I agree with using a real estate agent...

especially with the market being what it is right now.  I will be putting my home on the market in a few weeks.  I will want someone who sells homes full time, is a go-getter, has contacts in the field, etc., etc.  I think the commission is worth it...especially considering the legal battles that could possibly ensue with the sale of real estate.  PLUS, an agent will not deal with FSBO....so that eliminates a LOT of possible buyers right off the bat.

Just my opinion.

Good luck to you.....well, to both of us!!

• selling home - meMt
  • This is the only way my husband and I have sold our homes. sm - MQer
  • Around the Atlanta area there's an organization ....sm - Georgia gal
    • Again, DON'T go with a for sale by owner agent. Buy Owner is the same thing. - nm
  • selling home - no name
    • selling home - meMT
      • Well, if it's due to divorce, you DEFINITELY want an actual - see message inside
        • selling home - meMT
          • Do yourself a favor & save yourself a ton - see message inside
            • We just got rid of the agent from heck....sm - Finally sold
  • As a real estate broker, I can tell you... - UTMT
    • selling real property - GC
    • I would hire you in a heartbeat... - mac
  • there is another option - Jaerae
    • selling house - meMT
      • I went that route initially and lost 60 days - see message inside
  • Because real estate is so soft right now, there are - see message inside
    • I agree with using a real estate agent... - mac

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I have seen a lot of people get into BIG messes when they tried to sell their house without an agent.  Believe it or not, agents and their sponsoring brokers DO have a lot of knowledge, most importantly of real estate law, that can save both sellers and buyers many, many headaches.  We also know how to get the best price for your home.  We can be sure buyers are qualified BEFORE they view your home.  Can you imagine what happens when you accept an offer from a prospective buyer who cannot get a mortgage for the amount they need to buy your house???  Your house can be tied up in escrow, and you just wait.  Did you know how to protect yourself when you all signed a contract?  Did you know how to legally protect yourself?  Did you be sure to disclose all that legally must be disclosed?  Did you now how to set time limits on every aspect of the sales and closing process?  Did you know how to get the best possible title insurance rate?  Did you know what should be paid by the buyer and what you should be responsible to pay?  When you set the price of your home, did you make sure it will appraise for that amount so the buyer can finance it?  There is a lot more, but you get the idea.

I know many people think we don't deserve to make the commissions we do, but I would argue that any day of the week.  Yes, I make a lot in real estate, but I also make both buyers and sellers very happy!

Jan<<<~~~Real estate broker and proud of it. 

I'm rural enough that the only four lane road that goes through our county is the interstate and one other 30 mile road to the big city of 30,000 people.

About 10 years ago, the real estate developers started buying up all the farmland cheap, putting in postage stamp yards and $200,000 homes and up (some cost close to a million now), and our real estate prices and taxes went sky high for the rest of us. Every year, our school district has to raise taxes because they have to keep building the school larger and adding satellite schools.

 Who were they targeting? The city folks, calling this a great bedroom community. Well, our 2 lane roads cannot handle all the traffic now. People are driving 60-70 mph on these windy roads. Accidents that were a big deal when they happened now are the norm.

There is no courtesy when driving around here anymore. People don't wave you through an intersection if there is a lot of traffic behind them, and others make a turn right in front of you trying to beat you out. Horns blow for no reason except the light changed a second ago and it took that long for you to take your foot off the brake and put it on the gas pedal.

I hate it. Younge people are moving out. Those that can't move  go to another county for work because they can't afford to work here. The taxes have doubled, property values have tripled, wages are still low. Who the heck around here can afford a $200,000 home?

Senior citizens are losing their homes because of the high taxes and this county has one of the highest senior citizen populations in the state.

I could go on and on, but better stop before my blood pressure goes up. Just my 2 cents.

