PARK HILLS – Northern Kentucky native Holly Wall believes she has just the right formula for home sellers struggling to unload their unwanted real estate.
Wall recently launched Bail Me Out, Inc. a for-sale-by-owner Web site aimed at matching up motivated sellers with bargain-hunting buyers.
Homes advertised on the site, www.Bailmeoutofmyhouse.com., are listed for discounts as much as six percent below their market value – or roughly the amount that otherwise would go to cover commissions paid to real estate agents, Wall says.
The 36-year-old mother of four thought up Bail Me Out after buying and selling more than dozen homes in four states due to work relocations with her husband’s firm.
“Every time we were transferred, our real estate commissions were paid for, except for this last move,” she said. “Right off the top, there was going to be $17,000 deducted from the sale of our home for the agent’s commission. I thought, if I just reduced my sale price $17,000 – it would sell immediately.”
The site, which accepts listings for homes in any state, offers sellers a platform to post up to 20 photos, details about their home and their direct contact information
Wall says Bail Me Out offers also will appear on syndicated partner sites, including Google Base, Zillow.com and Ooodle.com.
“I hope this will become the go-to site for motivated sellers and buyers who are looking for great deals, but don’t want to deal with a short sale or foreclosure,” Wall said.
So far the site has seven listings – mostly homes located in Northern Kentucky and Ohio priced from $37,000 to more than $249,000.
Among the sellers is Melissa Eames, who is listing her five bedroom, two-and-a-half bathroom home for in Florence for $200,000.
Eames said Bail Me Out contacted her after she listed her home on the free classified Web site Craigslist.com.
“I like the idea of Bail Me Out, because that’s definitely how I’m feeling about it,” Eames said. “We’ve done sale by owner. We’ve had our home listed with a Realtor.
“It’s been on the market for way too long,” said Eames, who declined to specific how long she has been working to sell her home.
So far, Eames says she hasn’t gotten any calls about her home in the week she’s had it listed with Bail Me Out.
“It was a free listing, which was really the motivator for me,” she says. “We’ll probably go with Realtor by the spring time if it’s not sold by then. If this house does sell, I’ll probably do a jig.”
Wall says home listings will remain free to sellers now through Jan. 31. After that, sellers will bed charged $50 per listing, and $30 for Bail Me Out yard signs.
“I really think this is an option that makes perfect economic sense,” she says.
Once her new venture starts making money, Wall says 10 percent of the profits will go to Food for the Poor’s housing program, which builds homes for the poor in the Caribbean and Latin America.
For more information, visit www.Bailmeoutofmyhouse.com or call 859-466-8739.