Re: House for sale

[anniefromessex]

Hi Guys,

Is there anybody back in blighty who is coming over and wants to buy a 4 bed/2 bath property on just over half an acre. It is in a really pleasant development, the house is only 3 years old and has been empty for the last 12 months. It is unoverlooked to the rear, and there is a waterview to one side of the property. The kitchen is big and has an island in the centre, there is a formal dining room, living room and family room, plus obviously a 2 car garage. The property is situated on a cul-de-sac comprising of just 6 homes and there is plenty of room between them unlike some of the newer properties. There is a screened lanai to the rear of the property, with plenty of room to add a pool and still have land.

Anyone interested, please pm me and I will be glad to give you anymore details that you might require.

Anniexxx

[a.mcgee]

Hi,

Just new here.

How much is the house and have you any Photos?

Rgds,

Anthony.

[anniefromessex]

Hi Anthony,

Thank you for your enquiry, the second one today funnily enough. I can take some pics in the next couple of days and forward them to you if you want to pm me with your e-mail details.

I will pm you with all the details, so please look there.

Love Anniexx

[peter gold]

Sounds like at last you are getting some good luck. Good for you :angel:

[anniefromessex]

Thanks Peter, perhaps it's all the praying I have been doing lately, repenting all my previous sins - although I am sure I will be able to conjure up a few more in the days to come, ha ha!!

Love Anniexxx

[Dustin]

Good for you! Hope you get what you want and need.

Regards

Dustin

[anniefromessex]

Thanks Dustin,

Hopefully we will gain peace of mind and believe you me at our age you need that cos you never know whats round the corner. We can now watch our little girls grow, see all their funny ways and enjoy them to the full.

I too hope you get what you want - we have fought since early 2005 and the fight has gone out of us, but you are young, you really want it so you need to keep on fighting. If the worst comes to the worst, just think you have your wife and family to think of and I am sure other avenues will open up for you. My Daniel has gone back to England with nothing, but finally he is now making it and one day this will be a distant dream to him, but he can look back on the good times that we all had whilst they were here and nobody can take that away.

Take care Dustin.

Love Anniexxx

[Susie]

Hi Annie

See my posting C visa

[Susie]

Hi Annie


Hope it all works out for you, about time you had some luck

See my posting C visa and see you/chat tomorrow night

[Susie]

Hi,

Just new here.

How much is the house and have you any Photos?

Rgds,

Anthony.



Welcome to our site

Hope to hear more about your journey in the introduce yourself section :) and if you have any questions just ask away

[anniefromessex]

Hi Guys,

Just to let you know that Daniel's house is now back on the market after a young lady wanted to buy it, told us she was pre approved, a contract was drawn up for closing (kindly done by Tracey, Bobby's wife) for 31st July so as you can imagine we were ecstatic. Daniel had dropped the price from $280,000 to $265,000 as we really need a quick sale - she then phoned today to say she couldn't get the money she needed, would Daniel pay her closing costs - $15,000 - which would bring the price down to $250,000, plus paying his own closing - sorry but the answer was an emphatic NO!!! She had told us she had looked at about 30 or more houses and you could tell as soon as she walked into his that she loved it - so here we are again with a house to sell. Anybody interested? We are also selling ours which is a 3/2 with a pool on a quarter acre lot, lovely airy open plan house, with a great lanai (so you can sit out even when its raining), plenty of room between the houses, unoverlooked either side and at the moment unoverlooked to the rear. Tile in all wet areas, vaulted ceilings with lighted ceiling fans. The development is treed and has a country feel, though not far from Disney 15minutes or so, 192 and other major highways and attractions. Please pm me if you would like further details/pics of either house.

Love Anniexxx

[DEE F]

Wow Annie sorry to hear the sale has fell through,thats awful,but for anyone reading, this house is beautiful,so I would say go round and have a look it really is worth the money,dont worry Annie next one will buy,and yours as well,chin up girl.

Love Dee xxxxx

[SHEILA 13]

Annie,So sorry to hear this news.

[Jax]

Sorry about the let down

[OberonSH]

Aww hun, sorry to hear that. Believe me, if I had the money me & Mr Obi would be out there like a shot. Have you tried putting an ad on ebay? I wouldn't consider taking a sale solely on that, but would get your houses out there a bit?

If you want, we can send out details with our ebay auctions - we're doing about 15 a day at the moment. There's a lot of UK buyers going for our craft stuff, and you never know - one of them might be looking for a holiday home. Let us know if we can help with that.

