Can I sell my home to whomever I want?

Mel N. Choly

Mel N. Choly

New Member
Location
Texas
I know that in the US I can’t discriminate based upon race, gender, family status or nationality, and I certainly don’t want to. I don’t want to sell my home to a company that will rent it out. I prefer to sell it to a buyer that will live in the home. I know that a company might offer me a better deal than an individual. I know that I can’t dictate what the new owner will do with the home, but if I can prevent it becoming a corporate rental property then I would like to do so. I’ve lived in my home over 30 years and I’ve never sold a home, so I’m now learning as much as I can about the matter.
 

You can accept any offer you want. I don't know how much information you can get from a real estate agent regarding information on the buyer. But I've got information on the seller. That house I bought (since sold) the woman had died. I knew the buyers when I sold it had put an offer on another house but the seller of that house refused to repair a sewer issue from the house to the street so they didn't buy. Worked for me. So agents do talk.

A couple years ago I looked at a mobile in 55+ park which I'm still looking for. I told my agent on Monday what I would offer. The place was listed the previous Friday. My agent called me back and told me the seller had already decided which offer she would take. There were multiple apparently. Due to fires in the area, my agent thought perhaps a fire victim wrote a hardship letter and the seller went with it. It's not a make or break but my offer would have been 4 thousand more than what the place closed for. The seller was moving out of state (I was told, so again information) and could have drove out of town with $4,000 more in her account.

Just my experiences. Get as much info as you can and good luck.
 
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Remy said:
You can accept any offer you want. I don't know how much information you can get from a real estate agent regarding information on the buyer. But I've got information on the seller. That house I bought (since sold) the woman had died. I knew the buyers when I sold it had put an offer on another house but the seller of that house refused to repair a sewer issue from the house to the street so they didn't buy. Worked for me. So agents do talk.

A couple years ago I looked at a mobile in 55+ park which I'm still looking for. I told my agent on Monday what I would offer. The place was listed the previous Friday. My agent called me back and told me the seller had already decided which offer she would take. There were multiple apparently. Due to fires in the area, my agent thought perhaps a fire victim wrote a hardship letter and the seller went with it. It's not a make or break but my offer would have been 4 thousand more than what the place closed for. The seller was moving out of state (I was told, so again information) and could have drove out of town with $4,000 more in her account.

Just my experiences. Get as much info as you can and good luck.
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Good to know. I appreciate your input.
 

Once your house is under contract then you are bound to sell to that buyer BUT...you can certainly turn that buyer sour on his desire to want it causing him to back out of the contract on his own. Any demands he makes say, "no it's sold as is and at full price". If he doesn't meet his "Due Diligence" date on time you can end the contract. If he doesn't meet the contract deadline for the sale then the contract is null and void.
You can also disclose things about the house that you didn't have to disclose that may change his mind.
 
Lara said:
Once your house is under contract then you are bound to sell to that buyer BUT...you can certainly turn that buyer sour on his desire to want it causing him to back out of the contract on his own. Any demands he makes say, "no it's sold as is and at full price". If he doesn't meet his "Due Diligence" date on time you can end the contract. If he doesn't meet the contract deadline for the sale then the contract is null and void.
You can also disclose things about the house that you didn't have to disclose that may change his mind.
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Thanks, Lara. I guess knowing something about the buyer will affect how I negotiate.
 
Times have changed! We've bought and sold a number of homes as we moved around the country. Every state is different but here are a few rules we've run into:
1. The Realtor CANNOT give you ANY information about the buyer and they should NOT give you info about the seller, if you are a buyer. PRIVACY laws now in effect.
2. IF you list with an Realtor, they will market the home for "list price." According to most contracts, YOU MUST ACCEPT the offer if it is for full asking price or more. If there are multiple offers, you have more leeway.
3. If you do NOT disclose everything they ask you to disclose - you can be sued. However, most owners that sell their own homes, usually (according to Realtors) talk too much and share WAY more information about the house than is necessary, putting buyers in a better position to negotiate.

However - you should be able to sell to whomever - IF you do NOT list with a Real Estate Agent, as a private sale but this makes it difficult to get to a buyer. You can market it on your own, using the online sites like Zillow but you will have no access to the MLS service. You can refuse to work with a Realtor OR if you sell it yourself, and a licensed Realtor brings you a buyer - you will have to "split" the commission with them, according to local laws.

