Sell Your Home Without Paying Any Commissions

All of us know that real estate commissions can work out to quite a bit of money - anything from a few thousand dollars with discount brokers to 6% in commissions with full-service agents. That's a substantial sum of money to be paying for something you could very well do on your own.

Real estate agents are important and most home sales are still done through them. However, with the growing use of the Internet among home seekers, home selling has become a lot easier. These days when one has to look for a home, the first thing they do is connect to the internet and try searching online. The internet has made the task of searching for a home easy and convenient. In contrast to newspaper classifieds, online home listings provide more details (and also pictures) which help the buyer make an informed decision on whether to see the home. This saves the time of both home buyers and home sellers.

So how does one go about selling their home without paying any commissions? As is evident, you need to have an online home listing - your home details need to be easily accessible online. The key words out here are 'easily accessible'. It's no use having an online home listing if no one's going to find it. If you're going to sell your home without an agent, you're going to need a lot of buyers enquiring about your home and coming to see your home. So it's important to list your home on websites which are popular and are frequently visited by home buyers.

Listing your home details online is the first step. However, you cannot only depend on that to find a buyer. Other basic things you'll need to do:

- Place a 'For Sale' yard sign.

- Print single-page flyers (brochures) about your home and have them put up in a box along with your 'For Sale' sign. You may also try distributing them.

- At least one newspaper classified ad. It could be used to supplement your online home listing, e.g. Details at ***.com - Listing Id ***.

You must note though that selling your home on your own may take a little time and you may also need to take time out of your schedule to show your home to buyers at their convenience. If you're willing to put in a little effort, selling your home without an agent is very much a possibility and your efforts will be paid off by savings from the commissions.

Best of luck with your home sale!

Sameer S Panjwani - Sell Your Home On Your Own With ChoiceOfHomes.com.

More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion deal with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure practices. New York, Nevada and Delaware joined California in holding out for better terms.

More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion settlement with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure procedures, but California, New York and other key states were still not among them.

California has until Monday to share in a multi-state deal with banks to obtain mortgage relief and reforms. Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, who walked away from talks last year, says the door remains open.

With a Monday deadline at hand, California officials have resumed direct talks with the Obama administration about joining a multibillion-dollar, multi-state mortgage settlement with the nation's largest banks, a source said Sunday.

The talk show host pays $12 million for the 4,088-square-foot house with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. The ocean-view home sits on 1.26 bluff-top acres with beach access.

In one of the more talked-about transactions in town, actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have sold their Malibu beach house to daytime host and comedian Ellen De Generes for $12 million.

The four-bedroom, five-bathroom house built in 1920 for industrialist James Wigmore lists for $2,875,000.

A decorative cast stone entrance opens to this restored Spanish Colonial Revival-style house in Pasadena's South Orange Grove area. Built in 1920 for industrialist James Wigmore, the house retains such original details as coffered wood ceilings and arched doorways.

They don't believe they can sell their property for what it's worth, so they're spending money on making their homes more comfortable.

Do you fit any of these descriptions?

A biennial research report by the National Assn. of Realtors indicates that a handful of real estate agents and brokers and their clients either don't know the law or don't care to follow it.

When it comes to lawsuits, real estate agents and brokers tangle mostly among themselves.

The president aims to help about 3.5 million people with good credit who are unable to refinance at historically low rates because their homes are worth less than their mortgages.

 

The White House hopes to help millions of homeowners lower their monthly mortgage bill with a $5 billion to $10 billion plan to set up a streamlined refinancing program for people who are current on their payments.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of 20 large U.S. cities fell 1.3% in November from October as foreclosures continue to drag down the housing market.

Three straight months of home-price declines in the biggest U.S. cities showed that foreclosures remain a significant drag on a housing market that is entering its fifth year of deterioration.

L.A. Clipper Chris Paul may be quick down the court, but he moves pretty fast when it comes to buying multimillion-dollar real estate too.