[Sharon]

I am so sorry Annie, as a matter of interest did they show you proof that they could not get the finance?

[anniefromessex]

Thanks guys, God am I going to miss y'all!!!

Obi, will pm you re your suggestion, don't quite understand how it would work and we wouldn't want it costing you anything!!!!

With regard to Daniels house, if anybody would like to take a look at it, it is on www.buyowner.com - customer code number ORL-25937, although the price has changed. They do a virtual tour, but it still doesn't show the full beauty of the place. I know it doesn't have a pool but there is plenty of room for one and his outlook is fantastic, plus being in a cul-de-sac with only six homes where everybody is friendly, although not in your face. The girl who wanted to buy it told us she has looked at over 30 homes and they were all cr.. - with Daniel's you could move straight in and have nothing to do until you wanted to do it.

Also, Daniel has some lamps for sale, only $10 each, good condition - on a couple of them the shades alone cost $20 -I know many rental properties where the lamps are bent and buckled, these would fit into any home at a fraction of the cost of new, although they are nearly new. PM me if you are interested. We will also have for sale in the not too distant future a surround sound system, lamps and other stuff which I will let you know about nearer the time if anybody is interested - indeed if you have something you are looking for - just ask cos I might have it!!!!

Love Anniexxx

[Susie]

Hi Annie

So sorry to hear this.

If the sale was contingent on mortgage approval and she say she cannot get finance then she should show you the proof as she might just be saying that and if so she cannot just walk away from the contract, Did they give you a deposit ?

[Bobby]

As this always happens when people try to sell houses on their own, that is why I always advise people to use a Realtor. From start to finish.

I know that the commissions seems like a lot of money to spend on selling a house, but to bring people together and make sure that a sale actually goes through, ...then, ...in my opinion it has to be worth it.

You wouldn't take out your own appendix would you??

I know that it seems easy, but selling houses and the paperwork/knowledge in between is best left to the professionals.

I ALWAYS write contracts with a minimum of $5000 deposit and also "deposits are non refundable no matter what the circumstances"

Some "prospective" buyers turn their nose up at this, and of course, I'd rather blow them out at this stage. If they can't put up 5 grand against a $300k house and show some commitment, then I'd rather lose them on the first day, because they weren't serious in the first place.

I know that it's been difficult for you guys and you thought you'd brought a buyer, but in the haste of thinking that you had made a deal, you have to think that when someone offers $500 as their deposit, then it's not ever going to make it to a closing table.
Tracey's been doing this for a long time, and without upsetting your "buyer" she attempted to make it work, as close to what you guys had discussed with your buyer, without losing her completely.
After she told me how the meeting had gone, I suspected that this might happen.
We've had so many people let us down in the past. Qualified buyers who turn out not to be qualified for that particular house etc.
People selling houses have to work with their brains rather than sentiment.
Of course the lady wants the house. It's a nice house. She's trying to steal it from the offset. You have to protect yourself and those involved in the transaction from the possibility of someone walking away without any recourse.
A Realtor who has your home listed whittles these "prospective" buyers out for you, and you don't have to go through the heartache of someone promising to buy as often. Of course it can happen to anyone, ....but a Realtor who brings a buyer has already pre-approved or at the very least shown that the person has funds to buy.

Bobby

[telco]

Have to agree with Bobby there...

[peter gold]

Bobby I agree to a limited extent with you. In this market sellers just dont wan't to see 6% go on realtors fees. It is often there whole profit on the deal. For that reason I always recommend ( I am and always have been a buyers agent and never list property)using the fixed fee realtor companies.
This gets the property listed on the multiple listing service and exposed to would be buyers, then use their standard realtor contract (if not provided download it from internet) and take it immediately to a real estate closing atty.
Selling a property is not rocket science.

[Bobby]

Peter,

....I agree with your post also to an extent.

We know it's not rocket science, but if you haven't got the first clue and you don't protect yourself somewhat, then it can go pear shaped for you, very quickly.

I don't like 6% either, but as many of the good Realtors in town will tell you about the fixed rate outfits. ...."You get what you pay for"

It's also horses for courses too, because some clients may need their hand held from the first phone call, where others like Annie & Ted are actively pursuing buyers on their own.

I suppose it all depends on what level of service one requires.

Hopefully a buyer will show up soon for Ted & Annie, fully qualified and ready to go. It only takes ONE buyer.

Bobby

[peter gold]

Then we agree to agree. I think it is down to what level of service the seller is prepared to pay for

[charliesmum]

When we sold our house in Davenport to move to Lakeland 2 years ago, we didn't use a realtor. We thought it was a lot of money to pay 5 or 6% for, what we thought, wasn't going to be a difficult transaction.

