Houses for sale Gray Maine, selling a home in Gray ME

The most important decision you will make in the sale of your home is the REALTOR® you choose. Be sure to find someone you feel comfortable with. If you don't feel you can ask questions or go to your REALTOR®, you have the wrong person. Your REALTOR® should show you research to back up any recommendations. This includes information about recent sales, current listings, and recently expired listings in your neighborhood.

Watch out for agents who try to "buy" your listing. This is when a realtor will tell you your home is worth a lot more than it is likely to sell for. The key to catching this is being involved in the Market Analysis and making sure the comparable homes the realtor is using are sold homes and that the adjustments they make to the sold prices are reasonable and realistic. Get at least two opinions and compare the two closely, and even get a third opinion or more. You need to feel comfortable knowing what you will realistically get for you home. You can list a little higher, but you want to have realistic expectations in case you have to reduce the price.

Choose a local REALTOR®. He or she will know your area better than an outsider, will be seen as a source for people looking to relocate in your neighborhood, and will get better co-operation from other agents. It is likely that any amount you might save by having a friend or relative from outside the area serve as your REALTOR® will be lost in their lack of knowledge about your specific local market. Experience counts, and with the tightening market a lot of realtors have quit the business (full-time), and switched to a different career. Make sure your realtor is only working as an agent so they are available to talk with prospective buyers and show your home 7 days a week and not limited because they are at their other job and missed the email asking about your home.

Don't forget to ask for their references. He or she should be willing to give you names of previous clients, and you should try to contact a few. Ask the realtor to show you what will be done to market your home. Are they "Internet savy" and do they have the ability to market your home. Consider the experience they have in real estate as well as the initiative and professionalism shown by the individual.

Look for a REALTOR® who tells you what he or she knows from experience in the market, and not what they think you want to hear. Flattery may sometimes get the listing, but it doesn't sell the home!

Gray Maine, houses for sale that buyers don't know about.

I have been working as a Realtor in Gray Maine for over 11 years representing both buyers and sellers. I like representing both, but they are completely different many ways. Finding the right home is a process that takes a lot of work. Sometimes the houses for sale on the market are not the right home. That is when a good buyers agent will be worth every cent YOU pay them.

Yeah, I said YOU pay them. That's the truth because you are the one paying for the house and you aren't going to get it any cheaper with or without representation, so why wouldn't you want a professional helping you in your searching for homes you might like to buy. In some ways it is like going to court in a law suit, not bringing a lawyer with you, and paying for the other side's attorney to argue against you. Who would do that?

Back to having a good agent.

So you have looked at all the homes for sale on the market and you just haven't found the one you want to purchase. Here is one way I personally stand out from many other brokers. Not only do we have several searches continually looking for new listing that come on the market, I look at listing that have expired or were withdrawn in the past 6 months to a year. Sometimes people change their mind about selling or the house just wasn't marketed correctly and they still would like to sell. So I call or stop at those people's house and see if they still have an interest in selling their home. If they are then I take a few photos and send them to my clients to review. If there is interest, then we set up a private showing.

Now for the best part:

My clients will likely pay less for that home because the commission is only half of what it would be because there is not another realtor involved. Now that is what I call BUYER REPRESENTATION!

Call or email me to discuss how we can work together to take care of your Real Estate needs.

Homes for sale in Gray, New Gloucester, Maine, Help for Buyers

Should you have a realtor working for you as a Buyers Agent when buying a home for sale?

I won't give you the answer, but I will give you something very simple to think about.

Who pays the commission to the realtors involved in a transaction? The seller right?

Not if you ask me, because when everyone shows up at the closing, the buyer is the only one who brings money to the table. After all the paper work is signed, the seller and the realtor(s) walk out with checks.

The seller may set up some of the terms under which the realtor gets paid, but the buyer is the one who pays everyone.

So if you buy a house and don't have a realtor and the seller does have a realtor, then you are paying that realtor to work against you and represent the sellers best interests not your best interests. It is almost like going to court against someone and hiring a lawyer for the opposing party and not hiring a lawyer for yourself, and the amount involved in the law suit is $250,000 (or whatever the house is worth).

