I am going to be selling a great updated SFH rental I have had since 1992. Great cash flow!! I am considering using the Realtor attached to the Property Management group I have used since 08. I am also selling my even nicer SFH, both are in excellent areas of Colorado Springs. My question is can I negotiate a lower % commission because I'm listing two properties within a couple of months.

Everything is negotiable.

Have fun and enjoy your new adventures.....

....and why would u use a realtor for that ? what u need to do is the following. meet with a realtor and ask that u want to list ur house for sale. tell them u want them to bring comperable sales for the last 6 months in the area. then tell them have a nice day - u have all u need to move on. take pictures and post on zillow, trulia etc. get in touch with a local attorney affiliated with ur local title company to oversee the process from the title transfer once u find a buyer. if there is no traffic ...get in touch with some realtor and negotiate how much would it be to put ur property on the MLS ONLY for say 3 months! $300 should be max. this way u will save tons of money. show it urself - dont do locklbox. realtors do not add any value in the process ...they will put ur property on the market, put a nice sign and lockbox and forget about it . then they will hit u for 5% ...such a waste !!!!. I became a realtor just for a sole purpose to have access to MLS and buy more properties for myself...the whole "certification" is a joke...so ..in order to save money learn the game ...otherwise .. I will gladly list it for u for 5%.

Yes I get it, everything is negotiable. I have sold a rental property back in CA in 1976, used a lawyher like you suggested. It worked out great! I've done the Transaction Broker thing too selling duplexes. I have stayed just under the number of properties listed in the past to not need a license. They are all held in Trust.

Now however I'm leaving the area. I don't want to bother doing it again with all the new laws and changes. Nor do I want to live in a home while on the market. Many buyers are skeptical of FSO properties. I don't have the time or desire to do what you suggest. I have the $ however to do it my way.

Glen is right.

Glen, if he does what you suggest he will get a lot of attention not from buyers but from unqualified "dreamers"--> you screen ...just like for tenants ...but this time you ask for pre-approval from the bank. I am not going to show my place to anybody who does not have a pre-approval. I mean seriously ..this is common sense .. show me the money rule applies.

I am a real estate broker and attorney and I list my houses for sale rather than selling myself--> because you value your time (instead of driving to open ur place u r better off copy-pasting the same verbiage that u used 213 times in similar cases and charging the customer $150 an hour) OR are afraid of liability since its agent owned property. I bet that's what it is. you list it because you do not practice selling so you are afraid of a screw up - makes perfect sense.

I say negotiate it down to 1.5%

I also agree that we should force ourselves to do more work. Silly not to.

I'm not saying try everything yourself, but with the exception of flying aircraft, hand surgery, and space walks, you can pretty much do anything yourself. I believe we don't need people in suits telling us it is too difficult or too complicated.

I'm completely opposite everyone else.

Realtors, like everyone else, want to make money. Unless your places are just so extra special and priced so incredibly low that everyone will be holding a bidding war, you need a reason for people to come to your property.

That reason is their realtor will steer them there. In order to do that, I would be offering a higher commission.

what will drive traffic is :

a) sign outside - DIY

b) MLS - DIY for $300

c) trulia,zillow,cl etc DIY

d) agree on above average coop comp >4% ? so that buyers agent choose ur property as a first one to look at. that's if u decide to list and if the listing agent agrees on 70/30 split of YOUR MONEY!!!

e) PRICE !!!!

tell me what else can your realtor do to "drive traffic" ? realtors is busy making ends meet in todays market when ppl finaly got wiser. your realtor will work YOU not the buyer to agree to price reduction. your realtor WORKS FOR THE BUYER because this is the only way they will make money ..if the deal closes ...most of them are uneducated m$#!$! insulting YOUR intelligence. stop being lazy and save some $$$ ...list it sell it ..cash it ..go for a trip to Europe .. maybe u learn Rome is not in alabama ;-)

Nancy, Locally, some realtors will list for 4.5 or 5% for investors.

I've sold some myself and some thru realtors.

Very few buyers will talk to an owner and even fewer will write an offer to an owner.

If the house is nice, it's not about getting it SHOWN, its' about getting the buyer FINANCED. THAT is where things usually crumble.

I will not list for a long period - they want 6 months here.

I give them 30 days to produce and we'll extend if I see promising activity. No activity and I relist with someone else.