               He owns 5 houses (rents 4), and just closed on a house on Friday that he needs to "flip" really quick! Basically, it's a 30,000 profit IF he sells it quick! We've never bought a house to flip before, but have purchased them for rental property and to gain the equity. Okay. I'm spoiled. Very spoiled. Or you could call it blessed! We are both Christians with good jobs. I only work part-time and then we live off of his salary and the 700 we make in rent that is extra after paying ALL the mortgages. But we are in a real bind now. We have renters who owe us 2 months of rent, well now 3 months of rent! They won't take our calls, you know the rest of the story!  This house that my husband bought on Friday cost us ALL of our cash because we had to put some down and then pay closing costs (close to 4,000!).  So now, for the first time, we are broke (NO cash flow whatsoever now). And I'm struggling over here! I mean, we can't even go and get ice cream tonight.  I'm really questioning our decision to purchase this house.

See, we had no idea UNTIL closing (honest to God), just how much it was going to cost! So, we couldn't back out of it. We were thinking 2000 on the high end.  I completely flipped out when the attorney told us how much we needed to write a check for!!!!

We've gotten a couple of calls on the house, but obviously no takers. My husband went straight from the attorney's office to the house to put up for sale signs in the yard! It's a cute house. We just need someone to buy it ASAP!

So, if you've ever wanted to meet the people on the Carlton Sheets infomercial - here we are!!! yes, we've made a lot of money in real estate, but there are huge, gigantic RISKS! You could go for the gutso (like we did and buy all these houses) and you could lot a lot if it doesn't work out. The loan we got on this new house is a type of loan I've never heard of before. It's just a "quick" loan where you need to pay it back pretty quick in the hopes that you will make the 30,000 in equity that the house did appraise for.

What do you do on a budget? What do you do when you are so broke you can't even buy ice cream for the kids? I want to cry now, even though I know some of you out there have zero sympathy for crazy folks like us...Well, I need some ideas on food.  What's cheap to make and cook? I put 30.00 in my SUV last night and that will have to last me until the 15th!

To all of you who struggle every week like this, my heart goes out to you. It truly does.  Now I know what it feels like to live in desperate need every day.....

I have 25+ years acute care experience at 1000+ bed prominent teaching hospital. Have done EVERYTHING.  QA always exceptional.  +++ line production. BA degree in English. Recent management changes have prompted me to protect my interests against surprises.  My question is (and forgive me if this is not realistic) where can I find an employer/client who has an appreciation for someone with my education, experience and line production ability.    From time to time in the past, I've superficially explored other options and was shocked to find my worth was no more than a brand new MT.   Is there no value or premium placed on MTs of higher quality than the run-of-the-mill MTs.  

Please forgive me in advance if anyone takes offense.  This isn't about me thinking I'm better than the rest - I know what I can do and have done so for many, many years.  I just don't want to waste my time in bad neighborhoods when I know there are  better zip codes.  I just need an "agent" to steer me in the right direction. 

Thanks so much!

Too bad that you'll never know because you don't believe it's possible. Maybe you should come out of the dark and look at the possiblities that are awaiting in the light.

he speaks perfect English, especially when asking for money!  Also, in my opinion, blanks should be left in the doc's dictation if not able to be transcribed, maybe then they will know that are NOT understood.  With QA fixing them, what need is there for them to care if we understand them or not? 

typical of so many Americans who want to KILL rather than RESCUE.  This is most probably a harmless snake.  I happen to like most snakes and asked what the color was so perhaps I could help decipher dangerous snake from nondangerous snake.

If an endangered species came flying your way, into your neighborhood, into your garage or patio......you'd want to kill it rather than rescue it. 

Snakes are not cockroaches,  they are not rats, they are not vermin!! 

I live in a reptile state......we do not go around killing the critters unless they STRIKE (alligators/crocodiles/other reptiles) and if they don't strike and they catch them, they get sent to places that house them, show them, and don't kill them.

God didn't say go kill all the animals nor did Jesus.....

Lord help you when your time comes.....

