As a Myrtle Beach REALTOR® I hear all types of Horror Stories about deals that have gone bad, and all types of crazy things that have happened while trying to either buy or sell a home in Myrtle Beach.  Here is one of those stories from a couples that I helped sell their Myrtle Beach home.

They were a nice couple, looking to sell their beautiful Myrtle Beach home on a golf course.  Home had excellent view, had been meticulously taken care of, and was in “model home” condition.  These people contacted us because they were in a major dilemma and after sharing it with a neighbor who were former clients of ours, urged them to call us immediately. Here is their story:

The couple had tried selling their home via For Sale By Owner.  They bought the yard sign, had a little website made up and had instant gratification.  Within two weeks, they were having daily showings, and multiple calls on their home.  As they came to the end of their second week of trying to sell the house, they received an offer on the property.  They came to an agreement with the buyer and things seemed to be moving along perfectly for them.

As closing day came closer, the sellers began packing their items in their home.  Since the property sold quicker than they thought it would, they had to pack all their belongings & furniture and place it into a climate controlled storage unit.  Also, they had to sign a 6 month lease to rent an apartment until the home they were building would be complete.

The day of closing came and the sellers went to the closing attorneys office expecting to meet the buyer, sign the documents and sell their lovely home.  Well, when they got to the attorney’s office, the buyer was nowhere to be found.  They called and found out that the seller was unable to purchase the property.  They received a pre-qualification letter, but had no way of following up on whether the buyer would be able to secure the funds to purchase the home.  The buyer had actually given false information to the bank and got caught.  So, needless to say the home was not going to sell to this new buyer.

The sellers went back to their now vacant home disheartened and placed the sign back in the yard.  After a few more weeks with not much activity, the sellers were becoming distressed because they were paying a lot of money out of pocket and the cash reserves were coming to an end.  Paying the mortgage on the vacant home, plus their monthly rent for the apartment & storage unit on top of the construction loan on the property is more than enough to do that.

Finally the sellers gave in to the neighbors advice and contacted us.  We met with them, listed the property for sale and were able to sell it & close in 5 weeks time.

Unfortunately for the sellers, the money spent trying to sell their house on their own was much more than my commission. While this story sounds like it might be a rare occassion, it is something becoming more and more common.  Lenders are tightening their regulations on who they will lend to, and buyers are not always accurate with the information they supply.  That is why having a Real Estate Professional is important.

Our job goes much further than just placing your home into the MLS.  We use various types of marketing tools to give your home the most exposure possible.  While many think our job finishes with marketing, there is much more.  Next we coordinate with agent to schedule showings of your home.  Most of this is now handled electronically.

Then comes the contract negotiation stage.  This is another very important stage where a Myrtle Beach REALTOR® plays a critical role.  Having an agent that can negotiate well on your behalf could save you thousands of dollars and months of time and aggravation.

Finally our last job after negotiating your home is to make sure that the home gets to the closing table and closed with as little problems as possible.  To me, this is where the real work begins.  During the part in the process, your agent will be negotiating home inspection repairs, ordering home warranties if needed, scheduling inspections, and communicating regularly with the closing attorney, the bank giving the mortgage, and the buyer’s agent to make sure all paperwork and any other items needed to close on the home are taken care of and that on closing day there are no “surprises” like the one that happened to this FSBO.

So before you think of selling your home on your own, remember this quote I recently heard directly from a seller on a panel at a real estate conference.  The man said: “I’m not going to do open heart surgery on myself, so I’m not going to try & sell my home on my own. Some things in life end up costing more when you don’t hire the expert to handle the job!”  If you are thinking of selling your Myrtle Beach home and would like to see how I can help you accomplish this, feel free to either call me at 843-222-9402 or contact me online.