Over the Mountain is the strongest housing market in Alabama, so let me be straight with you: if your house is in good order and you have time, list it. An agent will beat my number. What I offer here is not a better price, it is privacy, certainty and a date.
The Honest Version, First
Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills and Homewood have among the highest household incomes and strongest schools in the state, and houses there sell. There is no shortage of buyers and no shortage of agents who would list yours tomorrow.
So I am not going to pretend I can beat the open market on price here. In a market like this one, I usually cannot, and anybody telling you otherwise is selling you something.
If you want the highest number and you can live with a listing, list it. I would rather tell you that than waste an afternoon of your time.
When People Over The Mountain Call Me Anyway
Estates, most often. A parent's house in Crestline or Cahaba Heights that has been in the family forty years, four heirs who agree on very little, and nobody with the appetite to manage a renovation and a listing from another state.
Discretion is the second one, and it comes up here more than anywhere else in the metro. A divorce, a health situation, a financial change nobody wants discussed at the club. A listing is a public event. A direct sale is not: no sign, no photographs online, no open house, no neighbours walking through.
The third is a house that genuinely needs everything. Even here, a 1940s house in original condition with a failing roof and no updates since the seventies runs into the same lender problems it would anywhere else, and the renovation budget is a good deal larger.
And occasionally it is simply the date. A closing that has to happen on a specific day, arranged around something else entirely.
Estates are the single most common reason people here call, so if that is your situation start with inherited property in Jefferson County.
If The House Is Somewhere Else
For the quick version covering the whole metro, see buying right across Jefferson County.
What Listing Actually Nets You
Listing usually produces a higher gross price than a direct sale. Whether it produces a higher number in your account is a different question, and it is the one worth answering before you decide anything. Put your own figures in.
Commission is figured at 6 percent and seller closing costs at 2 percent, which are common but not universal. Carrying cost means taxes, insurance, utilities and upkeep. This is an illustration using your numbers, not an offer or an appraisal, and it deliberately assumes the listing sells at the price you entered.
The Numbers Behind That
| Line | Typical |
|---|---|
| Agent commission at 6% | On a $700,000 sale, about $42,000 |
| Seller closing costs | 1% to 3% typical |
| Pre-listing repairs and staging | Expected at this price point |
| Inspection requests | Negotiated late, out of your proceeds |
| A public listing | Photographs, sign, open houses |
| Time on market | While you carry it |
Commission at this price point is real money, and it is the one line people here actually weigh. Even so, on a well kept house the open market usually still wins on net. Run your own numbers above before you decide anything.
Who you are dealing with
Hi, I am Torian. I buy residential property with my own capital in Birmingham and across Jefferson County, through TOPSICO LLC, a Tennessee limited liability company.
I am not an agent and not a broker. Nothing here is a listing and I am not representing you in a sale. If you want your house exposed to the open market, an agent will usually get you a higher price, and I will tell you that rather than talk you out of it.