important because it will then filter into numerous other priority sites such as realtor.com, etc.

[miadford@gmail.com]

Right now the market is not as aggressive as it was even just a year ago. You do have to work a little harder. I agree with the need of all those very pertinent details as well as amazing photography. Aerial views are great if you on or near water or a golf course. Use homelister.com. Well worth it.

[Robbb]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

I agree. That is why I won't even look at a FSBO. They are almost always overpriced. I also agree that the new houses are a better buy than pre-owned ones, unless the pre-owned house has a very unique, premium lot.

That was my exact experience last year when I was looking for a home. FSBO were so overpriced it was a waste of time to look at them.