Alternative to Real Estate Listing
 

Has anyone ever used an auction format to sell their property on the lake? We have an island house on Cow Island that we are considering selling because my kids live out of state and have no interest in taking over the place. We are older now and have more difficulty with the upkeep, so we think it's time to consider selling.

I know we can list with a real estate agent, but I want to explore the auction format as a comparison to listing. Of course we want to get the most money we can for the property no matter which way we decide to go.

Go with an agent. I don't think an auction is the answer. Real estate auctions tend to bring out the bottom feeders, not the buyers looking to spend money on a family getaway. The market was great last season and inventory is low.

Certainly, there are creative ways to sell real estate. Some advertise on TV - sell by owner - for a smaller real estate fee - the property gets on MLS.

I have sold two homes by myself. But I did have a real estate agent. I put in contract that I can sell by myself and if I do - no commission. I sold both by myself. Note that real estate agents don't particularly like this option.

But as for any auction site. Have no idea. And probably not a good idea. As an analogy - or comparison - e/bay lets one auction with a reserve price. Have no idea if there are real estate sites similarly out there. What happens if the auction buyer backs out?

Craigslist. One can list there.

Place a line ad in the Sunday New York Times. I would get an inexpensive Tracfone (or any budget prepaid cell phone) with a different telephone number. So that your personal cell number is not sent all over the world.

But the bottom line is probably a normal real estate agent.

But if others know of alternative methods please post.

Interesting ideas that I would never have thought of. Thank you

There is a real estate section here on the forum. Give it a shot!

Island?
 

Re: auction. There are specific laws about auction sales and you will need an auctioneer (who takes a commission) to do it right.
Auctions are usually held on site--awkward on an island at best.

I used to do my own (long term rentals) and found it easier to hire a Realtor who did screening, credit reports, etc, and was responsible if there were errors.

Years ago, I sold a Weirs condo with a small ad in the Laconia Citizen and listed my attorney's phone number. His staff took the calls. He said he'd check with the owner and get back. Before he could do that the buyer increased his offer above asking. SOLD! I think he looked in the windows-I don't recall driving to the Weirs to do showings. Today's market is like that with the Realtor taking the bids.

I have heard of people selling limited raffle tickets e.g.500 tickets for $1000 each. Again, there are laws that require you to follow through even if you don't sell enough tickets by the deadline.

FSBO--you stand a chance of unknowingly saying something that will come back to haunt you.

If Realtors weren't worth their fees, the fees would go down and/or the profession would not thrive.

I'd at least talk to a Realtor or two, especially ones that have good island experience. Ask about rental management plans. There's a camp near us on Welch that is leased for three years. Maybe in three years, your kids will feel differently. If they can't afford it now, they'll never be able to buy back in in the future when prices have continued rising.

Hope you'll get back to the Forum with how things progress. Don't neglect the advertisers on the Forum.
Good luck.

With today’s market being on fire for waterfront property I would hire a agent and sit and sit back and watch.


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I recently sold a home but did not want to pay 5%. I called a few of the top brokers in the area and said if they sold it they could have 2 1/2 %. They were willing to take it as there was no co broke but they had to have the buyer themselves. They all tried to convince me to give them the listing so they could get money even if another broker brought the buyer but they all took the deal and one of them sold it. They are desperate for listings now and many have buyers but no houses. As to an auction, I don't see it in this market. It will sell quick if its not insanely over market.

If you don't mind showing the home yourself put it on Zillow. A million dollar home would save you $50,000!

Confused?
 

So the realtors all took the listing as a "pocket listing?" Meaning that no one advertised it but any one of them could sell it but no co-broke? I tried that once and never had a single showing.

Whole new market
 

Right now, it's a whole new market. When you have horses being bought for $$$ over the asking price and days on market less than 1 week, things are definitely a lot different than just a year or two ago.

Dave

Yup
 

Those "horses" do get expensive!!!

Thanks to all for the ideas and insights. It's a very emotional situation, so there's a lot to consider. The house has been in our family for almost 50 years.

Something to consider....
 

Have you considered renting the place out for part of the season, giving you some income for taxes and upkeep, while still retaining it for personal enjoyment? That would give you time to consider other options.

Selling an island property? no brainer, call Nancy & Doug Deporter. They live on an island and have lived with all the drawbacks and benefits, plus they understand the market and legal paperwork better than you ever could as a homeowner. The value of such experience is priceless

Hi, we have considered it, but are reluctant to go this route. The big reason is the difficulty to get service people to go to the island. It's one thing if we as the owner have to put up with a hassle for a few days of not having something work properly, but if it's a tenant in there, then they won't be too happy with the hassles (I know I wouldn't).