After that, he did not email me anymore and I did not email him or call him anymore. I thought this was the end of it. Then a few months later Bret Shipp from WFAA shows up at my home and starts asking questions about the confrontation and about Cindy

Once I heard the name Cindy Burleson, it became clear why the reporter was there.

Cindy Burleson and Lisa Taylor have been harassing me and my family for almost two years now. She goes by eBay user IDs : lavinder17@hotmail.com , fireyredhead1960, cindysilver2004, curtain_climbers, officerfredfw

They have done everything they can think of to ruin my business, my reputation, and basically my life. They have accused me of anything they could think of, and have reported me to anyone they could come up with in an attempt to reek some sort of revenge against me and have me kicked off of eBay.

I was first contacted by Cindy Burleson in Feb. 2004. She had won one of my auctions for $1.50. She told me she was going to my house and pick up the item. I told her I do not let anyone from the internet come to my house. She insisted that she knew where I lived, and she was going to come over. She got really mad that I refused to allow her in my home. She began accusing me of bidding on my own auctions. The auction had started for $1, so she was accusing me of committing fraud to gain 50 cents ! She reported this to eBay, and emailed my customers with this ridiculous claim.

She then started calling me, and emailing obsessively, then she got her daughter, her boyfriend, and her friends to email me. I have received well over 1,000 emails from her and her friends/family. I got over 500 from them in one day alone. I did call her quite a few times to try to get her to stop, I threatened legal action, she just kept emailing and calling. I gave up, and stopped responding to her harassment in February 2004 and changed my phone number to stop her calls. That is when the real horror began. She is on a mission to do everything she can to effect my life, my business, and my family.

She took one of my emails to her and changed it to say that I was coming to kill her. She sent it to eBay so that they would cancel my account. I had a copy of the original email with the time, date, and ID numbers. I was able to prove to eBay that I did not do this, and they eventually reinstated my account. Meanwhile I was suspended for 30 days with no income because of this lie.

After all of these false allegations from Cindy and her daughter I began to suspect they were the ones up to no good on eBay, so I started to research her accounts and I found out Cindy would list items (such as Tiffany jewelry) and Lisa would bid against other bidders on the items to drive the price up! She had accused me of this when her and her daughter were the ones really doing it ! I showed eBay and eBay suspended the accounts. Neither Cindy Burleson or Lisa Taylor have been allowed on eBay since that time.

Cindy and Lisa both knew it was me who reported them and it only fueled their hatred towards me. Needless to say the story did not end there.

She handed out my home address and phone number to everyone she knows. They then started calling and driving by my house (then would call and/or email to say they had driven by) I filed a police report with the Johnson County Sheriff after they came by late one night in May 2004.  I thought it would end after that but the worst was yet to come.

The 10news story states I was arrested for "harassment" and shows the mug shot from that ‘most recent’ arrest. The only reason I was arrested for harassment was because on 3-15-2004 Cindy Burleson filed a false police report against me with the Grand Prairie Texas police department. Apparently her story did not hold water, so action was not taken by the police. The following week 3-22-2004, Lisa goes back to Grand Prairie Texas police department and tells them a different story (someone must have told them their first report did not do it and what they would have to say in order for the Grand Prairie police to take action). A warrant was issued for me after the second report. I obtained copies of the 2 conflicting police reports and there is absolutely no mention of any ‘death threat’ in either of the 2 reports. In fact the reports say I had called 5 times, not the 30-40 she is claiming now. The strangest part of the 2 conflicting reports is that they were both taken by the same police officer. This is a matter of public record and can be verified by anyone through the Grand Prairie Police Department.

Now I ask you, if you were the police officer who took the initial report and knew full well it was false, why would you accept a second report with a different story from the same 2 people and allow them to use different names and addresses, but the same phone numbers ? Not to mention the fact that neither Cindy, her daughter, nor I resided in or around Grand Prairie at all.

