Flat fee MLS

#1
WesternNCVol

WesternNCVol

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#1
Anyone ever used one? Looks like I can list my house in NC for $250-375 for 6-12 months. I would still pay a 3% buyers agent commission. Site says they list on the MLS, Realtor.com and a few other places. This could potentially save me thousands. I would love to hear anyone's experiences. Any realtors on here feel free to give your input as well.
 
#2
#2
Thought this was about Major League Soccer...

I-am-Disappoint.jpg
 
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#4
#4
Mine is listed now. It does what it says: puts it on the MLS. WARNING: it will remove personal listings on Zillow, Trulia, etc and replace them with the "official" listing.
 
#5
#5
Kiddiedoc, when people search the net for homes, does yours pop up like other homes?
 
#6
#6
WesternNCVol said:
Kiddiedoc, when people search the net for homes, does yours pop up like other homes?
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Yes, if they are searching the MLS. That's what realtors use primarily. The service I used lists it on multiple real estate sites, too.
 
#8
#8
My advice is to hire a very well recommended seller's agent. They'll do all the marketing and will be able to get your house sold a lot quicker than fsbo. Might cost a little coin in the end, but if you value your time and not being annoyed with flaky lookie loos, an agent is the way to go. Also, they will be able to get you more for your house than you likely would, so that helps offset the seller's agent fee.
 
#9
#9
The sellers agents here looked it over and all 6 I interviewed were similar on list price, similar on recommended things to do before listing, and all had the same marketing plan....put it on mls, put a sign in yard, and snatch up 3% for doing it. All said 84% of buyers find home on line these days and that seems like I'm paying a realtor lots of money to do something I can do on my own. Buyers agents will show home, but I'm prepared to deal with the fsbo type too. Been there, done that.
 
#10
#10
WesternNCVol said:
The sellers agents here looked it over and all 6 I interviewed were similar on list price, similar on recommended things to do before listing, and all had the same marketing plan....put it on mls, put a sign in yard, and snatch up 3% for doing it. All said 84% of buyers find home on line these days and that seems like I'm paying a realtor lots of money to do something I can do on my own. Buyers agents will show home, but I'm prepared to deal with the fsbo type too. Been there, done that.
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I don't know how it is where you live because every state is different with laws and such, but as a realtor in NJ, I do a hell of a lot more than what you stated realtors do where you are. Here are a few challenges I potentially see with what you've suggested. First, you're probably going to have to hire a real estate attorney to prepare the contracts which can be expensive. If you try to prepare them yourself you most likely would run into a big problem by getting a buyers agent to have their client sign them. You could try to see if the buyers agent would draw up the contracts, but most will likely say no because they don't represent you, they won't be getting compensated for the extra work and atleast here it is the listing agents responsibility to do the contracts. If you do find someone to do the contracts for you, you better know the obligations inside out and backwards. Like I said every state is different, but here there are a ton of deadlines that are extremely strict and if they aren't met you're in breach of contract. The listing agent is also responsible for scheduling showings, so that is something you have to consider as well. You will have to be available to let people in your house anytime someone calls. I don't know what your work schedule is like, but this can be really inconvenient. If you tell buyers agents they can only show at a certain time you are going to limit the amount of showings you have. You could put a lockbox on the door, but I personally don't trust them. Anyone can have the code and get in anytime they want. In NJ each agent has an electronic device that works with a electronic device that is placed on the door that only allows a realtor to enter when they enter their password and it tracks who was in the house for how long and when. It is a lot safer for the homeowner. Another thing is some realtors find it disrespectful that homeowners don't value what they do for a living if they try selling on their own and might simply refuse to show your home. It's not something I would do, but it happens. Some feel that someone selling their home on their own is going to make things a lot more difficult to get a deal finalized because the homeowner doesn't have the experience they do and it could make a lot more work for them. Lastly, a mental thing to a buyer (and buyers agent) is they know you aren't paying a listing agent commission, so they know you are saving money on that and will try to take advantage of that and try to get the home cheaper because of it. Also remember even if you're paying a buyers agent a commission, they don't work for you they work for the buyer and will do everything they can to take advantage of that. I'm not trying to steer you one way or the other just wanted to give you some insight from someone in the business.
 
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#11
#11
SamRebel35 said:
Also, they will be able to get you more for your house than you likely would, so that helps offset the seller's agent fee.
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Not so fast, my friend. Read "Freakonomics" to learn that realtors are in the business of selling houses as quickly as possible. There is a law of diminishing returns in place, where it is often not worth the extra work it would take to get full value out of a sale (I.e., their take-home 1.5% in the difference may be insignificant to them, but could be 10s of thousands of dollars to the seller). Fairly convincing evidence is included in the chapter.
 
