Help with defining our terms before interviewing realtors
We are already under contract to build a new home in a retirement community. We don't have to sell our current home to close on the new house but it would make things much easier financially. Our new home will be ready in March at the earliest.
We are the original owners of our current home and have lived here for 22 years. It is in a pretty desirable area in northern Raleigh, NC. The house needs some work but for the most part, it is what you would expect from a 22+ year old house. Its large. About 4400 sq ft finished and another 600 sq ft unfinished basement used for a workout room and shop. 5 bed/4.5 bath.
On a $/square foot basis, our home will be priced extremely competitively. I figure the listing price will be close to 750k so about $170/sq ft which is really low for a good subdivision in a good school district in RDU. The low listing $/sq ft listing price is due to the need to update some areas, such as the master bath.
Our ideal scenario would be to pocket list it for 3 months starting 9/15 and put it on the MLS around Jan 15 (after the holidays). I'm thinking a 6 month listing contract, the first 3 are pocket, the last 3 are 'public'. While it's a pocket listing, I want to have full say on whether a potential buyer can view the home (I want to make sure they are qualified, etc) and timing works for us. When its on the MLS, you can go nuts with showings.
There are SO many realtors in the area, I would like to use our leverage to pay 2.5% each to the listing and buyers agents.
If our listing agent can get us full ask (whatever we determine that to be) prior to going to the MLS, I'm willing to pay a bonus, say 5k, as the interest alone would cover a good chunk of it vs. 3 months on the MLS. If the listing agent is unable to sell the home in the 6 months, I'm not willing to pay any fees, etc.
Ideally, I would like to reach out 5 or so realtors, interview a few, and decide on 1.
I need to draft an email before reaching out to agencies but do these terms at least seem reasonable? Would you have any concerns about this approach?
Cheers.