Posted by Manager on November 30th, 2007
When you’re going to sell your home, it’s essential to look at the current housing market so that you know whether homes similar to yours are selling. It’s important to look at your competition when it comes to selling your home - just as businesses do when choosing a supplier or setting a price for the next hot item that they plan to release.
Now, that’s not to say that you’re in direct competition with your neighbors, because your home is in a different location, in another school system and is bound to have some different features. But it is to say this: pricing your home to sell is essential.
When you’re selling with a real estate agent, he or she is likely to tell you what the price should be. When you’re selling with a for sale by owner method or you’re selling with flat fee MLS, knowing how to price your home can play an even more important role in getting your home off the market quickly.
There are a number of different ways to set the right price for your home - which one you choose is up to you. With online comparative market analysis, home appraisers and other tools for determining a home’s value, whichever you choose, you’ll know that you’ve taken an important step toward making sure that your home sells.
Posted by Manager on November 28th, 2007
The multiple listing service is a tool that real estate brokers and agents have kept to themselves: without an agent or broker, you won’t be able to get a home that you’re selling listed.
However, that doesn’t mean that you need to hire a real estate agent to get your home listed: flat fee MLS services let you list for less.
Still, a lot of people wonder whether or not the MLS will help them sell. The answer to their questions is this:
If you do nothing else, a properly priced home with MLS listing can virtually assure a sale in any type of market. Compared with running newspaper ads or holding Open Houses, the MLS is a far more effective way of letting the buying public know your home is on the market.
In other words, it you want to sell your home, you need people to know that it’s on the market. Flat fee MLS services will help you make sure that happens (and yes, that will help you sell).
Posted by Manager on November 26th, 2007
There are a number of reasons that people offer when they’ve decided to sell their home on their own. They’ll tell you that a real estate agent’s commission will put too big a dent into the amount of home equity that they have and that they need the money for a down payment on their next home or for paying off debt. Others will tell you that they’re thinking about selling on their own because they just don’t see that real estate agents do much to help them sell their homes.
However, there are some issues with the traditional FSBO model, the biggest of them is that it doesn’t allow sellers to get their home marketed as well as they could have otherwise. Flat fee MLS solves this problem.
When you make the choice to sell on your own using flat fee MLS you’ll find that you’re able to take advantage of all of the benefits of both selling on your own and selling with a real estate agent. You get major savings and all the exposure that your home needs to draw the interest of buyers.
When you sell with flat fee MLS, you won’t have to worry that no one will know your home’s for sale. You won’t have to worry about not having a website for your home, not knowing what to do for an open house, and not having access to sellers’ resources because they will all be there for you: flat fee MLS makes it easier to sell on your own.
Posted by Manager on November 24th, 2007
Some people - read as traditional real estate agents - are likely to tell you that there will be some problems that you’ll face if you sell with flat fee MLS. Mostly, when they tell you these things, it’s about creating fear so that you’ll use their services, but sometimes there are some merits to the things the say.
For example, they’ll tell you that a real estate agent can help you set the price for your home: having the right price is essential when you’re going to sell, but there are other ways to set that price and a flat fee broker can help you figure out how to sell your home.
Similarly, they’ll tell you that, even with as important as home staging and curb appeal are, you don’t need to hire a home stager if you sell with them because they know what your competition is going to look like. When you sell with flat fee MLS though, you’ll be able to access some home staging tips and rather than hiring an agent or a home stager, why not just go to other open houses nearby and see your competition for yourself?
They’ll tell you that you’ll need to do more to market a home that you’re selling with flat fee MLS, but think about this for a minute: with a flat fee MLS listing, your home will be listed alongside those that the agents are selling, you’ll be able to choose the ancillary services that will help you sell and you’ll have websites for your home - flat fee MLS does give your home exposure.
If you’re thinking about selling with flat fee MLS, don’t believe everything that you hear from real estate agents: they wouldn’t be opposed to something that didn’t work.
Posted by Manager on November 21st, 2007
(Source)In this day and age real estate and cyberspace are so inter related that it’s operates almost like one industry. Since the MLS have gone virtual over 5 years ago. A lot of buyers are being found using online means. Realtor.com, FSBO sites and Flat Fee MLS services have provided a lot of home seller’s maximum exposure all done virtually.
When you’re selling your home, you need to know how people are finding properties. Because more and more buyers are turning to the internet when they are looking for homes, and because those who are using a real estate buyer’s agent are going to have a greater interest in homes that are listed in the multiple listing service, marketing your home in both of these ways is essential.
Selling your home with flat fee MLS lets you ensure that you’re able to get your home in the eyes of the maximum number of buyers. With a property website, a listing on Realtor.com and having your home in the multiple listing service, you can be sure to attract attention to your home.
That attention is key: without it, there will be little interest in your property - and that makes selling more challenging. Don’t run the risk of people not finding out that your home is on the market - see how flat fee MLS can get your home on the market and online.
Posted by Manager on November 19th, 2007
When you’re going to be selling your home getting the word out that your home is on the market is key. After all, if no one knows that your home is up for sale, you’re likely to find that selling is a bit of a challenge.
In order to make sure that your home sells, you need to broaden the number of buyers who are aware of the property. To do that effectively, you’ll need to make sure that your home is listed in the multiple listing service database where buyers’ agents look to see which homes are available.
Similarly, you’ll want to be sure that buyers who are searching for homes on their own know that your property is up for sale: that means making sure that your home is advertised with a website and on more popular sites like Realtor.com. You’ll also want to take advantage of print advertising and more traditional real estate marketing campaigns.
When you make the choice to sell your home with flat fee MLS, you’re able to ensure that real estate agents and buyers know that your home is available - but you’ll find that there’s an added benefit: you’re able to save thousands of dollars by selling with flat fee MLS rather than with a traditional real estate agent.
Posted by Manager on November 17th, 2007
Just Listed postcards are something that real estate agents have long used to get the word out about properties that are on the market. By sending out a simple postcard to people who live near the property that’s for sale, by getting the word out to buyers they know of that have an expressed an interest in living in that area, real estate agents know that they have access to a simple and effective marketing tool.
These postcards are one of those tools that FSBO sellers haven’t taken to using, possibly because they aren’t aware of how effective they can be.
Sellers who choose to use flat fee MLS to sell their home - to get the word out about their property using the multiple listing service - often do so because they know it will give them access to tools that real estate agents would use to sell their home.
That’s why some flat fee MLS brokerages make just listed postcards available to their sellers: to give them access to the tool, and the choice about whether or not they’ll use it to help them sell.
