sell your own home!
Posted by admin on May 1st, 2011
If your finances are crazy now and you’re down to the wire with a non-cooperative lender — which IS probably the case if you are trying for a loan modification – and if you have anything resembling equity in your home, you CAN sell your own home. Pulling out as much money as possible without having a significant percentage going to a real estate agent could save you enough to start over elsewhere.
I have nothing against most real estate agents, but times are rough now and you probably need to realize as much profit as possible so that you can keep your life going.
In 2003 when I wanted to sell my home in Fairfax, California, I called the local real estate agents for consultation. They said I wouldn’t get more than $535,000-$560,000 (out of which they would have taken their 5%, or whatever it was at the time). I said they didn’t know what they were talking about.
The location was splendid. The house — actually a 100-year old building that was once the town barn — was built of old-growth redwood. It was solid, it was a duplex, zoned multiple-use . . . meaning one could live upstairs and run a legal business downstairs or rent one unit out and live in the other. The area was high-traffic during the day, quiet at night and within walking of world-class restaurants, a theater, health food stores, bookshops, etc. It was also at the foot of Mt. Tamalpais with its superior mountain biking trails . . . actually Fairfax was the town where mountain bikes were first designed by Gary Fisher.
I ignored the realtors, priced the house at $625,000, put one ad on craigslist.org (the ads are free). I’m quite good at marketing: I figured the house would be perfect for a young entrepreneur who wanted to start a business, or mountain bikers — who happen to have some of the highest demographics in the U.S. That is how I positioned the craigslist.org ad.
As it turns out, there was a “for sale” sign board near my driveway. Oddly, the “for sale” sign wasn’t even mine — it was for a cute retail gift shop next door.
Within one week, I had two prospective buyers:
- A young Scandanivan woman who wanted to own her own knitting studio. This would have been absolutely perfect for her; she could live up and run a knitting shop/studio downstairs.
- Mountain Bikers! (See, I told you.) A wonderful couple from Scotland (who didn’t think 100 years was old for a building) loved the solidity of it, and knew the value of the location — actually, they were riding their mountain bikes down from Mt. Tam when the saw my neighbor’s “for sale” sign and stopped by to inquire.
With two weeks the mountain bikers bought the home. We paid $1,000 to a local real estate attorney who drew up sale papers. I discounted the sales price a bit because no real estate commissions had to be paid.
They are a wonderful couple. He happens to have some background in building and has done wonderful upgrades to the home. They have since had a child and are still living happily in that splendid town in that great old building; I still miss the duplex and wish I kept it.
Again, if you do have to move on, at least consider taking on the sale yourself. This might help: 
Sell Your Own Home Guide. The link takes you to information about selling your own home. My apologies for the appearance of the presentation — however it works. It is something like a $39 eBook which gives you step-by-step instructions on how to sell your own home. If you decide to purchase that eBook and get stuck, please eMail me. I’ll be happy to guide you along at no cost.
Again, if you are in the middle of America’s current financial nightmares with today’s lenders (and their questionable ethics and sloppy business practices) and if you are thinking of selling, consider doing this yourself.
I hope this helps and my very best to you.




I contacted Wells Fargo’s executive offices in Des Moines, Iowa. They had no answer as to why this continues, but said they will remedy it. Sure. 

Abandoned and vacant foreclosed homes are piling up around the country . . . Repairing the damage from foreclosures is a difficult challenge, because cities, states, community development groups, and even willing banks and servicers have no experience working together on the complicated process of disposing of or reclaiming unwanted properties, said Joseph Schilling, a Virginia Tech urban affairs professor and co-founder of the National Vacant Properties Campaign . . . “We do a pretty good job in this country of recycling cans and plastic bottles,” Schilling said. “But we do an awful job of recycling and reusing vacant properties.”
What is the guarantee that the new homeowner will be able to keep their jobs and afford the payments down the road? None. Nada.
It gets worse: Mike Lundy from Triple Investment Company in Sausalito was there to bid. Because the homeowner had the court order to “not sell,” other bidders backed off. Not Mike Lundy. His reply, which was overhead by an associate, was “I don’t care. I have attorneys to take care of this.” He bid and bought — at a greatly reduced price, of course.

