Jackie

I just wanted to lay out the facts regarding my question. I know nothing about real estate other than from purchasing our first home in New York in 2002. We sold that house in 2006 and made some money.

The house in Florida was purchased in 2006 for 399,000 - we realize now we overpaid, but that's what the going prices were at the time. The seller was asking for more than that.

The house in FL has been listed about 4 months and is listed at 329,000. We also have it listed as a rental.

We are moving to NC for a couple of reasons. First, I have been very sick since moving to FL with severe allergies making life unbearable here. The 2nd reason is that my husband has a job opportunity in NC.

We bought the house in NC because it was the perfect house for us and under-priced. We paid the price that it was listed at and it was still a lot less than what we thought we would be paying. Our thinking was, if it doesn't work out and we can't sell the house in FL, we can put the NC house back on the market.

The only reason we were considering short sale on the FL house as an option is because the offer we received was less than what we owe on the mortgage. I didn't know anything about it and realize it is not really meant for people in our situation.

What I really need cleared up is how the realtor commision works, buyer's agent/seller agent. If the buyer happens to be someone that contacted my agent directly than there is not a separate buyer's agent. So my thinking was, that means we only have to pay 3%. I guess I am wrong on that. I just don't get it.

The offer we received for 280,000 is totally dead now. The buyer told my agent it was a one time offer take it or not. My realtor said she thought the buyer was going to make a better offer than what she did. Also said that she feels we are priced right for the market and should wait for someone else. The house is in a good neighborhood, has a pool, fenced yard, good schools does not need any work. It's a nice house.

When I asked my realtor about re-negotiating the commision fees she said this was an isolated situation with this buyer. She expects that we will get an offer that will allow us to break even.

I realize nobody knows what's going to happen with the market. It's not her fault we are in this situation. We chose to do this the way we did. I get that. I just want to make sure we have all the facts on what can and cannot be done. I really appreciate all of the feedback. - Wed Apr 2 2008, 12:14