FSBO Flat Fee Service?

[BeetleBailey]

Would appreciate any feedback from folks who have sold their home themselves, and used a flat fee service to list home on the MLS. Thank you.

[Toymeister]

We used a 3% Relator. Yes 3% total. .5% to him 2.5% selling agent. Yes he covers TV, rather only TV.

Yes he is a member of the Relator professional organisation. Yes, he is a member of the local MLS listing group. Yes, he is licenced in Florida as a RE broker.

For 3% he get the home on MLS, Zillow, Trulia. From there the other RE agents pick up the listing in the hope that you will call their agent for a showing. He would take his own pictures and write the listing copy. I did not take any chances and hired my own photographer and wrote my own ad copy.

So why does he do this for half a percent? Well for a 300k home he gets 1,500 for very little work. Makes you consider why other Relators believe they are worth so much...

[Bay Kid]

You get what you pay for.

[Toymeister]

You get what you pay for. In my case it was a sold home with over 13,000.00 more in my pocket.

[vinricci]

So, who is this person?

[brianherlihy]

FSBO Flat Fee Service we have sold 5 homes and had all good home sales/ sold with a realtor and had trubble went bad

[Toymeister]

So, who is this person?
It's not in my lane to plug this guy. Often social media is brutal. If someone asks on a PM, I'll tell them.

I'll say this 3% relators are common. Everyone that I know of is internet based except this guy.

[vintageogauge]

An agent that makes $1,500 on a listing isn't very ambitious, he/she is leaving a lot of money on the table and doesn't seem to want to work for a living. I would only use a Villages agent that has a legal staff behind them making sure everything is proper on the contract and sale, and that agent would be Beth Pope.

[Toymeister]

An agent that makes $1,500 on a listing isn't very ambitious, he/she is leaving a lot of money on the table and doesn't seem to want to work for a livingAs I said it doesn't take long for people to get vicious on social media. Thanks for the confirmation.

Also who's money is taken from the table? Why, yes that would be the owner, the one who made the investment.

[EdFNJ]

So why does he do this for half a percent? Well for a 300k home he gets 1,500 for very little work. Makes you consider why other Relators believe they are worth so much... Def a great deal but maybe that is the reason. That he has to do very little work. Does he do all the usual Open House stuff for that meager half point? Another $1500 or $3000 in his pocket could possibly make him work even harder. :)

[Robyn1963]

I’m a realtor and work hard for my clients. Open Houses, advertising, spending time trying to promote the hone, responding to agents showing the home, etc. This service take time =$$.

If a home sells quickly we don’t have as much of our OWN time and our OWN money invested. But it still is time and money we spend so you can receive top $$ for your home.

On the flip side it’s a risk we as realtors take. If you don’t accept an offer or pull your home off the market we could have hundreds possible even thousands of dollars invested and receive nothing.

This is how we make a living and everything is relative.

Do you think going to a restaurant and spending $45 on steak is worth it when you can buy it at the store for $15?

Same difference

[Lisa64]

My parents put an add in The Daily Sun newspaper and sold there house in less than a month. Lol They were very lucky.

[Alaska Butch]

Not sure why you feel like that. The title company and attorney hired, mortgage company requirements in terms of inspections etc are not rocket science. The home will not close without the proper documentation on file. If it dies the title company may incur a loss. Teal estate agents are a convenience and if you can afford one, go for it.

[NCbear]

Sold our last home this way and worked great. Villages realty group would not negotiate commission schedule and so glad we went ahead without them. We ran the open house and sold it quickly!

[Pbthrockm@msn.com]

Who did you use for 3%.

[DeeCee Dubya]

Sold my MI house in late 2018 before moving to TV. Used Zillow and in my listing stated “ agents bring me your bona fide buyers and I will negotiate”.

A real estate agent introduced me to the eventual buyers and I negotiated a flat 2% with her to do the deal. And her firm did all the paperwork it was almost transparent to myself. I’d much rather pay 2% than five or 6%.

