Other than that, it's fine

[todd]

[Robatoy]

for it, and somehow, in his mind, there is enough residual value left in it that he can't throw it away. Computer 'deals' are often like that. You know the guy paid thousands for that 300 DPI laser, way back when, and now hopes to get $ 500.00 for it....oh..needs drum and fuser.

But why $ 19.00??? He didn't think he'd get $ 20.00?

Thanks for that.

r

[marc rosen]

Todd, others, With regard to reviewing ads, I was searching eBay for shapers. The resuts I got where not what I expected, although I was amused. So I narrowed it down to Delta shapers and got very similar results but centered around a specific type.

Marc

todd wrote:

[Leon]

Darn, had it been B&D I'd have been all over that. ;~)

[Greg O]

Yep! I just bought a used laptop from my employer. He was asking $500. I just laughed at him and said I would give him $200 and not a penny more. His come back was that the computer cost him $2500, plus he just loaded Win XP Pro a few months earlier which cost him $300. I told him fine, but for $500 I could darned near buy a new laptop, with more RAM, a bigger HD, wireless, and Ethernet port He finally gave up, and I got the 'puter for my price! Greg

[Greg O]

Get out of the woman's section ya old perv! Greg

[todd]

Honestly, it's not way out of line for a case and new charger. Maybe he'd get better action if he sold it as a new charger and case with an old drill thrown in for free.

todd

[Toller]

I knew someone who took his house off the market after 6 months because he couldn't sell it for what it was worth. I tried to explain to him that it was worth what people were willing to pay, but he knew better.

[Greg O]

My cousin tried to sell a house a few years back on his own, got a few bites, but nothing near what he was asking for it. He finally gave in and hired a realtor to sell the home. The Realtor appraised the house at almost

1-1/2 times his original asking price. My cousin figured he was crazy, but they went ahead on the deal. Two days later he got a call from the realtor with an offer within a couple grand of the "new" asking price! Even after paying the fees he was way money ahead!

[Allen Roy]

I bought a used Toro snowthrower from my employer a few years ago. When I tried to start it, the recoil was locked tight. Upon looking at it some more, I discovered that the only thing wrong was a bolt wedged into the impeller. I told them "I don't know how much it will take to fix it" in which the owner replied, "$20 and it's yours then" It took me 6 hours and $10 in parts to fix it.(It need a tune up bad and the carb was all messed up) It has moved it fair share of snow since.

Allen

[mjmwallace]

1) a few years ago. Prices have gone up since then. 2) Realtor - while some people don't like them, a good one is very valuable. They know the prices of what sold in the area, what condition they might have been in, know people looking for a house and can guide you thru all of the paperwork. Our Realtor was a joy to work worth and she deserved her 7%. She was scrubbing our floors with my wife an hour before the realty tour! That was amazing. She brought in bids about 20 - 30% higher than asking. Wow! 3) Do-it-yourself homes are not listed on MLS. A lot of people use the MLS online to guide them to homes.

MJ Wallace

[Greg O]

?? He hired the realtor immediately after trying to sell it on his own. This whole story happened a few years ago, so what's your point? Greg

[todd]

Read the story again and you won't be confused.

Apparently, she wasn't as up to speed on market conditions as you thought. And if I thought I could get 7% of the value of my home at sale, I'd gladly scrub some floors.

Not quite true. My BIL sold his house via some web site that for a few hundred dollars, would send someone out, take some pictures, and put the house on the MLS. I suppose you could argue that it wasn't "do-it-yourself", but it's a damn cry from hiring a full-service broker for

6 or 7% of the selling price.

todd

[B A R R Y]

A flip side to that:

I had a neighbor who put his house on the market FSBO right after the neighbor listed his very similar home with a realtor in mid-2001. Every time the agent held an open house, so did the FSBO. The realtor sold the home he had listed for $284, the FSBO went for $281. Without the home next store attracting the traffic, I'm not so sure the results would have been the same, but it's a great example of making the best of the situation.

Side notes (for general reading, not to pick on you ):

1.) A market appraisal, which is different from a tax or lending appraisal. can be had ethically simply by paying ~$200-300 for it. 2.) Not all real estate agents are Realtors, the terms are not interchangeable. 3.) Since the market has gotten very quiet in my area, where the average home is still $280,000 something, discount brokerages are becoming more and more common. 3% brokers were getting common on 500k+ stuff while the market was still steaming.

[resrfglc]

"Not all real estate agents are Realtors"

All REALTORS are licensed agents. When you consider Buying, you are likely to search their listings and, thus, find more properties for sale than is likely trying to find FSBOs which may only be advertised by the sign in their yard on the day you do your looking.

But, don't TRUST a REALTOR to be looking out for your best interests or even knowing the law relating to contracts.

They can, thus, get in the way of an offer as they have the SELLERs trust and the SELLER may be taking their mis-guided advice as to your offer.

Years ago, the selling agent would actually meet with the SELLER and SELLERs agent to present the offer(s). Now, they simply fax them about town (or out of) and "advise" via phone calls.

If you find a smart, educated agent, try and work with him (or her) exclusively and let them know you are. At least you'll have someone "on your side" through the process rather than "picking and agent" because he/she had the sign on the property you liked.

[B A R R Y]

Absolutely right!

But not all licensed agents are Realtors.