To be honest, I'm not sure how you find out about all these laws. Ask the Town?? I've gotten this info from working with various Realtors over the years. We sold a house on our own once and but a Realtor was usually the best way for us to go. Good luck!
 
Myquest55 said:
Times have changed! We've bought and sold a number of homes as we moved around the country. Every state is different but here are a few rules we've run into:
1. The Realtor CANNOT give you ANY information about the buyer and they should NOT give you info about the seller, if you are a buyer. PRIVACY laws now in effect.
2. IF you list with an Realtor, they will market the home for "list price." According to most contracts, YOU MUST ACCEPT the offer if it is for full asking price or more. If there are multiple offers, you have more leeway.
3. If you do NOT disclose everything they ask you to disclose - you can be sued. However, most owners that sell their own homes, usually (according to Realtors) talk too much and share WAY more information about the house than is necessary, putting buyers in a better position to negotiate.

However - you should be able to sell to whomever - IF you do NOT list with a Real Estate Agent, as a private sale but this makes it difficult to get to a buyer. You can market it on your own, using the online sites like Zillow but you will have no access to the MLS service. You can refuse to work with a Realtor OR if you sell it yourself, and a licensed Realtor brings you a buyer - you will have to "split" the commission with them, according to local laws.

To be honest, I'm not sure how you find out about all these laws. Ask the Town?? I've gotten this info from working with various Realtors over the years. We sold a house on our own once and but a Realtor was usually the best way for us to go. Good luck!
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Thank you. Some of this is surprising. Good to know.
 
Jules said:
When you plan to list, get value appraisals from three realtors. Why they’re giving you their pitch on why you should list with them, ask for the rules in Texas re selling. It’ll help you get a feel for them too.
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Sounds like good advice. Thank you. I essentially just wanted to know if I was being realistic in my desire to exercise some leverage in selecting a buyer.
 
I've read that Zillow is worthless. Redfin, I've read doesn't work on commission so you're not paying outrageous commissions to Realtor agents. I know people who have used Redfin and were happy. However, online comments I've read say the Redfin agents have more clients and thus less attentive.

Keep in mind that Realtor agents get paid 5.6% of the total sales price (in my state of NC...TX may be different). It's outrageous for the the work they put in...or don't put in. My realtor was awful...a complete nightmare...drunk mostly. I read that someday, hopefully soon, they will be changing how much realtors make.
 
Lara said:
I've read that Zillow is worthless. Redfin, I've read doesn't work on commission so you're not paying outrageous commissions to Realtor agents. I know people who have used Redfin and were happy. However, online comments I've read say the Redfin agents have more clients and thus less attentive.

Keep in mind that Realtor agents get paid 5.6% of the total sales price (in my state of NC...TX may be different). It's outrageous for the the work they put in...or don't put in. My realtor was awful...a complete nightmare...drunk mostly. I read that someday, hopefully soon, they will be changing how much realtors make.
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I'm dreading having to deal with realtors, both in the sale of my current home and the purchase of my new home. All I can hope for is to minimize the deceit by learning as much as I can about this process.
 
When we sold our house in AZ, it was sold within 24 hours. There wasn't even time for pictures to be taken and posted. The buyer had cash and paid full price. That was good for our bank account but what wasn't good was it was December and there wasn't much choice in houses in the area in PA that we wanted to be in. It was tough. We thought our house in AZ would take longer to sell so we'd have more time.

What happened was we got a not so great realtor in PA. They had good reviews and being 2000 miles away we were going to rely on him helping us. It was a disaster. He lied about everything. He fought us every step of the way and we should have fired him in the beginning. We were too nice and it added a lot of added stress to our move. He wouldn't do a video walkthrough. Said he didn't know how (he was 70, afterall) and he didn't know how to do an electronic Earnest money transaction. He wouldn't have the roof inspected for us. He wanted to know why we needed to know that. It was a constant battle for information.

We were running out of time so we didn't have an inspection done, which was a huge mistake on our part. This house cost us over $80,000 in renovations and repairs. I'll never get that back when (if) I sell it.

All I'm saying is....yes, it's sort of an important thing to know about buyers but it's more important to know you have a realtor that will tell you the truth.
 
