Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: to realtor or not to realtor?

[Fred H. Olson (fholson]

Jessie Handforth Kome Dahako [at] aol.com is the author of the message below.
It was posted by Fred the Cohousing-L list manager <fholson [at] cohousing.org>
because the message included HTML ;      PLEASE do not post HTML, see
 http://csf.colorado.edu/cohousing/2001/msg01672.html
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Hi - 

I just used a realtor in selling my house in Eno Commons in Durham, NC.  I
used a realtor because my agency paid for it and I figured having a pro
around couldn't hurt.  I found someone who had other passive solar and
healthy house sales to his credit, and he had already heard of cohousing.
The realtor helped set the selling price, served as the contact person for
leads coming in from flyers, neighbors, and the web site (we didn't get any
lookers off the MLS except other curious realtors), did the contract with 
the buyer, helped get enough information to the appraiser to make her
confortable, and is handling all the closing paperwork. 

We showed the house to all the serious lookers, let the neighbors know when
prospective members were on site, arranged for prospective members to come 
to dinners at the commons house and at our house, and did house and site 
tours for the realtors who visited.  We also prepared a marketing book, 
which included articles about the neighborhood and the house, a record of 
utility costs, and a narrative on house and neighborhood features.  We made 
a tape recording of the narrative that people could listen to while they 
looked at the house, so the realtor didn't have to totally soak up all the 
technical
details. 

All in all, I think having the realtor made things go more smoothly, but I
don't think I would have used one if my agency hadn't paid for it. 

Jessie Handforth Kome
formerly of Eno Commons, Durham, NC
and now in Sliver Spring, MD 
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