When someone asks me to recommend an agent in Champaign, I usually ask them a question back: what kind of sale is it? Selling a house you've lived in for thirty or forty years, or a house that's part of a parent's estate, is a different job from selling a newer home that's ready to list. The agent you pick should be able to show you they know the difference.
Here's what I'd look for, and what I'd ask, if I were in your shoes.
Do they walk through the house before they talk price?
A long-lived house has a story that doesn't show up on a computer screen. The furnace may be original or two years old. The basement may have been finished in 1985 or last spring. Any number given to you before someone has walked through every room is a guess. I don't put a number on a house I haven't walked through, and I'd be wary of anyone who does.
Will they help you decide what to fix and what to leave alone?
Families selling a long-time home often spend money in the wrong places, or skip a small repair that would have made a real difference to buyers. Ask the agent to go room by room with you and sort the list into three piles: fix it, leave it, or disclose it. Then ask why for each one. A good answer is specific to your house, not a standard checklist.
Do they have a plan for the belongings?
In a house lived in for decades, the hardest part usually isn't the sale. It's the basement, the garage and the closet nobody wants to open. Ask how they'd sequence it. The order that works for most families is:
- Let family members claim what they want, by a set date.
- Bring in an estate sale company or consignment shop while the contents are still there, and get their terms in writing, including what happens to anything that doesn't sell.
- Donate what's usable. Call ahead, because each charity has its own rules about what it accepts.
- Haul away the rest. Champaign County Environmental Stewards posts its collection days for electronics and household hazardous waste, so some of it can be recycled rather than thrown out.
- Clean, make repairs and take photos last, on an empty house.
If it's an estate, do they understand how the sale works?
In Illinois, a lot depends on how the estate is set up and what the will says, so your estate attorney is the person to confirm it. But the agent should understand the basics. For example, under Illinois law an executor serving under independent administration can generally sell real estate without a separate court order, unless the will limits that. If the house was left to a specific person in the will, that person's written consent is needed before it's sold.
Ask the agent whether they'll work directly with your attorney, and how they'll keep brothers and sisters who live out of town informed. When heirs disagree, it's rarely about the asking price. It's usually about timing and fairness, and a clear plan settles a lot of that before a sign goes in the yard.
Will they show you what you'll net, not just a list price?
The number that matters to most families is what's left after the sale: the commission, the title and closing costs, any repairs and the cost of clearing the house. Ask the agent to walk you through that on paper. If they only want to talk about the list price, keep asking.
Who will you actually be talking to?
Ask who answers the phone when you call, who shows the house and who will be at the closing. For a family working through a parent's home, having one person who knows the whole story matters.
Ask to talk with families they've helped
Reviews help, but a conversation with someone who sold a long-time home or an estate with that agent tells you more. Ask for one or two names.
Let's sit down and talk it through
I've sold homes in Champaign-Urbana through every kind of market this town has had, high rates and low, fast years and slow ones, and a lot of that work has been with families leaving a home they've had for decades or settling a parent's estate. I'm a three-time Champaign County Top 5 REALTOR® and a Dave Ramsey Trusted Agent with REMAX Realty Associates.
If you'd like, I'll come sit down at your kitchen table and we'll work through it one piece at a time: the house, the belongings, the paperwork and what you'd actually net. I don't put a number on a house I haven't walked through.
Call or text me at (217) 369-0376, or pick a time that works for you here.
This is general information, not legal advice. Please confirm the details of any estate sale with your attorney.
