Elsie Fontaine couldn’t be happier. She’s moving with steel worker husband Chris, her daughter and their pet dog to a new home -- and she has enough money saved from what she didn’t pay in agents’ commissions to give it a brand new kitchen.

Elsie, who works in sales, recently sold her Garden Grove home for $192,500 after advertising it with ComFree for $179,900. She held an Open House on a Sunday and it was sold by Tuesday, with half a dozen people making serious offers.

"I’d never sold a house before, but I had a definite aversion to using a sales agent," she says. "My impression of them was that they are manipulative and working in their own self interest."

She also says ComFree gave her valuable advice about how to handle the Open House and how to deal with offers.

"On the Open House day, I packed off my husband, daughter and the dog and got my sister-in-law, who works in a bank, to come help me," she says. "She stayed in the basement and handled people down there and I handled people upstairs. We had a total of 47 people through and it actually went very well."

She says the advice of Jackie, the ComFree consultant, was very valuable. "She told us a lot of practical things and told us how important it is to declutter and make sure valuables, including jewelry and car keys, are put away. It’s a lot of people to have in your home, but I felt fairly calm after we’d done everything the ComFree lady suggested."

The advice even included taking down personal memos, fridge magnets and the like: "The idea is that a potential buyer needs to see it as their own potential home, not yours. So you make the place is homey but not overly personalized," she says. "I also had candles going and some music in the background."

The advantage of using her sister-in-law was that she was more detached and had no emotional investment in the house. "I kept thinking one young couple were perfect to move into my home, but she suggested she handle the offers and negotiations because I was being influenced emotionally when what we needed to do was get the best offer."

Having saved more than $12,000 in commissions and getting a good price, Elsie says she wouldn’t hesitate to recommend ComFree to anyone. She also notes that two other homes that sold on her street also used ComFree. And they sold just as quickly and for similar prices to another home sold by an agent.

"The difference is that the one using an agent had to pay a large commission."

Other advice she would offer? "You have to be realistic and take into account improvements and whether you have a garage and additions," she says. "That can definitely add to your price because people don’t want spend a lot of extra money once they buy your home. It’s also important to have things looking attractive outside as well as in. Curb appeal is important."

She says if a home hasn’t sold within two weeks you’re likely asking too much. "A local man was selling his home when we were and at the same price," she says. "He was bewildered when ours sold quickly and his didn’t, but we had a garage and he didn’t.

We’d also had new flooring and other improvements which he lacked, so you have to price it realistically."

She’s looking forward to moving to her new home and especially to that brand new kitchen she’s planning with the money she saved through ComFree.

"I don’t care if you’re 23 or 8, no one is better qualified to sell your home than you are," she adds. "You have far more knowledge of the house and the area than any agent who’s here today and gone tomorrow. So go for it and sell it yourself."

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