Bret Shipp of WFAA was advised of all of this, but he made absolutely no mention of these facts I provided him with in the story they did on me. I guess the truth did not make for a ‘juicy’ story in Bret’s eyes.

I had no idea I even had a warrant for this until the night I was pulled over in my hometown of Cleburne a couple days after Christmas. I spent 5 days (including New Years Eve!) in jail before I could come up with the $5,000 bond they put on me ! Once the DA looked into the matter my bond was refunded in full and no charges were filed. I still spent 5 days in jail because of this woman's lies !

She has continued to harass me and my family. She said that she has been ‘terrorized’ but I have not emailed, called or initiated any contact with her since Feb. 2004. She and her daughter have continued this for almost 2 years now. Every so often I get some kind of strange email message from her. She tells me she likes my house, my car, my truck, and my wife. She has sent emails to my wife stating she has had sex with me in an effort to have my wife think I cheated on her. Both her and her daughter send me emails asking if I am having a nice day and that they love me, stuff like hugs and kisses and such. She even ran a criminal background check on me, got all of my personal information, then emailed to tell me she had this information. She emailed me in July 2005 saying she had driven by my house and saw me smoking in the front yard. She told me how ‘white trash’ she thought that was.

Now I ask you, if someone is harassing and ‘terrorizing’ you, why on earth would you be emailing them to antagonize them and drive by their home which is more than an hour away?

Cindy was frustrated that I was not responding to her emails and phone calls and proceeded to involve the Media and tell them the same bogus story she told eBay about me threatening her life. In fact, I found out about this whole ‘Ebay Bully’ story from HER!! She emailed me to show me what she had done.

After the 10news story aired I started receiving many emails from irate eBay users cussing me out left and right. I was lead into numerous chat forums and discussion boards  which were discussing this ‘Ebay Bully’ story and even going as far as posting satellite images of my neighborhood and specifically pointing out my house on the image! Then eBay canceled my accounts telling me I had become a "legal liability" to them, and they could not allow me to conduct business on their site. This entire ordeal has become an ongoing nightmare from which I cannot seem to wake up.

I am an honest small business owner, just trying to make a living and take care of my home and family. I have been selling on eBay for 7 years. I have 1000’s of happy customers. It is unfortunate that I have lost my sole source of income due to a couple of persistent people with nothing better to do than to come up with ways to destroy my life. I now have been put out of business, and have no way to support myself or my family.

I have suffered loss of wages, false imprisonment, harassment, defamation of character, and now public humiliation at the hands of Cindy and her clan. I honestly cannot believe something like this could happen over a $1.50 auction. If it had not happened to me I still would not believe it.

The scariest part of this whole ordeal is that I have come to realize that Cindy Burleson is not going to stop. She is obsessed with me, and has made it her life’s mission to harass me and my family. If it happened to me, it could happen to anyone out there.

.. when you do the "right thing", even tho you want to pile all his stuff up, douse with gasoline, and throw the match!  Revenge can be sweet in the moment, whether in words or actions, but the regret lasts a looooong time, and it gives him something to throw back at you and your kids.  This way, you can be proud to hold your head up and just keep movin' on......

This is in response to a post made earlier to the MT who wanted to know if EMR is doing away with MTs. 

To answer your question, I would only direct you to the "job's wanted" board here, as well as to various other MT boards around.  Seeing the vast number of companies who are screaming for qualified MTs should answer your question and put your fears to rest.

EMR is too expensive and cumbersome for the vast majority of docs to use.  They will either have to pay big bucks for it and spend their time playing secretary or hire someone to do the input, which equals employee - benefits - paid vacation time - paid personal time, yada, yada, yada.  WHERE'S THE SAVINGS?  There is none. 

If the doc wants to play secretary and input the info himself, he's cutting his own throat doing it as he's earning secretarial wages instead of M.D. wages. 

EMR will not and never will wipe out our industry.