rockinblu's Discussions

I have been informed that in Illinois, if you are represented by an agent, there is a legal technicality prohibiting an owner from holding his own open house. If you are signed on with an agency, only a licensed agent can hold an open house with your home. I think that even if this is a fact, I would be hard pressed to think that it would be enforced. Any input on this would be appreciated.

Thanks to all that responded and Zillow for for providing this platform for discussion. The replies were all based on just good common sense and at the same time informative. However, I am still slightly up in the air on whether or not to have one on my own. I don't want to put the security issue on the agent, and I feel with my sales background and total knowledge of the home, I could show it quite effectively. In no way would the intention be just to save a little on the commision, it would be an effort to possibly speed up the process.rockinblu

Krismer:First, our agent won't due open houses. I also assume that the disclosure that I am obligated to sign in fact releases the agent from most of the liability due to the house's condition. As a follow up to my original query, we did hold an owner's open house Sunday 8/5. It was on the same street as an agent owned open house, and had no problem. We had some curious neighbors and 2 "possibles" which I handed info sheets to and informed them that any offers or negotiations would have to go through the listing agent.rockinblu

Almay:Thank you, now I won't lay awake at nights wondering how I was going to make in Menard Penitentiary. Seriously though, thanks for taking your time to respond and share your knowledge. By the way, your guess on where the info I received came from was a good guess. rockinblu

I was thinking about an open house for agents, but my agent advised against it. He basicly stated that they only attract a few freeloaders with very little interest in giving any quality input, and probably would forget about the property by the next day, since they did not do the original listing.Is this accurate, or is he just too negative? Could I do one myself, and if so, how is the inviting done? Also, what types of snacks and beverages are customary, if I should decide to do one. Rockinblu

I am curious if very many of you have received any responses to a "for sale" posting or add on Zillow. Do you think prospective buyers would be more apt to contact an agent or the actual home owner through the contact info?

Anita:Zillow ads are on Zillow. You can put a photo on it with contact info as well as a link to an additional web site such as Realtor.com. When doing the ad you get to choose what zip codes you want them displayed in. They only cost $10 for about 1000 views, and you can monitor how many clicks you get to your posting from the views. As far as I know I have not received any responses either, but the contact info has been my agent and he was negative on it to begin with.rockinblu

Correction on ad info.The link to another web site other than the original contact info from the ad is on the property posting page contact info. I hope that makes sense.Sorry about that.rockinblu

Anita:I think I misunderstood your question on where Zillow advertises to mean where are your ads run. I really don't know where they advertise their site,I found about it in a magazine article. That question is certainly worth a post of its own. I think we all agree that they are in their infancy, and its a great site, so we must realize and understand baby steps first.rockinbluPS: Do you think they will raise my Zestimate after that ?

lemonade99:My zestimate actually went up. This is very surprising given the low comps I have to try and overcome. http://www.zillow.com/HomeDetails.htm?zprop=4952652I hope this shows up as a link so you can see what I mean.