<p>Dont need to even say 5 mos. Just say it needs to sell quickly, and we’d like (need) to have the cash available by end of January (give yourself a months leeway at least)</p>
<p>Good idea not to say 5 months. Just say “very soon.” Think of how nice it will be to stop worrying about it after the closing!</p>
<p>Agree. Don’t give the agent a 5 month target! Then if there’s some hang up, you’re S.O.L. That’s cutting it much too close. </p>
<p>“We need to sell fast.”</p>
<p>Good answer, eyeamom.</p>
<p>No! No no no no no!!! Do not utter the words “5 months”!!! Or any specific time frame. Say exactly this:</p>
<p>“Mom is going into Assisted Living, and we need to sell as quickly as possible.” Nothing else. </p>
<p>House deals can and do fall through on literally the last day, and then where would you be?</p>
<p>"As quickly as possible. " FULL STOP.</p>
<p>You also don’t want mom to have a place to escape back to, as in one tale, above. This is pretty simple. Be done with it. Over-thinking doesn’t just place a burden on the thinker, it clouds the listener’s perceptions. </p>
<p>" Today at 7:58 am</p>
<p>“The discission will be succint and fact filled and emphasize that that must be an acceptable bid in five months so we can have the closing within 2 months.”</p>
<p>Your comments were right on target.You must see how I need your kind and wise guidance. I have no idea where my head was at early this morning.The comment about five months is absurd. Of course the house must sell immediately if not sooner. I have a terrible cold.Laryngitis. Possibly due to the cold, but mostly due to my lack of math skills,I realized this morning that yesterday I made two major math mistakes in assessing her assets and seeing how long they would pay for her AL rent. I factored my mother’s monthly assets to include her social security. But that doesn’t count at all, because she spends it down to ever penny She will need that SS until the closing to pay for utilities, mowing, etc… So that is zero assets. And most stupidly, I overlooked that in September, the AL will want not just the first months rent, but the last month’s rent too , and a $600 deposit. So her assets will be very slim indeed while we wait for the first bid on the house.</p>
<p>I am picking up my daughter at tennis at 12:30 and will try to make an APPT with someone in the real estate office this afternoon. Annoyingly, they only have a national number on their web page, but if I call that perhaps they will give me the number of my local branch…</p>
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<p>Dharma, it strikes me that much of your stress comes from the fact that you try to do everyone else’s job. You have tried to be a lawyer, and a payroll service, and a shrink, and a senior housing specialist. You don’t seem to be able to put the problem into the hands of a professional, and then stand back and let them do what they do.</p>
<p>Now you want to be a realtor. Dharma, a realtor knows perfectly well how much time to allow for closing. Don’t try to do the realtor’s job. Simply tell them what you want to happen – “We need the money as quickly as possible” – and let THEM figure out how to do it. That’s their job and that’s what you are paying them to do. </p>
<p>LF is right. Keep it simple! You have enough complications without creating more. Put it into the hands of a competent professional and let them take over. </p>
<p>She won’t be spending the entire 1500 SS when she’s in AL. All utilities go down, no grocery shopping, just mowing the lawn, etc, and taxes. I have a feeling that, in trying to get a grip on this, you’ve made it far more complex than it should be. Then you have to get out the shovel and dig your way out; frazzled, you make it more error-prone.</p>
<p>“We need to sell as quickly as possible”</p>
<p>Dharmawheel, just call the 800 number. Someone will get back to you, I promise. (I say that as someone who HATES talking on the phone but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do!)</p>
<p>Century 21 Realty has a number of Putnam county listings and they are in Brewster. I don’t know any agents in this office, but looking at their listings and prices, they seem to be in line with sales I know of in the past year or so. There was a neighbor’s house near my MIL that was listed for a quick sale, it wasn’t even cleaned out and it sold last week. It was on the multiple listing sites for less than a week. The price was actually higher than I thought they would get.
