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June 11, 2007
selling on your own
Is selling on my own a really bad idea in today's market? I've lived in our coop for long enough to be on the board during 2 recent sales and so feel pretty confident about the process, but wonder if there is something I'm missing or if anyone has tips for what to do/things to watch out for? Also, should I specify "no brokers"? If a buyer comes who has a broker working with them already, are they then responsible for paying their commission? Thanks in advance for advice!
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Having just sold my co op in Manhattan, I'll give you some tips. Do the following before putting your place on the market:
1. get all your financials for the coop for the last 2-3 years together and copied.
2. Get your complete coop offering plan together and copied.
No bank will give a mortgage to a coop without the preceding documents. There are other docs as well, most importantly the original stock certificate for your unit which needs to be ordered in advance and can take 2-3 weeks to get. (You can wait till you have a contract.
3. Get the house rules together. Make sure you know pet policy, down payment minimum, etc. The president of my board changed them (and I was on the board) without my knowledge, but I wasn't in a position to fight since I was leaving.
4. Start kissing the other coop board member's asses. Ask them what they're looking and don't try to squeeze an unqualified candidate past them. Make them happy. You will just shoot yourself in the foot otherwise.
5. If there is a management company involved, get in good with the liaision. YOu will need them.
6. Learn to qualify buyer. Get pre approval, credit check, etc. done. Spouses as well.
7. Make sure buyer gets at least a 60 day, not a 30-day, rate lock on mortgage. Demand this. Coops will take at LEAST 30-45 days from contract signing. Then you have to get the board together! Make sure the contract has a long enough expiration date so buyer can't walk after 30 days. Put minimum 60 days.
8. Whatever you do, if you are depending on the cash from this sale to buy something else, WAIT until your deal is completely done until you go into contract on something else. No coop deal is done until the $$$ is in the bank. Expect it to take two months from deposit to closing.
Now you know why I will NEVER buy a coop again!!!!!
Selling:
NYTImes.com costs more, but you get better folks than off CL. You get a web ad and a print ad.
Negotiate with brokers. I "open-listed" my ad for a 3% commission. I didn't do any exclusives, but let brokers bring people by for a 3% commission.
Clean up, paint, "stage" your house. Get rid of all that crap and clutter you've been holding on to.
Be careful with strangers in your house.
Buy a house or condo!
Posted by: phoffy at June 11, 2007 11:12 AM
I sold my Park Slope co-op and did none of what Phoffy did. I spent a lot of time staging the place and spent even more time marketing it (Times, blogs, CL, flyers). Had 150 to the open house, had 6 offers, had them fill out a financial info form (that I found on the net) that outlined their assets/debts and their best and final offer. 5/6 of them would have easily cleared our board (people have money these days!). Sold to highest offer and turned it all over to our attorney and their attorney.
I did have files with offering plan and financials for the building and I had to get those to my attorney at one point, but no big deal. Buyers had to worse having to pull together letters, bank statements, etc.
All it all, it was very easy. I guess I was dealing with pretty savvy people -- people who wouldn't dream of getting a 30 day rate lock,etc. Also. pre-qual letters are meaningless.
Posted by: Anonymous at June 11, 2007 11:45 AM
"did none of what phoffy did"
except:
1. had the financials and offering plan together.
2. posted on NYtimes.com and craiglist.
3. had sellers get more than 30 day rate lock.
" finaancials were no big deal..." It IS a big deal, because unless they are paying cash, you have to have them.
Be prepared for the worst. All it takes is one deadbeat offer to set you back a couple of months. And of course, your coop should have its own application.
Posted by: phoffy at June 11, 2007 11:03 PM
I am thinking about doing the same thing. Thanks for the great advice. My reasoning for doing this, beside saving money: the last two apt that sold in the building, I felt like I did as much work as the board president than the brokers. I can't tell you how annoying it is to make multiple copies of documents that you already gave to the seller's broker, to give to the lawyer, bank etc. You'd think the broker would know who needs what and have extras on hand so that the closing would move faster. Also advising you to drop your price because the don't market it well will hurt you, but only reduce their commission slightly. Also a recent co-op of the day was a fsbo with a great website. They used a template form squarespace.com
Posted by: anon at June 12, 2007 10:46 AM
Go w/ Broker
I tried for 1 month on my own
Yes I staged, had gorgeous professional floor plan, all paperwork...NY times...
Broker got me 3 offers way above asking in 1 open house...go figure - they are there for a reason.
Posted by: Anonymous at June 12, 2007 4:55 PM
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