Colleen said:
When we sold our house in AZ, it was sold within 24 hours. There wasn't even time for pictures to be taken and posted. The buyer had cash and paid full price. That was good for our bank account but what wasn't good was it was December and there wasn't much choice in houses in the area in PA that we wanted to be in. It was tough. We thought our house in AZ would take longer to sell so we'd have more time.

What happened was we got a not so great realtor in PA. They had good reviews and being 2000 miles away we were going to rely on him helping us. It was a disaster. He lied about everything. He fought us every step of the way and we should have fired him in the beginning. We were too nice and it added a lot of added stress to our move. He wouldn't do a video walkthrough. Said he didn't know how (he was 70, afterall) and he didn't know how to do an electronic Earnest money transaction. He wouldn't have the roof inspected for us. He wanted to know why we needed to know that. It was a constant battle for information.

We were running out of time so we didn't have an inspection done, which was a huge mistake on our part. This house cost us over $80,000 in renovations and repairs. I'll never get that back when (if) I sell it.

All I'm saying is....yes, it's sort of an important thing to know about buyers but it's more important to know you have a realtor that will tell you the truth.
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Yikes! So sorry to hear about your troubles with that. That's exactly the kind of thing I worry about in all of this.
 
Also, remember that the inspector is working for the buyer...not you. I recommend you get it inspected yourself just before you put your house on the market and then lay the paperwork results on the counter for open house.

My buyer had his inspector come and he did some very sneaky deceptions to make my house seem worse than it was. Even his pictures were deceptive.

Example: I was told to clear the garage so the inspector could see everything...especially the breaker box at the far back. I completely cleared out the garage except 2 folding tables in the front with garage sale stuff on the but floors were completely clear. So the inspector went outside in the driveway to take a picture at an angle to show only the tables making it look like the garage was packed to the nines. The buyer insisted I refund his 2K due diligence money since the "inspector couldn't see in the garage" even though he did have a pic of the breaker box in the report
 
Lara said:
Also, remember that the inspector is working for the buyer...not you. I recommend you get it inspected yourself just before you put your house on the market and then lay the paperwork results on the counter for open house.

My buyer had his inspector come and he did some very sneaky deceptions to make my house seem worse than it was. Even his pictures were deceptive.

Example: I was told to clear the garage so the inspector could see everything...especially the breaker box at the far back. I completely cleared out the garage except 2 folding tables in the front with garage sale stuff on the but floors were completely clear. So the inspector went outside in the driveway to take a picture at an angle to show only the tables making it look like the garage was packed to the nines. The buyer insisted I refund his 2K due diligence money since the "inspector couldn't see in the garage" even though he did have a pic of the breaker box in the report
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Wow! Yes, I will definitely get my own inspection done when selling.
 
I have bought and sold 10 properties. I have had good and bad realtors. When I bought and sold in March 21 the market was hot so we put in the listing that all offers would be considered by Sunday at 5pm and the house hit the market at Friday at 9am.

We had 33 showings and a full price offer within hours. By the end of the 3 days we had multiple offers over asking. Besides the highest offer I have learned to look at who is most likely to be able to close. That’s someone that doesn’t have a house they need to sell and they are putting the most money down.

If a deal falls through you have wasted time and now have to sell again. Corporations may offer cash but they always have the lowest price.

I also was buying a condo during this time and had to bid against others and go over asking by 13k. They were asking more than appraisal and said you must have the cash to make up the difference because they weren’t lowering the price. I bid multiple times against another high bidder and finally won even though I was under his bid by 1k.

I won because I was putting down 65% of what the condo cost so they knew my funding wouldn’t fall through. This happens more often than you think weeks into the process.
 
Ask around about a realtor from friends or family. Check with the BBB, too. I've used the same realtor for selling several houses & buying one I found through my brother's friend. Also, I'd list the house for more than what you think since you can always reduce the price. The holidays is a slow time to sell, but it should pick up in the beginning of the year.

I wouldn't try selling a house without a realtor...too many rules & laws that you could mess up & then have to spend more money to straighten it out.

In Ohio, maybe in other states too, you could be responsible for something going wrong for a year after you sell if it was something you should have known about. We bought the insurance to cover this should something happen which wasn't expensive, but haven't ever had to use it. It just gave us a peace of mind.
 