[Kcuriel]

We sold our home by fsbo in illinois recently in three days with closing two months later.
We paid 350.00 to fsbo, had professional pictures taken at 200.00
Fsbo lists the home on mls etc. the realtor they provided is the number 1 re in the state of illinois. He gets paid a portion of the 350 only
He also does normal sales with 3% commissions and fsbo.
There are incentives to doing both.
Ie More sales, networking etc that are not related to the small dollars he gets for a fsbo sale
An app is used for viewing the home etc and managed by me the seller
The buyer realtor was paid 2.5% which was originally at 2
This is in a hot market where most realtor fees are a minimum of 6%
The attorney, which was offered by the re was very reasonable and bc of the number he performs was very reasonable and he handles title etc and it is their responsibility to make sure everything is completed for sale.
It is a checklist of documents.
There is a place for fsbo and conventional realtor
I am not discounting the role of the realtor, I just chose to do the bulk myself, which was not hard, and saved over 11k
I had an excellent experience which was attributed to the realtor From fsbo

[jwonycr]

We sold our Villages home with an ad in the Daily Sun, cost $106, and had Advantage Title take care of all the paperwork for $400 (a few years back, the costs may have gone up since then). Ad ran 6 days, said were having open house. Borrowed a friend's Open House sign for yard. Got full price offer on open house Day 2. Removed sign from yard; taped a notice on garage door "Home Under Contract, Open House Cancelled." Had two couples knock on door saying if that deal fell through, they wanted the house.

[toeser]

Would appreciate any feedback from folks who have sold their home themselves, and used a flat fee service to list home on the MLS. Thank you.

I have used FIZBER twice with good results. It takes some effort, but it was worth it for us. Be sure to take excellent pictures and write a good description for best results. We did opt to pay a buyer's broker commission. I did sell a large lot using just Craigslist, but that's tricky because you get a lot of scam attempts.

[toeser]

You get what you pay for.

With real estate brokers, sometimes you don't get what you do pay for.

[jeffy]

Step one... have an experienced realtor come thru and tell you what they would list your house for. Then list it on Zillow with lots of good pictures with a discounted price from what the realtor says you are worth. The greater the discount, the quicker the sale. Get rid of any extra stuff you have laying around. Do minor repair such as painting or cleaning carpets.

So many people are savvy nowadays and always look at Zillow for homes. But if you are doing a FSBO, they will expect a discount price. Once you have an offer, contact Tri County to have them write up the contract and do the closing for you. I have done this several times with great success in TV. Last home sold in less than a week with a couple driving down from Chicago from my Free Zillow ad.

[Sailohio]

Step one... have an experienced realtor come thru and tell you what they would list your house for. Then list it on Zillow with lots of good pictures with a discounted price from what the realtor says you are worth. The greater the discount, the quicker the sale. Get rid of any extra stuff you have laying around. Do minor repair such as painting or cleaning carpets.

So many people are savvy nowadays and always look at Zillow for homes. But if you are doing a FSBO, they will expect a discount price. Once you have an offer, contact Tri County to have them write up the contract and do the closing for you. I have done this several times with great success in TV. Last home sold in less than a week with a couple driving down from Chicago from my Free Zillow ad.

I know some of us like to stay busy, but if you have to discount your home to sell it, how much are you actually saving from paying a realtor’s fees and selling for a higher price? It seems to me it is a virtual wash and you have to work harder. Just asking, not throwing dirt.

[BeetleBailey]

Appreciate all the excellent feedback from everyone. Does anyone have information on someone who does excellent photos of your home that you can use on Zillow? Thank you.

[Laurawilcox]

This may be nominally helpful. They have a nice photo package. They have three locations in Florida per their service map where they are based but I cannot find what cities they represent. Real Estate Photography and 3D Tours | Virtuance (https://www.virtuance.com/). I have had great success for a nominal price on pictures and video.

[Buckeye Bob]

Would appreciate any feedback from folks who have sold their home themselves, and used a flat fee service to list home on the MLS. Thank you.

I sold last 2 homes using FSBO. One in KY and the last one in OH. It's been 6 years but I think the last package was about $800. I took my own pictures and wrote the add. I agreed to pay the selling realtor 2.5%. Saved $9K on last home.

[Robnlaura]

Appreciate all the excellent feedback from everyone. Does anyone have information on someone who does excellent photos of your home that you can use on Zillow? Thank you.

Look at Yelp under real estate photos list with a flat fee service company for around $250 write good copy some companies will have a sign service. Offer 2% have a friend review any offer coming in if you are not comfortable. Hold your own open houses this is not rocket science that’s why 90% of realtors only sell on average three homes a year

[kazlap]

sell fast= deduct $10,000 from market price + 6% real estate fee. House will sell in 2 weeks. Price sells.

