Real Estate Inquirer

Estate agents regularly make it into the the top three in polls of the least respected, least trusted professions in the UK. Yet around a million of us still use them to sell our homeseach year. Real Estate agent fees make a big hole in your equity when selling a property. Do we really need to pay for their help, or is there a better way? When you look at everyone involved in the selling and buying process, estate agents often do the least work, but take the most money. The costs of selling can really eat into your profit. There's nothing anyone can do to avoid paying stamp duty, but one cost that can certainly be avoided is real estate agent fees. By selling your houseyourself rather than paying an estate agent, it's possible to save a fortune. Nobody can be happy at the thought of paying as much as 2 percent for a sole agency agreement, and even more for employing multiple agents. For a growing minority of homeowners ended up with paying thousands ofdollars to agents who seem to do little to earn such a hefty fee, the solution is a private property sale.Here's what happens. "We decided to advertise our house with Eye4Homes, an Internet-based Property Broker, and had loads of offers. The nice thing about selling privately was that we knew who the offers were coming from and felt we could choose someone who was right for our home. We accepted an offer within four days from a young family who reminded us of ourselves when we bought the house and it was actually higher than the estate agent valuation". Eye4Homes founder, Sammy Jo, believes sellers often have the misapprehension that the work estate agents do is more complicated than it really is. "When you look at everyone involved in the selling and buying process, estate agents often do the least work, but take the most money," she says. "People often forget that although they may be paying an average commission of 2 percent plus VAT, which doesn't sound like much, that can be a much larger proportion of the seller's equity once the mortgage is paid off. Eye4Homes estimates that as a proportion of seller's equity, estate agents' charges actually average around 20 percent". So what's involved in a do-it-yourself sale that avoids paying estate agent fees? Because, these days, most people use the Internet to search for property, the Eye4Homes 'quick and easy' step by step guide means anyone can have their house up for sale and potentially attracting thousands of house-hunting Web surfers in a matter of minutes. There's a one-off, low-cost fixed fee, and no hidden costs or commission to pay.

Real estate problems can occur for a number of reasons. The following is a list of common life circumstances that can often lead to real estate problems:
LOSS OF JOB: One of the most common seller circumstances is job loss. Some people don't want to face their problem and end up in foreclosure. Others just can't find another job that will allow them to afford their house. Some get a new job out of town and have to sell their house quickly to take the new job.
ILLNESS: Unexpected illness and accidents often lead to job loss and exorbitant medical expenses that render people unable to afford their house any longer.
DIVORCES: Many times during a divorce, neither party wants their home, or can afford their home on a single income. In these cases, many times they stop making payment and go into foreclosure, both parties vacate and property sits vacant, or both just want out to get rid of the past so they can move forward in their lives.
LANDLORDS: Many times landlords get tired of renters destroying their property, having too many vacancies, have too many properties, or they are just sick of dealing with the hassles of being a landlord.
PROPERTY CONDITION: People will buy homes as a fixer upper and then realize they got in over their head and do not have the money or time to finish. They cannot sell their home on the market because it is in the middle of a rehab. Others have just let their home go as they have lived there for a long time and cannot sell because of the property's condition.
INHERITED PROPERTIES: Many people who inherit properties do not want them. The properties can be in bad condition, in foreclosure, or the property could be out of state for the person who inherited it. In these cases, most people will be motivated to work with you to get rid of their problem.
ARM MORTGAGES ADJUSTING: Many Adjustable Rate Mortgages, ARMs, are adjusting upward, sending homeowners' previously low payments through the roof, forcing them to refinance, sell, or face foreclosure.
OUT-OF-TOWN OWNERS: These are people that live in one town but have a rental property in another town. Many times this happens because the owner had a job transfer and they could not sell their home so their only option was to rent. Sometimes renters have destroyed these properties and the owners can't afford to fix the damages, so they go into foreclosure or sell the properties for whatever the owners can get.
OVER-LEVERAGED: People who have taken out 2nd and 3rd mortgages, or used 100% financing, often don't have enough equity to pay an agent to list their property. Also, declining property values have put many homeowners in an over-leveraged position where their houses cannot sell for what they owe on them. Unfortunately, the only option for these individuals is a short sale.