Mel N. Choly said:
Wow! Yes, I will definitely get my own inspection done when selling.
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I have never paid for my own inspection before selling because it’s a waste of money and I would never empty a garage for an inspection. I would let the buyer drop out and put it quickly back on the market.

You don’t want to deal with a buyer that’s looking for an excuse to back out. It’s easy to back out in most states and get your money back. Definitely not worth the hassle.
 
The house is nothing but boards and nails, it's the memories made there you cherish, and you get to take those with you. The goal is to sell for top dollar, don't worry yourself over who buys it or what they plan on doing with it.
 
C50 said:
The house is nothing but boards and nails, it's the memories made there you cherish, and you get to take those with you. The goal is to sell for top dollar, don't worry yourself over who buys it or what they plan on doing with it.
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Thanks. That's certainly one perspective, but it's not part of my rationale.
 
Our last purchase in Maine, was made from Tennessee. We traveled up in 2015 and had lunch with some folks I had "met" online through an online site for fiber craft people. That couple, and their craft friends all recommended the same Realtor. We met with her then and stayed in touch, until we pulled our our checkbook to buy, at the end of 2017. She was FANTASTIC!!! She previewed homes for us, put in offers and set us up with the best contractors (that we still call on) we needed for some renovations WE decided that to be needed done. She negotiated for and suggested some other repairs and we had the best move transition we ever had!!

Do NOT rely on online recommendations! You never know if they are real or "bots." Ask real people. If you are moving to another state or a considerable distance from where you are - reach out online, if possible. Check out hobby style websites and ones like this, right here to make connections and friends BEFORE you move! There are a lot of tools you can use.
 
Seems foolish to me to not get the most you can. Not wanting a corporation to rent is a nice thought but then that could deny a person unable to buy the chance to live in a comfortable rented home.
 
Myquest55 said:
Our last purchase in Maine, was made from Tennessee. We traveled up in 2015 and had lunch with some folks I had "met" online through an online site for fiber craft people. That couple, and their craft friends all recommended the same Realtor. We met with her then and stayed in touch, until we pulled our our checkbook to buy, at the end of 2017. She was FANTASTIC!!! She previewed homes for us, put in offers and set us up with the best contractors (that we still call on) we needed for some renovations WE decided that to be needed done. She negotiated for and suggested some other repairs and we had the best move transition we ever had!!

Do NOT rely on online recommendations! You never know if they are real or "bots." Ask real people. If you are moving to another state or a considerable distance from where you are - reach out online, if possible. Check out hobby style websites and ones like this, right here to make connections and friends BEFORE you move! There are a lot of tools you can use.
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That's great advice. Thanks!
 
Another possibility that would allow you to choose your buyer is to offer to do a lease-to-own and that way you would be able to lease the property to whomever seemed like a good buyer for what you are looking for, and part of their rent would go towards the down payment, usually a little more than normal rent, so that the extra can go to the down payment.

Even a sale where you agree to carry the contract would give you the option to choose your buyer. I sold a house that way before, and it worked out fine.
I put an add in one of the little free bulletins (this was back before some much was done online) and then made appointments, showed the property , and took offers.

We were able to see which people were really interested in living at the house, and seemed like they would be good buyers. If you need cash afterwards, you can always sell the contract.
You lose some money that way, but if you got a good price for the house, you could still come out as well as if you took a lower offer when you sold it.
 
Happyflowerlady said:
Another possibility that would allow you to choose your buyer is to offer to do a lease-to-own and that way you would be able to lease the property to whomever seemed like a good buyer for what you are looking for, and part of their rent would go towards the down payment, usually a little more than normal rent, so that the extra can go to the down payment.

Even a sale where you agree to carry the contract would give you the option to choose your buyer. I sold a house that way before, and it worked out fine.
I put an add in one of the little free bulletins (this was back before some much was done online) and then made appointments, showed the property , and took offers.

We were able to see which people were really interested in living at the house, and seemed like they would be good buyers. If you need cash afterwards, you can always sell the contract.
You lose some money that way, but if you got a good price for the house, you could still come out as well as if you took a lower offer when you sold it.
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That's a great idea. I'm going to look into that. At first glance that seems like it might work out best for us.
 


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