#12
#12
Honestly, with the growth of online real estate marketing (Zillow, Trulia, searchable MLS, etc), I don't think it will be long before Realtors have to readjust the way they are compensated. I paid $250 for professional photos and $300 to the listing company, did my own write up, and my house is just as visible to buyers as something listed by an agent. Closing forms will be provided by the title company (which is a cost not included in the Realtor fee, anyway). The only thing we don't get is listing in the Homes magazines, but does anyone really use those???
 
#13
#13
The company I am looking at offers all disclosure forms and contracts up front and says a local agent who they Contract with will assist in filling out as needed.

Realtors here don't do much as a whole. I imagine some do, but most offer a wide price range to list (in my case a 30k range), try to get you to list as low as possible,and sit back and wait. Some still use print here, but the one I had come out said it is less than 1% of business. The Internet is where it's at.

I listed for sale by owner on Craigslist once and had 4-5 realtors come show house to clients.

The market is SLOW here, averaging 300 days to sell and that is an average sell price of 93-95% of asking price. I would think buyers agents here will show anything a client might buy.

I do like the thought f a realtor to guide me but I've bought and sold several times and am comfortable.

I don't like the lock box concept, but realtors here use that anyway so it is what it is.
 
#14
#14
WesternNCVol said:
The company I am looking at offers all disclosure forms and contracts up front and says a local agent who they Contract with will assist in filling out as needed.

Realtors here don't do much as a whole. I imagine some do, but most offer a wide price range to list (in my case a 30k range), try to get you to list as low as possible,and sit back and wait. Some still use print here, but the one I had come out said it is less than 1% of business. The Internet is where it's at.

I listed for sale by owner on Craigslist once and had 4-5 realtors come show house to clients.

The market is SLOW here, averaging 300 days to sell and that is an average sell price of 93-95% of asking price. I would think buyers agents here will show anything a client might buy.

I do like the thought f a realtor to guide me but I've bought and sold several times and am comfortable.

I don't like the lock box concept, but realtors here use that anyway so it is what it is.
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It sounds like things are a lot different in your area. We are actually coming into a Sellers market here with homes selling quickly as long as they are not overpriced (I just had a $600,000 home go under contract with multiple offers 2 days after I listed it). We're seeing a lot of multiple offers on homes which is great for the Sellers as well. Obviously it doesn't always happen like that, but lately my listings have been going under contract on average between 2 weeks and a month. Also if I'm working for a seller my top responsibility is to get the seller the most I can for his home. I'd never go into a listing appointment and lowball a price that's just flat out stupid to do. I would be honest though if the sellers asking price was too high and I didn't think it would sell after doing the comps. Like I said I'm not sure what the laws are in your state or what your real estate agents typically do, but it's a hell of a lot of work here and a lot more goes into it than the public realizes. It's not just list a house, show a house do a little marketing and collect a commission check.
 
#15
#15
Yeah it's differant here. It's a tourist area. there aren't many jobs that pay a lot so selling a home is a challenge here. $500k and up sell and $150k and less sell. Those of us in the middle of that are slow to move.

Realtors here don't do much these days. They all try to list as many properties as possible and encourage sellers to sell as cheap as possible.

It's not always been that way, but the last 5 years things have really changed.

I'm Lucky that I don't need to sell, we are just looking to scale back some and move a little closer to work as we both commute 30-60 miles each way. I'm just trying to get the most cash in my pocket I can and still sell at a reasonable price for both parties.

Thanks for everyone's input.
 
#16
#16
WesternNCVol said:
I'm Lucky that I don't need to sell, we are just looking to scale back some and move a little closer to work as we both commute 30-60 miles each way. I'm just trying to get the most cash in my pocket I can and still sell at a reasonable price for both parties.
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I'm in the same situation (not with the commute though), and I would definitely recommend FSBO/online MLS.
 
#18
#18
kiddiedoc said:
Not so fast, my friend. Read "Freakonomics" to learn that realtors are in the business of selling houses as quickly as possible. There is a law of diminishing returns in place, where it is often not worth the extra work it would take to get full value out of a sale (I.e., their take-home 1.5% in the difference may be insignificant to them, but could be 10s of thousands of dollars to the seller). Fairly convincing evidence is included in the chapter.
Click to expand...

Saying Freakonomics says all Realtors sell clients' homes as quickly possible is like saying it says every abortion has kept a crime from being committed.

Some may/do, some don't...some put a sign in the yard, enter it in the MLS and wait for an offer...some only start there.
 
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