Still not convinced, then think about this:

You buy a house for $200,000 and don't use a realtor but the seller had a realtor and that realtor got paid a commission of 5% or $10,000 and the seller got $190,000.

If you had just walked up to the seller the day he first thought of selling his home and offered him $190,000 he most likely would have sold you the property because that is all he got in the above transaction.

So you paid $10,000 more to cover the realtor who represented the seller when you could have had someone representing you and helping you through the whole process and the realtors would have split the $10,000.

Want to know how you can possibly get part of that money ($10,000) back, call me and lets talk about how we can work together to find you a home that meets all your needs and expectations.

More real estate tipe and advice...

Sellers, Sins you don't want to make when selling your home.

When selling a home in Maine or anywhere else, either on your own or with a Realtor, you should read about the 10 Sins of a Seller where Clint Miller puts a humerous spin on the deadly sins.

Clint, like many buyers, found several disturbing things about potential homes he was looking into buying. It is a great read.

Enjoy and thank Clint Miller if you have time.

Current Real Estate for Sale Gray, ME: Where is the market heading?

There are new homes coming on the market everyday and some are priced correctly. We have seen a slight increase in the listing price of homes in the last 30 days. Homes priced under $200 seem to be the most active. Some of those homes are short sale properties which can be very difficult for all parties involved. Currently I have two short sale properties with offers waiting for replies from Bank of America. This process has been more than lengthy and frustrating.

Home values in Gray Maine can vary from those values of homes for sale in New Gloucester mostly because of the commuting distance to Portland or sometimes even Windham Maine. The new Hannaford's Shop N Save in Gray, Maine will certainly improve home values by providing easy access to those who commute along Route 26.

Overall the average market sales price for single family homes in the northeast have declined between 11.2% and 13.8% according to the National Association of Realtors. However, in April and May of 2009 there was a slight increase. I believe we have seen or are at the bottom for housing market. Take a look at

current homes for sale in Gray and throughout Maine and if you have any question you can email me at Matt@FiveStarRealtyMaine.com

For Sale By Owner, the Pros and Cons

For many people the option of selling their house own their own is not really an option due to circumstances, such as being transferred through work or just the time needed to sell your own property is not available.

The Pros, or upside of selling your home yourself.

1. More Money in your pocket if you are not paying a realtor's commission.
2. You know your house the best, so who better to point out all the ammenties.
3. You have complete control over the entire transaction, from setting the price, to showings, to all negotiations and prequalifing buyers (just to name a few).

The Cons, or downside of selling your home yourself.

1. You dramatically reduce the exposure and limit the number of prospective buyers compared to what you would have received with a realtor. 88% of all home sales were sold with the assistance of a realtor, according to a 2007 survey by the National Association of Realtors. We use the Multiple Listing Service which contains approximatetly 95% of all homes on the market.
2. Don't be so sure about putting more money in your pocket. According to the National Assocaition of Realtors, the median for homes sold privately with their owners went for much less than the median for homes sold through a realtor. Many people feel more comfortable negotiating aggressivly with a home owner than when dealing with a realtor. People also feel that they can purchase the house for much less because the owner isn't paying a realtor's commission. See hottom of page on how to pay less commission.
3. You may know your home better, but how well do you know the buyer and what the buyer's likes and dislikes are? An experienced broker knows how to downplay the negatives and read potential buyers interest and reinforce those positive aspects of the home. Remember, as a realtor, in a month's time we are involved in more real estate transactions than the average person is in their lifetime.

Most buyers today work closely with a realtor for the same reason most people who are selling a home use a realtor. Saving time and lots of it. Just preparing the paperwork and advertizing needed to sell your homes is overwhelming for most people. Then add in handling all the calls with questions about your home, showing your home at all hours of the day and on weekends. And when all is said and done and you get an offer, then negotiations, inspections, and you had better have an attorney review the contract at the very least, so subtract at least $1000 there for that advice and deed preparation.

When it is all over with, most people say they would never try to sell their home again on their own. Turn it all over to a professional realtor and all you have to do is keep your house tidy and let your realtor do the rest.

Find out how you can

Pay less commission and get more monsy for your home.