Questions
Five, including the two most brokers would rather you did not ask.
- What does it actually cost to sell?
- Between about seven and nine per cent of the price by the time everything is counted, and the whole itemised list is on the costs page including my own fee. On a $615,000 sale that is roughly $48,000, of which about $15,000 is commission to me and the rest is title, escrow, taxes, repairs, and preparation. You see that sheet before you sign a listing agreement, not at closing.
- Is your commission negotiable?
- Yes. It is the first line on the cost sheet rather than the last because it is the one you are entitled to argue about, and pretending otherwise would be dishonest. What I will not do is quietly cut it and then quietly do less — if we agree a lower number I will tell you exactly which parts of the service change.
- How long will my house take to sell?
- The median here has been around six weeks on market, with another thirty to forty-five days from contract to closing. Price decides most of it. A house priced correctly in the first two weeks sells in the first two weeks; a house priced hopefully sells eventually for less than it would have made at the right price.
- Should I fix things first?
- Some things. Roof, water, and electrical, yes — buyers discount those far beyond what they cost to fix. Kitchens and bathrooms, almost never; you rarely get the money back. The walk-through exists precisely to have this conversation, and most sellers are told to spend less than they had planned.
- What do you do that a discount brokerage does not?
- Show the house myself, answer the phone, and negotiate the inspection response, which is where most of the money is won or lost. I am not going to claim a discount brokerage cannot sell a house — plenty do. The difference is who you get, and with me the answer is the same person every time, which is also why I only take about a dozen clients a year.
Cost figures on this site are typical for Santa Fe rather than quotations, and your own sale will differ.