Monthly Archives: October 2006
By Lawrence Bunnell on October 31, 2006
Flat fee services like IHS Realty are saving the day
Flat fee MLS services like IHS Realty are growing more and more popular with home sellers. With prices getting lower all around the country and buyers taking control of the market, home sellers have no recourse but to slash their costs. The best way to do that is to cut out the real estate agent commission. That’s why many home sellers are now listing their homes themselves on the MLS, where 75% of all home buyers go to make their purchases. With so many home buyers making the move to the multiplie listing service, it’s no wonder this alternative is attractive to home sellers.
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Posted in Flat Fee MLS, home buyer, home seller, IHS Realty
By Lawrence Bunnell on October 30, 2006
That’s a great opportunity for home sellers
Buyers like the Filadelfias, as well as sellers, are increasingly accessing information on real estate Web sites to become better educated about the housing market and to gain more control over the buying and selling process.
A National Association of Realtors survey reported that 77 percent of homebuyers used the Internet to search for a home in 2005, compared to only 2 percent of buyers a decade earlier. Twenty-four percent of homebuyers said they found their home through an Internet search, up from 15 percent in 2004, the association reported. Only 2 percent found their home this way in 1997.
The beautiful thing about these statistics is that home sellers can now use the same tools that real estate agents used to have exclusive access to. It’s true. If you want to sell your house yourself, you can use the multiple listing service and cut your agent out of the picture altogether.
Buyers are going online to research the real estate market in your area long before they ever contact a real estate agent. That means, they have a handle on what’s available before they commission an agent to negotiate a fair price. That’s money in the seller’s pocket. You can negotiate the buyer’s agent commission down to 1%-1.5% based on whether or not the buyer of your property found your house or the agent did. Furthermore, if you sell your house without the assistance of a seller’s agent, you can save thousands of dollars on commissions.
Flat fee real estate services are the way to go. Don’t miss out.
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Posted in buyer, flat fee, Real Estate, seller
By Lawrence Bunnell on October 29, 2006
Is it digital advertising or an industry tool?
The answer to the question really depends on your location. If the question was asked in the USA, I think 99% of realtors would respond ‘industry tool’. Ask the question in Europe and the answer would be reversed with 99% of estate agents referring to MLS as digital advertising.
So what makes this technology be seen by the same industry, in two large geographical markets, in two totally different ways?
Since we’re not in Europe, IHS Realty isn’t much concerned with how our friends on the other side of the Atlantic use the MLS. We’re very concerned with how our friends in the real estate industry in the U.S. use it. We’re excited about the future because we know common FSBO sellers can use the MLS in the same manner that real estate agents have been using it for years. It may be an industry tool, but many real estate investors and one-time for-sale-by-owners may use it as an advertising tool. Either way is OK. The advantage to home owners who want to sell on their own is that can list their property on the MLS for one low fee and save thousands of dollars in real estate commissions. That’s the same no matter which side of the water you live on.
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Posted in advertising, FSBO, IHS Realty, MLS, sell
By Lawrence Bunnell on October 28, 2006
Soon, more people will search for real estate online and leave newspapers in the dust
PRINCETON, N.J., Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ — New research by The Kelsey Group indicates a gap between the sources to which home buyers turn to get information about real estate and the media that advertisers use to promote property for sale. Sellers turn first to newspapers (24%), followed by signs (19%) to advertise real estate for sale, while buyers turn equally to newspapers (30%) and online (30%). And the younger generation, which is the most active real estate-buying age group (18- to 34-year-olds), turns to online sources first.
Why do you think so many companies are going online today? It isn’t for current value. It’s for future value. In another few years, Internet advertising will be the most popular medium for virtually every product or service. Already, the trend is online for buying real estate. The National Association of Realtors says 75% of all home buyers search for their home online first, before going anywhere else.
Combine online buying and selling with flat fee MLS services, a service that allows home sellers the same access to buyers as real estate agents – even if they are selling on their own – then you have a powerful combination. Find out why flat fee services are the best way to go for FSBO sellers.
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Posted in advertising, buying, flat fee, FSBO, Real Estate, selling
By Lawrence Bunnell on October 27, 2006
It’s the same there as it is here
Realtors are all a buzz about this new form of listing houses on the MLS (multiple listing service). Some feel it creates more work for the buyers agent, while others see this as a way to tap into the For Sale By Owner market.
