Realtor

Call Carol Bowling with Century21 she owns it and is a pro!

I recommend rick Duncan with Caldwell banker in Florence. (256) 766 0069.
He will take good care of you or at least point you in the right direction.

Kay Martin - Renaissance Realty - www.florencealhomes.com - Great person, really takes interest in your needs and not what she has to sell. She was outstanding in both selling our old house and helping us find our new one.

And on another note, find someone who does it full time, not just on the side......

Captain

This is a subject where everyone will have an opinion. I would go to Dave ramsey.com and see who our endorsed local provider(ELP) is for this area. He only endorses the best!

Off topic, I tried Dave for an ELP for my taxes, closest one was in Selmer TN. Ugh.

Dave Ramsey recommends whoever pays him.

Are you the prospective buyer or the prospective seller? The Realtor in interested in MAKING A SALE above all other factors. If you are a seller, then many local Realtors will bust a gut to sell your house, since they get MONEY for that. If you are a buyer, watch out; that Realtor is working for sellers, not for you, the buyer! Some of them are scrupulously honest and some of them will tell you most anything to get you to BUY! Find someone who has bought a house recently, using a Realtor, and get a candid assessment of the Realtor's performance. Keep doing that until you find a very strong recommendation for a Realtor and then take your chances with him/her.

Consider using the local sell-it-yourself reduced-cost service if you are selling a property. I forget the name of that outfit, but I have seen their signs around. Check that out--could save you plenty.

I would advise also finding a Realtor who is at least intelligent enough to pronounce "Realtor correctly. It is NOT "ree'-la-tor," as all too many of the local practitioners pronounce it; it is "real'-tor." I refuse to do business with anyone who can not correctly pronounce the name of their profession.

quote:

Originally posted by beternU:
If you are a buyer, watch out; that Realtor is working for sellers, not for you, the buyer! Some of them are scrupulously honest and some of them will tell you most anything to get you to BUY!

If you find the right Realtor, they are working for you, even if you are the buyer. They get paid when you buy a house. If the house is not listed with them, they split the commission.

But you are right, there are some crooks out there. If you pay attention to what someone shows you, you can tell if they are working for you or not. A good Realtor, working for a buyer, will listen to what you are looking for and show you properties that fit that mold. If they are showing you houses that don't fit your needs, find someone else, because that Realtor didn't listen to you in the first place.

Mine went ABOVE AND BEYOND what I would have ever expected from someone. Listen to your gut, selling or buying a home is an emotional roller coaster. You want to work with someone that understands that and is not just in it for the sale.....

Captain

Nothing wrong with a realtor making a profit.However i know of one who made 10,000 profit on a single sale.Thats all fine and dandy but when a person has to work their tale off to pay it back it just does not seem right.

Standard around here is 6% of sale price. When I sold mine, I heard as low as 5% and high as 7%. At 6%, the Realtor for the seller would get 3% and the Realtor for the buyer would get 3% much of the time. If the Realtor represents both the buyer and the seller, they get the entire 6% (of course their costs come out of this amount). According to Kiplinger.com, the average listing price in Florence right now is $178K. At 6%, that's $10,680 in commission per sale (assuming they sold at the listing price, of course it should be a bit lower.) A $300K home would bring $18K in commission at 6%.

So, 10K per sale probably is somewhat above average for a Realtor here, but not unusual I'm sure.

Captain

It sounds like an awful lot of money until you realize that they have so many fees and expensive advertizing that has to be done. I thought about being a realtor once and I think I would love it but not sure I would make enough to justify it.