How do I get my house on Zillow without an agent ?

Question

I am about to list my first flip I am splitting the profit on this flip with 3 other people so I can't afford to use a listing agent . I have never sold a house myself before any help would be greatly appreciated. Do I need an attorney for anything or will the bank, title company and buyers agent take care of most of the paper work?

Account Closed · Answer

Zillow has a section for sale by owners  To sell a home in California download this package for $50

https://www.uslegalforms.com/ca/CA-HOME.htm

Title /escrow companies will take care of your paperwork  The attorney is not necessary just a long as you f provide the contract and disclosures . I sold my first house this way in California before I was an agent and it was very easy

Dustin Mathenia · Answer

Ok guys I'm having pictures taken and will be listing the house soon if I need to ...I did one showing from someone who contacted me from my fb market place post (I have an entire thread on marketing on fb)...anyway person seems motivated said she has to show her husband then they will put in an offer . I'm not counting on that to actually happen but if it does what would be the next step we would have to do she has no agent to put a legit offer together and I obviously don't have an agent either do we start with her lender or a title company ? I lead her to believe I know what I'm doing but I need help once again thanks my fellow bp family I couldn't do this without you

Jonathan Minerick · Answer

Yes, in my biased opinion, use a flat fee service to get you on the MLS. Your best bet is searching the web for "Flat Fee MLS + your city" and then checking the reviews on Yelp. So many of the reviews out there on other sites are borderline bogus or clearly written by the same person/company. It pays to be skeptical (IMO, Yelp is the most reliable).

The other important thing to note is that not all flat fee listings are the same. In general, here's the big things you want to look for in a flat fee listing:

1. The listing MUST be on the local MLS.

There are hundreds of MLSs in the United States. Sellers want to be on the MLS that covers the area where their home is located, so they can offer a commission to LOCAL buyer agents.

2. Cost to list + changes to listing.

Can range from $100-$400 for the exact same listing on the MLS. Watch out for fine print that requires an additional fee at closing. Make sure you are able to make changes to the listing after it has been posted for a nominal fee.

3. Photos on MLS.

Make sure you can upload at least a dozen photos. Some services offer a great price, but it's only for 1 photo - which is not useful for most properties.

4. Length of Listing.

Get at least a six month listing and be sure that there is no charge for cancellation.

5. Fine print.

You should never be required to use any closing service (e.g. escrow) provided by the flat fee service agent.

Also, always remember you can get a flat fee attorney to help you with the paperwork as well, so you don't necessary need (or want) the firm that did the MLS listing to also do your paperwork.

We've found that a home selling boils down to getting just three things right 1) get pro photos, 2) like @mike flora said, offering a fair buyer agent commission on the MLS (typically 2.5%), and 3) price it right, which you'll know once you list (lots of offers = too low, no offers = too high. Either way you can adjust accordingly).

Dustin Mathenia · Answer

@martin Ruiz

I didn't want to use an agent becase it would be 9k$ out of my pocket and I'm splitting the profit on it 4 ways so not much left I would always use an agent buying but selling didn' seem that complicated got a buy sell contract and some disclosure papers and I'm sure I got lucky finding a legit buyer on my first showing and the title people handled most of it they also didn't have an agent besides putting the house on the mls and and handing contracts to the buyers then to the title company i don't really see what they do ... I ddefinitely will be using an agent in the future if it starts taking dozens of hours or I just don' have time but in my very limited experience it' been like 5 or 6 calls and maybe an hour of work for 4500$ in savings worth it to me

Glenn R. · Answer

I'm glad to see this topic asked.  I'm not in real estate investing yet, but have some lake property that we will be selling in the next 6 months.  I plan to FSBO and wondered about how to handle the closing.

Considering it's raw land, in a very hot market, I'm not planning to offer a buyer's agent commission (at least not for the first 90 days).  What's a tactful way to state that, in case I change my mind later?

How do I get my house on Zillow without an agent ?

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