Even in the UK, they’re talking about flat fee services like IHS Realty. The principle is the same there as it is here. The seller contracts with an online flat fee service, pays one low fee, lists his or her house on the MLS, and buyers and buyers’ agents call for appointments.
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Posted in buyer, flat fee, MLS, seller, UK
By Lawrence Bunnell on October 26, 2006
FSBO sellers can save a bundle doing it themselves
Lorraine Brownrigg says she has helped homeowners sell more than 3,000 properties in and around Ottawa in the past three years. It’s anyone’s guess how much she has saved them in real estate commissions, but it’s probably many millions of dollars.
Lorraine Brownrigg knows what thousands of FSBO sellers and home owners are learning every day. Selling your house yourself has some pros and cons, but it’s mostly pros. You get to save yourself thousands of dollars in real estate commissions and you are in control of the process every step of the way.
While there are pros and cons to doing it yourself, if you can manage to get on the MLS, that’s even better. IHS Realty offers FSBO sellers the opportunity to get on the MLS, which is not possible without going through a broker first, for a low flat fee.
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Posted in FSBO, IHS Realty, MLS, sell house
By Lawrence Bunnell on October 25, 2006
Exclusive agency agreements help everyone
(Source) The FTC has now settled with five MLS systems that did not allow brokers to post listings with anything other than exclusive-right-to-sell listing contracts. From this point forward exclusive agency agreements can be used with MLS systems based in Loveland, CO; Concord, NH; Williamsburg, VA; Appleton, Oshkosh, and Fond du Lac, Wisconsin; and Monmouth and Ocean Counties in New Jersey. Two Michigan MLS systems that did not agree to the FTC proposals face administrative complaints, matters that will be contested in the court system.
We laud the FTCs decision. Not only does it ensure the survival and success of services like IHS Realty’s, but it means greater choice for consumers – and that’s more important. Sellers looking for a place to sell their homes can list on the MLS and reach 75% of the buyers in the market. That ability benefits buyers, sellers, agents and brokers, and mortgage companie. Greater choice always equals more freedom and more benefits for consumers. Chalk one up for the FTC.
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Posted in buyer, exclusive agency, FTC, IHS Realty, seller
By Lawrence Bunnell on October 23, 2006
The traditional real estate structure is not the way to go
Real estate commissions in the United States are higher than any other industrialized nation.
According to the independent study by Mark Nadel at the AE Brookings Joint Center, A Critical Assessment of the Standard, Traditional, Residential Real Estate Broker Commission Rate Structure, the real estate commission structure is a poor way to compensate a real estate agent for their time.
Discount Realtors and flat rate real estate companies offer alternatives to the traditional commission rate based system. With a discount real estate broker you can get the same bundle of services for less than the prevalent rate in your market.
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Posted in discount realtor, real estate commission
By Lawrence Bunnell on October 22, 2006
We weren’t just the first, we’re the best
IHS Realty has built a reputation that we are proud of. We have many satisfied customers who have used our flat fee MLS services in the past. Here is just a small sampling of testimonials:
IHS told me two things up front: how much it would cost to list with them and what I would get for my money. I loved being able to budget for their services, and they did everything they promised. That’s a way of doing business I understand."
–John W., Atlanta, GA
Thanks for all your help. IHS customer service was always prompt and knowledgeable. We will definitely recommend IHS to others, and will use your services the next time we sell."
–Patricia M., Wayne, PA
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Posted in Flat Fee MLS, IHS Realty, satisfied customer, testimonial
By Lawrence Bunnell on October 21, 2006
Never have real estate sellers received so many benefits for so little a cost
(Source) "When virtual tours appeared in the late 1990s, I thought we’d been sold a bill of goods. Then I said it would be good for relos, then for buyers under 50," said John Duffy, broker/owner of Duffy Real Estate in the Philadelphia area. "Now, I think they’ll work for everyone."
John Tuccillo, an industry consultant who was chief economist of the National Association of Realtors in the mid-1990s, said real estate agents and brokers have adapted "admirably" to technological change, "in that they are quickly adopting the personal and business technologies that they need to service the market."
When you list your house with IHS Realty, you get your own web page with 16 photos to help sell your house. When you purchase the IHS Platinum plan, you also get a 5-scene virtual tour. There is no better bargain anywhere in the real estate industry. Just take a look at all the benefits you get with IHS Realty plans and you’ll be impressed. Other agencies don’t give you so much for as low a price. Even other online flat fee services can’t compare with IHS Realty. The benefits are enormous.
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Posted in flat fee, IHS Realty, virtual tour