Century 21 Vjf Realty
Century 21 V.j.f. Realty Co
845-279-7700</p>
<p>Dharma, trust the agent to make a quick sale. A real estate agent will be ecstatic to hear that you want to list the house for a quick sale: that’s easy money for them, compared to squeezing a few more percent out of the listing by doing a lot more work. They’ll list the house at an attractive price, and quickly pull in their commission. Let them do the work! They know their job. </p>
<p>Is it typical in your area to have a 3 mo RE contract?</p>
<p>See about listing, getting realty tours, open house. New listings get looked at. Have realtor put on full court press.</p>
<p>Your listing sounds like it should be a quick sell with right price, pics, etc.</p>
<p>Hugs!</p>
<p>OK so when I visited Mom today I TOLD her I wanted her to come over to my house Saturday and get a bath and then my husband and I would take her out to dinner. She reluctantly agreed saying she doesn’t get dirty and it isn’t necessary but I told her I wanted her to be clean and fresh for dinner out. I also told her I would wash her clothes while she was here and pointed out all the spots of food, etc on them. Then she called later today to say she gave her clothes to the staff to wash because she spilled nail polish on her pants (only a small spot which of course didn’t come out but at least they are all clean). I will talk to the young techs about it being OK for them to be more direct with her rather than giving her a choice. And clue them in to some of the suggestions KKMama made.</p>
<p>Travelnut thanks for your wisdom and momofthreeboys I wish you luck with your seniors!</p>
<p>Dharma … I’ve been following your journey and just wanted to send you some cyber hugs. My mom’s journey had been about as easy as it could be and my sister is totally helpful and it had been a very difficult for me. You are dealing with an incredibly difficult situation and are doing an absolutely AMAZING job. On a bad day … please stop, take a deep breath, and remember you’re doing the best you can and that you’re human and get tired and make mistakes. Then come on CC for more cyber hugs! Keep up the great work!</p>
<p>LasMa, you are right on in your analysis of me. You hit each point perfectly, and it startled me to look at and face the truth as I caregully read your words.Really; if I work hard enough, this exchange could be an important turning point. But I like you so much; I would hate for you to be exasperated with me, but to use your incredible insight to be sympathetic ( I know you are). You have helped me so much on this board. I have been on my own since age 5, when my sister was born and both parents left the scene for a year, raising myself/providing for myself/finding and making my way through harsh catholic elementary school and high school, college, job search etc. Yes, they provided a roof over our heads and food, but I managed my way through with books (I DWELT without loneliness or a feeling of neglect in a world of books and teachers some from college and graduate school with whom I stay in touch. My husband calms me down daily and reminds me to look to reality and beyond my anxious temperament. But I am far, far, from pathological anxiouness. No sweating, heat palpitations, nausea or phobias. Nothing remotely like that. I do take small doses of Xanax, but carefully, because as everyone knows, it is addictive. </p>
<p>Yes, LasMa, I have found the perfect realtor. We sat down in a conference room this afternoon and and she understood the urgency of the situation immediately. She had a very winning personality and was very smart. I will meet her at my mother’s house at 9:30 am on Sat for assesment, factual review and consent, signatures, photographs…and the house will be on the internet on Monday. (old mom, I didn’t need the stupid 800 number–luckily I just walked in and a senior associate was available). The realtor lives in my town and recognized the house and said it was highly desirable.</p>
<p>Unfortunately I am very sick (pneumonia?) and have to take mother to third AL tomorrow and see realtor Sat am. If I need help Sat pm I will go to the urgent care center on Sat pm (I have a call in to my MD to cell phone me tomorrow), but the earliest I can see her is Wed. Let’s just hope I get a good night’s sleep and feel better tomorrow (headache, but no fever).</p>
<p>We were overposting. SOS Corner, the realtor agreement here is one year. They hold open houses on Wednesday and Sundays. They share very nicely split-comissions on “midhudson listings” on the internet.</p>
<p>3 to go, thank you so much for the pep talk. So sweet of you to remind you that (with all my fumbles and faults), I have been doing the best I can.</p>
<p>No way. 6 mos is normal. A yr is ridiculous </p>
<p>Tip: Generally, try to limit an exclusive-right-to-sell agreement to a period of three months. This agreement will give the broker an incentive to sell the home, and it will still give you an out if you feel the broker is not doing enough for you. If you have substantial confidence in the broker, and you have seen and approved his or her plans for marketing the home, you may wish to sign a six month contract.
<a href=“http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:piwCw1gR0nIJ:www.stac-cpa.com/le-sellhomeeffectively.php+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us”>http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:piwCw1gR0nIJ:www.stac-cpa.com/le-sellhomeeffectively.php+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us</a></p>
<p>Yes, Dharmawheel, maybe you could talk to another realtor about that year. My aunt (just 7 years older than me) had a difficult relationship with her realtor selling a house in Milford, CT and I think the listing was for 6 months.</p>