Does The House On Your MLS Listing Look Like This? Would You Buy This House?
The flat-fee listing agency type of service has been around for a while. A flat-fee listing gives you the opportunity to have your house listed on MLS for a flat fee plus the buyer’s commission. Usually a flat-fee listing involves the agent adding your house to the local multiple listing service (MLS), giving you a sign for the yard, a lockbox for the door and registering you in the centralized showing system that agents use to setup appointments for showings, if your local real estate market uses a scheduling service. There are other options available to you but for those are the basic service you should insist on. From that point, you’re on your own. You market your house, conduct showings and open house tours, etc. You represent yourself and take care of all the little details. I’m not going to argue the pros and cons of flat-fee -vs- full-service listing services, because I believe both have their own merits. However, I do want to ask flat-fee clients, are you too cheap for your own good?
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Imagine this scenario. It’s been 120 days since your agent put a for sale sign in your yard. On the day you hired your Realtor, she promised it would be a successful working relationship. Weeks later, this “relationship” somehow turned into a “one-night stand.” She doesn’t return your phone calls, she never drops by and now there’s a bird’s nest occupying the empty Info Box that use to hold your house’s brochures so many months ago.
According to the book Freakonomics, written by Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt, real estate agents sell their own homes for 3% more compared to what they get when they sell their client’s houses. The authors suggest dishonesty and double-standards as the reasons for this finding, but I think there’s a more honest reason why Realtors may be able to get a higher selling price for their homes compared to their clients’.
Due to the anti-real estate agent sentiment and the promise of saving lots of money, selling as a FSBO seller has never been more popular. Over the past 10 years, selling the home yourself, or FSBO (For Sale By Owner), became popular and marketing companies selling FSBO kits and promotional materials have quickly cashed in on the craze. Internet shopping for homes has increased in popularity and it’s much easier now for the do-it-yourself home seller to promote their own house. But I don’t think that’s the reason FSBOs became popular.