In Detroit just burn it all to the ground and take the insurance check to your new location. Buy a house and all new stuff. This way you don't even need to pack and you get full market value.

 

Shhhhhh... that's plan B. If winter sets in before the dump is sold its getting torched.

I've thought about getting those companies that professionally stage a dump, anyone had experience with them? How much would I expect to pay? Maybe I'll write one of those shows on the chick channels with a sob story of my dying wife and mental issues blah blah blah if I don't get my house staged I'll kill my children to deal with the loss of my wife or something like that. I'll work out the details later.

My awesome neighbor planted flowers and the front of the house is professionally landscaped. Curb appeal is plentiful. Check. Just have to sell my workout gear in one bedroom and stage that right.

Great advice guys!

 

well if you are in Detroit just just put the for sale sign like this

2bdr
2bth
large family room
ample space for cutting coke and making crystal meth
bedrooms may be converted to 4 ho rooms each
great investment with built in client base

will keep cash sale on the D.L. with no ownership papers

 

Once the place is righteous and you have all the inspections in your back pocket, could ahead and have the appraisal done.

Nothing worse than having a listing price, getting an offer and then waiting (sweating) only to have the appraisal come in under that number. Lenders don't go over appraisal and your deal is effectively torpedoed by a third party.

Also, listing under appraisal is a selling point that speeds up the process.
My neighbor was facing the prospect of paying two mortgages.
His appraisal was 382.
It sat for months at 379.
He dropped to 367 and a week later accepted an offer of 360.

 

New Question: With all this newfound knowledge of the selling/buying process I think I despise the real estate folks as much as lawyers and other useless professions. Anyone every used Help-U-Sell and done the legwork themselves?

 

Why do you despise realtors? If you're going to use Help-U-Sell, why not just list it FSBO? In this type of market, it's pretty much necessary, at least around here to have the house listed with a reputable realtor since most of the big names are doing a lot of advertisements to promote the homes they are selling.

 

not sure about Detroit, but in the market I am in, anything being sold without an agent is taking a ton more time to sell, 40 - 50% longer.

 

if you do a for sale by owner type thing, make sure you know how much paper work is required of you at sale time.

 

6% is kind of outragous in this market. I'm just looking at all my options. FSBO is a huge pain in the ****. At least with H-u-S you get it listed in the MLS, advertisment and a broker to push the paperwork.

 

It might sound like a lot of money but when you figure it all out, it's not crazy. Not to mention, It's harder to sell a house in today's market than a few years ago. Figure 3% per side, the agent gets their split, the office and realtor have to pay for the advertisements, whatever costs come up, etc. Advertising isn't cheap. I'm not saying it's crap money but it's not some absurd amount. Check out Assist-2-Sell. I don't have any idea if you've got any in your area or if they are worth a damn but around here they are about the only people moving anything.

http://a2susa.com/

Edit: Well, I'll be damned. I'm really suprised you don't have an A2S office up there, at least when I searched nothing came up.

 

Assist-2-Sell is the same as Help-U-Sell from what I can tell! 6% is a lot of money. Its insane money actually. Highway robbery. The more your home is worth, the more they rake you over the coals. What a rip!

 

Assist-2-Sell is a full service real estate franchise like ReMax, ERA, etc while Help-U-Sell isn't full service. Just to put costs in perspective a normal real estate office here in Central Florida will spend $50,000 a year in advertising, that's a lot of money. Regardless just go with an agent or office that is doing a lot of business and has a good reputation. Word of mouth spreads quickly.

 

Potential buyers are going to want a piece of that 6% you save as a FSBO in way of reduced price.
So you save maybe 3%.
The 3% gets you pre-qualified potential buyers at your door instead of unemployed broke yahoos killing time on a Sunday morning looking thru your sock drawer who couldn't buy Happy Meal without a co-signer.

Plus time missed from work and all your free time while you 'play' real estate agent.

Plus, someone who gives away 'Dzervit' awards on selected threads is... well lets face it, not a people person gifted in the art of persuasion.

 

thump do you happen to know anyone that owns an Assist-2-Sell?
the $50k is alot for advertizing but I heard it is the cost of the guy that takes the photos that kills them


when people see a fsbo, the first thing they do is dedcut 6%

go with a local agent that moves alot of property, not a buddies wife or a part time agent

 

I have purchased homes that where listed through help-u-sell. Everything went fine.

I have used a fix fee broker, $350 to get it on the MLS/realtor.com and I of course pay the going rate for the selling agent in my area. I take my own pics, clean the place up etc... I don't bother with open houses. The MLS is the key. Every area is different, do a search on google and see what you come up with.

In my area, discount brokers are growing more and more. I am seeing their signs all over the place.

I also know of an agent who will list for free if you use him to buy another home.

I am sorry RE agents/realtors, I am more than happy to pay you if you bring in the buyer, but I refuse to pay 2-3% for someone to list.

Once you do it yourself you will realize even more how easy it is. If you run into something out of the ordinary, there is always help available if you look. I have had to use lawyers a couple times and I still come out paying way less compared to using an RE agent. Listing or going through the sales process is very easy, the hard work for realtors/agents is finding people who want to use them to list and/or buy.

Good luck.