We sold the house in the October and admitedly we told the folks buying it that we weren't in a rush to move, as we wanted to stay till the end of the school year, and if necessary lease the house back from them till then. The people in the house we were buying didn't want to move till the end of June and we had got a good price on that, considering we signed contracts at the end of January. It seemed as though it was going to work out for everyone. Then our buyers started to have problems with their mortgage and our sellers began to push us to close or they were going to put it back on the market.

Basically, the realtor we used to buy in Lakeland ended up doing loads of extra work for us and I reckon without her everything would have gone belly up and we would still have been living in Davenport, or at least not in the beautiful house we have now.

If and when we move again, I will definitely use a realtor. What they do over here, compared to estate agents in England, is so much more.

Cheers
Zoe

[Bayfield]

I agree with both of you.

We took nearly a year to find the right house, unfortunately prices in Colorado are not nearly as reasonable as Florida. We were moving up market so the Realtor basically sold our house for free.

The big thing is to get on the MLS gets you seen.

Deposits, we put down about $5k on one, we pulled out after survey. Not sure what a deposit does, always took the view that we could find something to substantiate a back out.

The big thing the realt has access to is past selling prices, but with the likes of www.zillow.com, hat is becoming less relevent.

Seems lots of ladies that lunch also are Realtors.....

Think the business model is likely to be shaken up.

[Bayfield]

And $15,000 for closings costs is very very high.

[DEE F]

And $15,000 for closings costs is very very high.
About par for the course here in Florida.

Dee x

[Munish]

Situation is a little different in the UK. DIY sales are becoming more common, but not ideal if you are wanting to sell in a hurry. On the other hand 2% commission is considered extortionate. I am gobsmacked at 6%!

[anniefromessex]

Food for thought here : In 1989 we bought our first property here for $101,000 including pool, 10 years later we sold that same property for $105,000; now if anybody knows me they would know that even though it was basically a rental property it was pristine, probably better than when we first bought it. Now with property prices escalating as they have, realtors have got to be coining it in at the 6 per cent they still charge, will leave you to do the math!!! As in England, when have you ever seen a poor Estate Agent?!!! How many others on here have seen that much of a return - not many I am sure. Not wanting to denigrate anybody - after all without money we are nothing, but really I cannot see how anybody can justify that amount on one house sale, okay they might put an ad in the local mag, it is on MLS and they do the closing etc and have to know a certain amount, but it's like with everything else in life, how long does it take to become a realtor as opposed to how long does it take to learn electrics, carpentry and many other trades - years!!!! Just my opinion for what its worth and I cannot really see selling 1 property and getting $15,000/20,000 out of it - Bobby I await your reply with bated breath, ha ha!!!!

Love Anniexxx

[Bobby]

Yep, I totally agree with you Annie.

...that's why Tracey offered to help you and work for free, as long as her broker was still taken care of, which was a must.

I don't know where the figure of $15,000 or $20,000 has come from???

If your scenario was normal and you had enlisted the services of a "paid" Realtor, then even at 6%, your "selling" Realtor gets 3% of the selling price which they then share with their broker. The buyers Realtor also gets 3%.

On the example, given that the selling price was to be $265,000, this gives your "fully paid" Realtor (giving them full commissions,) a total of $7950 to share with their broker. Different companies work on different splits, but I'll use a 50%/50% split for ease of figures.

This takes your Realtor to $3975. .... a huge difference from the figures being banded around before!

The, take away their running expenses, and the costs of maintaining the listing for whatever time it takes to sell - 3 months, 4, 5, or 12.

I don't think that I need to go on.

It's not as lucrative as some may think, ...that's why if you contact the National Association of Realtors you will find that there are more idle Realtors who don't renew their licenses because, it seemed like easy money when someone mentioned 6% commission.

It's just not that easy. That's why a huge percentage of people with a real estate license do not rely on it as their primary income. Most have second jobs.

Answer suffice for you Annie ??? ;)

See you tomorrow for dinner. Same time, same place.

Bobby

[anniefromessex]

Okay Bobby,

You have baffled me with science, at no time was I having a go at Tracey cos she has been brilliant, just trying to get my head round others - me being a thick blonde!!!

Is it on for tomorrow then, I know nuthin as they say, so can you give me a heads up PLEASE!!! I will then allow myself the requisite hours it takes to get ready.