Again, thanks to all that have responded on the forum and by PM.

I would NOT consider an auction at all. Reason being that most auction require 100% cash buyers. With that being the case, I am not sure you would get the top dollar for an island property without someone having to take a mortgage.

Now granted, the eventual buyer who buys through a Broker may in fact be a cash buyer, but holding an auction will likely limit your exposure to just cash buyers.

Additionally, it's nice to have a Broker use their own time and transportation to take potential buyers to and from the island.......

Best of luck!

Given how hot the market is now for property on the lake, it wouldn't surprise me if you get some interest just from this post. :)

This is our 51st year on an island. As you mentioned, there are unique challenges (and benefits) to the island experience. Best of luck going forward.

If I had property and didn't really need the money. I would consider trying a raffle, as long as there are no legal issues with that. Maybe a $100/tix. I would put it in every newspaper from here to NY, maybe even further, put in the USA today. I wonder home many people would spend the $100, no limit per household. Its really not a lot of money. I wonder how much you would end up with at the end, and of course you would have to let it go regardless. It would be interesting. You get 5000ppl to purchase a tix there is $500K right there. You would definitely probably need to hire a professional to run the raffle.

Renting
 

I understand that type of reluctance. Two thoughts. 1. Real estate management firms usually have staff or access to the trades that you might not have as owner of just one property. The tenant calls the management company and it is their job to keep customers happy if they want repeat business. You don't have to do anything except cash the checks and pay the bills.
Second, rent long term e.g. full season or annual. Over six months gets you past the Room & Meals tax hassle. A long term tenant won't be bothered by a day or so of problems the way a week by week tenant would be.

Be creative. Our next door neighbor sold with an agreement that she would stay for five years and the new owners could use the place for two weeks every summer until they fully retired at the end of the five years. She took a little less $$ but had five years with no expenses, as a rent free tenant.

Some great ideas from you and the others. Again, thank you all. Please keep the ideas coming!

One option is to pass it on to my family. I mean, in the interest of seeking ALL the options.

Seriously, though, the market appears to still be ridiculous and short of properties, so I think you'd recoup the percentage you'd pay a realtor, especially one who knows island life.

Good luck, friend!

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Wow! That amazes me! Who would want to buy an new property and have the old owner use it for 5 years except for two weeks???? And they paid all the expenses? She got a great deal if I understand it right.

deal
 

In his book "Starting Small and Making It Big" Bill Cummings points out that a good salesman or negotiator finds something for both parties. In the case of the property in the earlier post, I don't know that the deal focused on the asking price, which is where most of us look at first. Most of us look at the asking price and try to go up or down a few thousand dollars. If you find out the owner is selling for some reason other than to buy another property, you may be able to be more creative.

All I know is if I was buying a new house I would not want to wait 5 years to use it yet be paying for it while the previous owners live there. But you are right, there must be something missing here. Like they couldn't use it much anyway for 5 years? Or they got a heck of a deal on price?

You just took a good step to selling it yourself! Send me a message as we are considering to sell our island home and buy something on bigger island.

Bigger Island?
 

Where are you now? What's the allure of a bigger island? To me, Bear Island is like moving to the city. Two post offices!! Two camps, a church. Meredith taxes. Wow. Be careful what you wish for.

Subjunctive
 

If you were buying a new house that you couldn't use for five more years because you live 8 hours away, and you wanted today's price instead of the five year inflated increase, and if, as a widow, you felt you should sell, but didn't want to...
Then you might have better negotiating skills than someone with no imagination.
Planning for retirement isn't just filling up the IRA. You've seen my posts about buying lots of fiberglass for retirement?

That's what I meant. It must be that for some reason they can't use it for 5 years. Still doesn't make sense to me. Five years means a lot of taxes and maintenance. The price would have to be a WHOLE lot lower. But that's me. I like to use my new stuff. :laugh: Guess there is no question I am impatient.

No, you're buying fiberglass??

Details
 

So, you live a long way away, only get limited vacation and you think $150K now is better than $500K in five years, because you can afford $150K...

Yes, fiberglass. Glad I bought product, not the stock. Brunswick is down 5% today. Cummins and Caterpillar are both up 3.+ % Go figure.

I guess if you only could use it two weeks anyway and got a deal like that it would be worth it.

Our own fiberglass king.

How about a long term rental purchase option or some type of lease? If you find the right person with some clearly written agreements you could probably still use the property. I'd be open to something like that as my job currently wouldn't allow me to spend much of the summer up there, but 5 or so years from now would be a different story.

No idea if that is really possible, but its an idea!