The Sewing Mom

We relocated to Texas back in April of this year from the Chicago area. This was our fourth interstate move and our fifth home purchase. We’ve sold our first four homes, 3 using a [tag]realtor[/tag], one by owner. We are somewhat experienced at buying and selling [tag]real estate[/tag].

We purchased our first home on our own, no realtor involved. It was a new build in Southern California and we were so proud of that house. We did everything ourselves, including laying the sod and planting all the bushes. We were so much younger then and had so much more energy! Unfortunately, we were in that home only a few years before my husband took a job in Houston and we had to move.

We used a realtor to sell that home and we also used one on the other end, to buy our new home in Houston. We opted again to buy new construction, but this time, the builder threw in a lot of incentives, such as landscaping, so we didn’t have to do as much after moving in. I think we became spoiled after that one! We were in that house for 6 years before having to sell and move to Connecticut. We started out listing with a realtor, but then opted to sell by owner because it was a very tough market and we still had brand new homes for sale right across the street from us. In the end, that worked to our benefit as it was a man looking at those new homes who saw our “for sale” sign and decided to take a look. He bought it and we saved a ton of money on commissions.

All of our moves following that one, we have used realtors both to buy and to sell. It helps when the company my husband works for is reimbursing for the realtor commissions because they can be quite high. I know that [tag]realtors[/tag] work hard to market a home when they are the listing agent, but there are times that I don’t think the commission they are receiving is reflective of the work they did. That would be true of our home in Illinois.

I worked very hard for about 3 months getting our last home ready to put on the market. I cleaned out closet, storage, the basement, the cupboards. I had a professional cleaning crew come in to do detail cleaning and clean the carpets. I even had a painter come in to paint the two story entry way and had all the hardwood floors cleaned and re-polished. Our realtor was very happy with the results and the day, less than 18 hours actually, after she put our listing in the MLS, we sold it. She had no time to do any marketing other than typing the information into the MLS and yet, she received her full commission. If I hadn’t been being reimbursed by my husband’s employer, I would’ve been more upset about that.

I’m hoping we don’t have to move for a very long time, but if we do, or if we decided to sell this house for any other reason, I’ll be checking into [tag]ePERKS.com[/tag] to find a realtor to list with. Through their site I can find an agent who may be willing to accept a lower commission and/or provide other incentives. We could also receive up to $20,000 cash back after closing! I’d be crazy NOT to go through www.eperks.com to find a realtor.

For now, I’m just going to sit back and try to enjoy the home we’re in. That is, after I finish painting it, repairing it, cleaning it…