Save Thousands in Real Estate Commissions With Flat Fee Listings
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by: sarawilliams
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Until recently, real estate commission was calculated strictly as a percentage of the sale price of a home. The real estate agent would earn that commission at a rate of five to six percent of the sale price, which many argue is much too high for so little work. One could agree with that assessment, particularly in sales transactions that go smoothly from start to finish and require very little effort on the part of the agent.
However, homeowners now have an alternative. You have the ability to eliminate real estate commission, at least from the sale side of the transaction, by using the Flat Fee Multiple Listing Service when selling your home. For a flat fee, you will have your home listed through the Multiple Listing Service, and hundreds of other websites around the country, for maximum exposure. What you may not realize is that many real estate agents will limit the number of website listings for their clients in order to increase their chances of earning the sale commission. With Flat Fee Multiple Listing Service, you will have access to all the marketing tools that traditionally were reserved for agents alone without having to pay thousands of dollars in real estate commission at time of closing. You will still be responsible for the portion of real estate commission due your buyers agent, if they find your home through a broker, but that will still be a fraction of the commission you would owe if you used your own broker.
By allowing you to hang out your own For Sale By Owner sign, the Flat Fee Multiple Listing Service grants you the potential of attracting even more buyer traffic to your door, as many prospective purchasers will be more eager to deal directly with you and not through a broker. If you ultimately sell your home to someone who also is not using a broker, you will save even more in real estate commission costs. You have the potential of saving yourself thousands of dollars. Of course, you will also run the risk of alienating some brokers who may be reluctant to bring buyers to you for that very reason, but using the flat fee system to avoid real estate commission is well worth it.
Selling your home through the Flat Fee Multiple Listing Service does not mean that your transaction will be 100 percent broker free, however. Only a licensed broker with membership in the Multiple Listing Service has the ability to list a home through the service. With Flat Fee, you will be assigned to a licensed broker who will monitor your listing and act as your point of contact. That broker will be ultimately responsible for maintaining the accuracy of your listing and for keeping it current.
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