[KRM0614]

We used a 3% Relator. Yes 3% total. .5% to him 2.5% selling agent. Yes he covers TV, rather only TV.

Yes he is a member of the Relator professional organisation. Yes, he is a member of the local MLS listing group. Yes, he is licenced in Florida as a RE broker.

For 3% he get the home on MLS, Zillow, Trulia. From there the other RE agents pick up the listing in the hope that you will call their agent for a showing. He would take his own pictures and write the listing copy. I did not take any chances and hired my own photographer and wrote my own ad copy.

So why does he do this for half a percent? Well for a 300k home he gets 1,500 for very little work. Makes you consider why other Relators believe they are worth so much...
The sales folks at the villages reduced to 5% others outside villages reduced to 5 and 4% and it comes down to exposure social media and referrals. Right now 3 months on homes not villas. Wont use villages people not candid at all.

[vintageogauge]

Step one... have an experienced realtor come thru and tell you what they would list your house for. Then list it on Zillow with lots of good pictures with a discounted price from what the realtor says you are worth. The greater the discount, the quicker the sale. Get rid of any extra stuff you have laying around. Do minor repair such as painting or cleaning carpets.

So many people are savvy nowadays and always look at Zillow for homes. But if you are doing a FSBO, they will expect a discount price. Once you have an offer, contact Tri County to have them write up the contract and do the closing for you. I have done this several times with great success in TV. Last home sold in less than a week with a couple driving down from Chicago from my Free Zillow ad.

So you feel that it's okay to have an experienced realtor spend his/her time and effort to do the work of finding comparable pricing, doing the research and coming up with a competitive price only to dump him/her and list it yourself on zillow at a lower price. How thoughtful of you, I'm sure the realtor thanked you for that great opportunity.

[Mikeonheathrow]

Finally, some one who actually answered your post. I too have sold myself, very pleasant experience and very rewarding.

[biker1]

:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

Anytime you ask multiple vendors for a quote or comparison shop in multiple stores you are doing the same thing.

So you feel that it's okay to have an experienced realtor spend his/her time and effort to do the work of finding comparable pricing, doing the research and coming up with a competitive price only to dump him/her and list it yourself on zillow at a lower price. How thoughtful of you, I'm sure the realtor thanked you for that great opportunity.

[vintageogauge]

:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

Anytime you ask multiple vendors for a quote or comparison shop in multiple stores you are doing the same thing.

No, it is not the same thing, in this case he knows up front that he is only "using" the agent with no intent of ever giving the listing to him/her. He was not comparing one agent against another, he was "using" his/her expertise for his own benefit, that is stooping pretty low.

[Robnlaura]

Never heard that one “they expect a discount “ why ?? The market price is the market price.. just silly to mark it down before you’ve even tried.. easier to drop a price than to raise a price so start at 5000 over market if you want and reduce if you get no traffic

[JohnN]

I sold my former home at a FSBO and it was a fairly simple process - and kept the entire commission. Nowadays, I'd opt for the 3% agent, TV homes sell themselves so go the less expensive route as long as you get MLS / zillow exposure. Good luck.

[Toymeister]

So you feel that it's okay to have an experienced realtor spend his/her time and effort to do the work of finding comparable pricing, doing the research and coming up with a competitive price only to dump him/her and list it yourself on zillow at a lower price. How thoughtful of you, I'm sure the realtor thanked you for that great opportunity.

If your purpose in life is to ensure someone else, a non family member, earn more by never wasting any time then yes indeed this is quite low.

Oddly enough the topic of this thread is about saving cash in RE transactions, not increasing them.

[vintageogauge]

If your purpose in life is to ensure someone else, a non family member, earn more by never wasting any time then yes indeed this is quite low.

Oddly enough the topic of this thread is about saving cash in RE transactions, not increasing them.

Oddly enough I believe in being fair and ethical when dealing with anyone, family or not. Maybe in today's world I am the oddity and you are the new norm. Also Oddly enough is the fact that using a full commission agent may in fact bring more cash compared to the budget agent.