Love Anniexxx

[Susie]

If I am buying a house then I would use a realtor, no cost to buyer yet get expert advise, if I was selling I would try to sell buy owner, "As is " no repair limit and no realty fees.

In today's market nothing much is selling so I would try and get a long term rent to weather the storm in the hope the market takes and upward turn

[jay]

Susie
What is a repair limit ??
Jayne x

[Sharon]

If something is wrong with the home then the seller usually pays a repair limit which can be from nil percent upwards to 2% of sale price I think, depends on what the contract says. If you sell a home, as is, then no matter what is wrong the seller does not have to put the repairs right or pay towards the cost of the repairs

[Bobby]

If I am buying a house then I would use a realtor, no cost to buyer yet get expert advise, if I was selling I would try to sell buy owner, "As is " no repair limit and no realty fees.

In today's market nothing much is selling so I would try and get a long term rent to weather the storm in the hope the market takes and upward turn

That's a typical statement right there.

You can see the benefit of a Realtor for a house deal, but you'll only use one if it's free ??? ...bizarre way of trying to save money, in my opinion.

I see it all the time. For sale by owners are all over the place, then the first thing they do when it all goes pear shaped is approach a Realtor.

Of course there are homes that sell in the first week, from a sign in the yard, but the market's changed, and the banks and financial institutions have tightened up too, so it's getting so much more difficult to get buyers to a closing table, and there's so much to do in between.

Surely using a Realtor to maximise the return on your investment pays for itself in the long run?? no??

....and please note, I am not touting for business for Tracey. She doesn't sell for anyone but ourselves, ....or close friends. Less complications, and she's available when I need her!! ;)

Bobby

[Kriz1]

A lot of homes seems to be selling well around here......we've had a few for sale by owner....they have gone just as quick as other homes if priced right...a lot of places here sell word of mouth...we have a few people interested in our place without putting it on the market....most are retired and cash buyers...

[SHEILA 13]

Kriz,You are really lucky but over here is saturated with sale boards as I am sure you will know.
I say if you want to sell here ,you have to try anything and everything !!
Annie get your sandwich board on and start advertising and take Dee with you.
I am sure you will both look great in hotpants on the 192 !!

[Bayfield]

Just wondering how you get $15,000 closing costs.

Ours were less than $5,000, on a house more expensive.

The house we sold we offered to pay the closing costs as part of the deal, $2,000?, would need to look it up.

When selling we also offered an extra 1% to the Buyers Agent, we thought that would at least get us shown more.

Here the split is 2/3rd to the Selling Agent, 1/3rd to the Buyers Agent. Always thought it should be the other way around.

I do not mind using Realtors, its the 6%!

Where I am if you compare the numbers the average is around 2 deals a year, far too many Realtors spending far too much time generating business as when they do get one its jackpot time.

If we do use one, we will be negotiating the fee!

[Susie]

That's a typical statement right there.

You can see the benefit of a Realtor for a house deal, but you'll only use one if it's free ??? ...bizarre way of trying to save money, in my opinion.

I see it all the time. For sale by owners are all over the place, then the first thing they do when it all goes pear shaped is approach a Realtor.

Of course there are homes that sell in the first week, from a sign in the yard, but the market's changed, and the banks and financial institutions have tightened up too, so it's getting so much more difficult to get buyers to a closing table, and there's so much to do in between.

Surely using a Realtor to maximise the return on your investment pays for itself in the long run?? no??

....and please note, I am not touting for business for Tracey. She doesn't sell for anyone but ourselves, ....or close friends. Less complications, and she's available when I need her!! ;)

Bobby


Hi Bobby,

Just saying how I feel, in that if I wanted to sell I would have a go at listing on www.buyowner.com either it worked or it would not, If it did not work and desperate or in a great hurry to sell then of course I would list with a broker.

This is just the way I look at things, income V expenditure

Suppose I am lucky in that I can afford to wait to sell my rental home, when the market suits me.

I would like to assure Mun, that realtors and brokers are more qualified in the USA than the UK and one of the reasons the commission is 6% is justified.

I am selling one of my homes in the Norfolk area of the UK and estate agents commission is higher than in London

[OberonSH]

You shouldn;t have posted that link Susie - now I spend my free time browsing and telling all my friedns 'Do you know what £90k will buy you in Florida??!!'.

There goes my working day....

[anniefromessex]

Still have my son's house for sale and the price is now $250,000 - believe you me anybody who is buying a home here at the moment it's a good buy. Okay you can go and see cheaper homes but unfortunately a lot of them have not been looked after - Daniels has a lot of land and is not overlooked - you know you see those developments where the pool screens are all looking into each other, both sides and back, this is not like that at all. For those of you who are looking, please do yourself a favour and pm me - you might be pleasantly surprised at just what you are getting.

