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Had to choose between a real estate agent and a flat-fee MLS listing service
I was selling my duplex after working on it for 2 years between freelance gigs, and the agent wanted 6% which would have been $9,000 out of my pocket. The flat-fee service cost me $399 total and I just had to take my own photos and handle the showing texts at 2 AM when buyers wanted to see it. Has anyone else here tried the DIY route on a big sale like this and found it worth the extra hustle?
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owens.laura20d ago
oh man the 2 AM texts thing really hits home. i did the flat fee thing with my dad's old pickup truck last year and i ended up texting with this guy at 3 AM who wanted to see it the next morning. turns out he was a night shift nurse and that was his only free time. we met at a gas station parking lot at 6 AM with my dog in the passenger seat barking at him the whole time. he bought it on the spot. but the weirdest part was i had to clean out the glovebox and found a 15 year old mcdonald's gift card with like three bucks left on it. i kept it as a souvenir. anyways the DIY route is definitely a mixed bag but sometimes you get these little stories out of it that make the hassle worth it.
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danielowens21d ago
The thing nobody seems to talk about is how the flat fee route forces you to actually learn your own property's flaws. When I sold my mom's old house last year using a flat fee service, I had to stage the living room myself and realized the couch blocked a radiator. An agent would have just told me to move it, but catching that myself saved me from a buyer's inspection flagging it later. Plus taking your own photos means you can crop out the weird stuff like the neighbor's junk car that's always in the driveway. The 2 AM texts are annoying but honestly, those are the people who are serious enough to buy.
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kevinw9421d ago
had a buddy who used flat fee last year and @danielowens you're spot on about learning the flaws, he found a mold spot behind the fridge no agent would've caught.
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