[Robnlaura]

It’s become a rather dated model these days Using a realtor I to would have three Cmas done and compare that number with my own. Pricing is an art of course not so much in a town of many similar models to use as comps. This is not rocket science

[Vickim]

We listed home FSBO on Zillow ( June 2020) Several realtors called asking “if we brought you a buyer would you pay a commission ? “ yes, 2% you do the paperwork. Sold to 2nd person who looked at it.
We have sold 3 homes like this. Almost everyone ( including realtors ) check Zillow . You can do your own market analysis on “SOLD” properties that are similar and in your area to get you price per sq ft . We even purchased the home we are in now without a realtor. The listing was with a realtor and he even charged the seller the whole commission “she is a good friend “ was what he said to us ... with friends like that who needs enemies he should have passed the savings on to the seller, yes this was a realtor in the Villages. They don’t look out for you !

[biker1]

Yes, it is. Anytime you get multiple quotes on anything you are "using" somebody for your own gain. When you get multiple quotes you know up front that you are not going to use any of them, except for one. If you get 5 quotes then you are "using" 80% of the quotes. Grow up and admit the truth. If you don't think that sales people know this, and know that their hit rate is not 100%, then you are delusional. In The Villages, any agent can run the comps and give you the likely selling price within a few percent in no time at all. If it makes you feel better then tell the agent up front that you are going to do a FSBO, with a commission to a selling agent, and want their opinion on price. I believe most agents will come talk to you as it is an opportunity to try to convince you to list with them. Sales people always want to be in front of potential customers. Why? Sales people are first and foremost selling themselves. The sale of their product is the result of selling themselves first. They may also wind up as the selling agent on a FSBO.

No, it is not the same thing, in this case he knows up front that he is only "using" the agent with no intent of ever giving the listing to him/her. He was not comparing one agent against another, he was "using" his/her expertise for his own benefit, that is stooping pretty low.

[WhiteToast]

Wow... shaking my head.

[Buckeye Bleau]

I have sold three houses without any realtor at all. The 3% folks intrigue me because they put it on the MLS for you but that is about it.
When I am looking for a house, I get on Zillow or Trulia or Realtor.com and look for something, and I believe most others do as well. So as long as I can greet people, show the house, take pictures and write the copy why would I pay anyone multiple thousands to do it for me?
I know, they claim that they can sell it for more because of their experience, well maybe some can. I am certain that many people don’t know how to sell so perhaps they should not.
You can hire an appraiser if you don’t know the value of the property. As far as the legal side of the sale, you can go to almost any Title company and ask for a FSBO package and you will be good to go. The title company does all of the legal work anyway, not the realtor.
When I sold the three houses on my own one took 2 months, I was selling it over the Holidays, another sold in 20 days and the third took four hours. Each and every time the home buyers were very pleased to speak with the home buyer as opposed to a realtor who knew only a bit about the house.
Again, FSBO is not for everyone and it takes work and constant phone calls but the pay is good. It is easy to list on Zillow and once you do, that ad is posted to Trulia as well.

Good Luck and may the Force be with you!

[Robnlaura]

100% correct any entry into a mls system depending on the broker sends that info to all the online sites don’t be surprised to see Zillow getting into the listing market soon. The thing is who brought in the buyer the agent or the Zillow ad. In my experience 90% of agents do very few “sides” (houses sold) anyway a lot of them don’t have the experience they say they do.. read read read and list it plenty of articles on how to get a home ready.. the biggest is declutter fix cosmetic items get rid of smells blah blah blah .

[Carl99]

Would you send me the name of the realtor. Pct59hiker@yahoo.com

[John_W]

When I sold my home in Bel Air, Maryland in 2011, I listed it with an agency that charged 1.75%. It was sold the next morning by noon by Long & Foster the largest Realtor in Maryland to the first couple viewing the home.

The listing agency in most cases will not be the seller, I know I use to sell in Hernando County Florida. The selling agent doesn't care when they show a home how much the listing agent is going to receive, the selling agent and the selling broker will still get their full commission. You will still pay the full commission to the selling broker and agent, it will be in the contract that they bring you.

So when someone will say you get what you pay for, they're wrong in this situation. Anyone in Harford or Baltimore County who wants to sell their home, check out Advance Realty.

Advance Realty Bel Air, Inc | Serving your real estate needs in Harford & Baltimore Counties (https://www.advance175.com/)