Also have many lamps for sale, surround sound system, dining room suite - glass top table + 4 chairs plus two side tables - all in good condition. Can e-mail you the pics if you like. Printer/scanner also for sale plus Brother IntelliFax775, shredder (Aurora) and if I think of anything else I will post.

Love Anniexxx

[anniefromessex]

Oh, just thought - my 3/2 with pool is still for sale ha ha. Don't know why I didn't mention it before. I can e-mail pics if you want and you can pm for price.

Love Anniexxx

[Munish]

You should look in to selling your stuff on ebay or Craig's list. I used the latter before I left to get a sub-tenant for the rest of my lease and to sell my furniture when I left DC and within a couple of weeks everything was sorted. Go to http://www.craigslist.org/about/cities.html and select the city nearest you.

[DebbieM]

Annie

Another option is to get an auction house to come in and clear the stuff you don't want. OK you don't get much but anything is better than nothing. You can chose to either accept a cash offer or put it through the aution (consignment) of course with the latter there is no guarantee but if all goes well you can achieve 1/3 more than the cash offer.

We have used 5 Points Auction in St Cloud on serveral occasions and found them to be accurate and fair. 'Woody' is the guy that owns it and their office# is 407 891 9882.

For anyone else looking to dispose of old furniture etc rather than putting it out for trash, it can be a way of raising some cash. Yard sales are another option, we have done several over here and like boot sales it never ceases to amaze me what people will buy!

Deb

[charliesmum]

I have also done yard sales and I think it can be a great way of disposing of stuff.

We're not allowed to do them on our development, though, so I'm going to have to borrow someone's house to do mine - I've got tons of stuff.

Just put the stuff you want to sell out and stick a sign where it's most visable - I'll guarantee the things you think won't sell - will!!!!

Zoe

[Kriz1]

If you get left with anything...try this...

http://www.freecycle.org/

You get no money...but its a way to get rid of stuff...

[DebbieM]

Hunters Creek has 2 yard sales per year which are very heavily promoted - the next one being in November.

Perhaps I should open my 3 car garage to everyone that has something to sell - be a great way of getting together too?????????

Perhaps with a % going to Expats?????

[kirtida8]

great idea Debbie

[SHEILA 13]

Debbie,As long as you have the kettle on !!!

[TeaPot]

Debbie,As long as you have the kettle on !!!

Did someone mention tea? ;)

[anniefromessex]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all your comments and help. In actual fact I had my faithful friends round today and they were fighting over who had what - don't know who came off best - I just made another cuppa.

Thanks once again.

Love Anniexxx

[SHEILA 13]

Hey I think I should be named the winner !!!;)

[anniefromessex]

I will leave that fight for another day, ha ha!!! Great to see you and Dee today, thoroughly enjoyed myself - omg I am going to miss you guys - come back with me!!!!!

Love Anniexxx

[DEE F]

Packing as I post Annie,especially after having seen the fab houses you were showing us,and Sheila watch it ,I live nearer than you na na na na na

Dee xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[anniefromessex]

I cannot believe you Miss Dee with the long flowing locks, to resort to playground stuff - you should have put those locks in pigtails, put a few freckles across your nose and then you could have been ...... oh sh.. not too good on comics, tv etc but I'm sure somebody could come up with a name.

You are each going to get halfsy halfsy so don't worry - of Ted, now lets see you run in the other direction!!!!

Love Anniexxx

[DEE F]

Wll Sheila did say he does a good breakfast,whoops did I say that out loud,hahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

Love Dee xxxxxxxx

[anniefromessex]

Plus, I remember with my own ears Dee, she did also say that she had already seen my bedroom - what does that tell you huh!!!! The other thing I found strange is that she brought her pole along with her - now did I tell her that the guy was coming round with the video camera today or did she know that Ted enjoys a good pole dance - umhhh!!!! We will have to do a Miss Marple on her methinks. You just watch, now she's a mod this post will be deleted tomorrow, ha ha!!!!

Love Anniexxx

[OberonSH]

Hey Annie, we'll carry on putting slips in our ebay items if you're still happy about that - are all the contact details still the same, plus the reference for Daniels house? If not let me know, we'll change it.

You knwo if we had the moeny, we'd be over like a shot to buy it. Anyway, K's looking to downsize, maybe she'll love it?!