re: I put my money where my mouth was - I'm out baby, I'm out!

quote:

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I didn't realize how stressed I was about the burden of owning a home in Marin County until I signed the papers.

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Me either. The day I made the decision to sell just felt like a huge weight lifted off my chest. Then there was the 6-week, real world slog of getting the damned thing closed. My wife is 7 months pregnant, so that wasn't very helpful, although I do have to credit her with possibly being the only rational pregnant woman in the history of mankind for agreeing to this transaction.

The thing I sweated the most going in was finding a buyer who could find jumbo financing. I got incredibly lucky to have my 1% selling agent come to the table with a Chinese couple who were able to put 50% down. You have to love when stereotypes play out in your favor (cash rich Chinese and cheap - they came without a buying agent). The downside, was they also possessed the traits assumed by the negative stereotypes (relentless bargainers, focused on small inconsequential shite, etc.) Half the process was managing them and their tactics. I had to lose a few battles to win the war, which I was OK doing.

In the end, here was the summary of my fees:

1% selling agent
1% buying agent
1.785% excise tax on the sale
25 basis points to my @$%@#$ HOA
about 50 basis points of other misc crap

The idea that the RE industry wants you to pay 3% to the selling agent and 3% to the buying agent just pisses me off. Who would ever do that?