By Owner MLS Listing

The “mulitple listing system”, called the MLS, gives the broadest exposure possible to homes for sale. In today’s competitive market, you need the most marketing exposure possible, but attempting to sell without the benefit of the MLS can be a like trying to sell shares of stock without the stock exchange. Or, proverbially, “like trying to find a needle in a haystack”. Advertising to the public is a high cost proposition and since you only have one property to sell, the economies of scale work against you. Realtors® have the benefit of having thousands of properties to sell. The MLS creates an efficient marketing system through which Realtors® can cooperate to assist each other in selling each other’s listings.

And through the Realtors® trade organization, the National Association of Realtors®, an MLS listing also gets exposure on Realtor.com, the nation’s leading real estate web portal, you’ll reach even more potential buyers when your property is listed in the MLS by owner. According to a recent survey, over 75% of buyers now start their search for a home on the Internet, most of them on Realtor.com.

Now you can list your home or property in the same MLS used by Realtors® without having to pay a listing commission. List by owner on the MLS with a flat fee MLS listing company like Bloomkey® and you can have the best of both worlds. More exposure to help you sell your home for the highest possible price and still retain the right to sell on your own and not pay a commission.

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Selling a Home in a Cooling Market

When you are going to be selling a home, especially when the housing market is in a bit of a cooling off period or a slow season, there are two things that are absolutely essential.

First, there’s setting the right price. It’s impossible for sellers these days to sell their home when the price is too high, and when the market has slowed a bit, you’re going to find that it’s even more difficult to get your asking price. This is mostly because there are less buyers vying for the property. However, if you’re able to take the time to set the right price for your home – based on other properties in the area and the size and condition of your home – your chances are going to be a lot better. And, of course, when you sell with flat fee MLS, you’re still in a better position to profit when you sell.

Flat fee MLS also addresses the second essential element for selling in a cooling market: exposure for the property. With flat fee MLS, your home will be listed alongside those represented by listing agents and you’ll have the chance to clearly identify all of the house’s best features and selling points. As a result of increased exposure, there will be increased interest and that leads to a greater chance that your home will sell.

What you’ll find when you use flat fee MLS to sell your home is this: you’ll have access to the tools you need to sell your home, be able to access tips and tools designed to help you sell and, even in a cooling market, you’re in a better position to sell the property regardless of what the market is like.

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More and More Home Sellers are Flocking to the MLS

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.

See Also

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Flat Fee MLS Isn’t Just for Home Sellers

You can get a rebate if you purchase your home through IHS Realty

Buying a home through a flat fee MLS service is just as rewarding as selling through IHS Realty. You can get credit for your closing costs or even end up with a rebate and go home with cash in your pocket.

At IHS Realty, you are in control of the buying process. You can find an open house and go on your own or, if you prefer, IHS will schedule a showing for you. You can make your offer online as well by using our online purchase offer form. We will work with you to get your offer just the way you want it before the seller or seller’s agent sees it. With IHS Realty, you have options, you stay in control, and you save money. Learn more about flat fee home buying right here.

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Home Sellers Have More Than Two Options

FSBO sellers have better chances of selling with flat fee MLS

It used to be when you made the decision to sell your home, you essentially had two methods available to you. You could list your home with a traditional real estate company and pay 6-7% commission or you could try selling on your own "for sale buy owner".

Research shows that nearly 50% of all home sellers start out trying to sell their property on their own. Although some home owners are successful with FSBO, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) home seller survey, only sixteen percent of sellers actually sell their home without exposure on the MLS. And many of them end up giving away their commission savings to the buyer to close the deal.

Realtors tend to avoid for sale by owner properties because they are working with buyers and have no written agreement to be compensated. If the seller has not agreed in writing to pay a commission to the agent, the buyer could cut the agent right out of the deal and negotiate directly with the seller. It happens…

If you’re ready to sell your home you can increase your exposure to buyers tremendously with a flat fee MLS listing. IHS Realty is the perfect solution. Learn more about flat fee MLS at IHS Realty.

 

 

See Also

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When is The Right Time to Buy a New Home?

Market Conditions

Interest rates will likely go to 7% by the end of the year. Getting a fixed-rate mortgage now would be a good thing.

Most markets in the US are experiencing what is termed a buyer’s market. That means you can be a picky buyer and negotiate prices.

If you use a commissioned agent that represents the seller then they are not likely to want to negotiate the price downward.

Now is a good time to try Flat-Fee MLS. By charging a flat fee to homebuyers and sellers, their interest is in providing service while the price doesn’t matter as much.

See Also

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Know What You are Getting

When selling your home know exactly what services you are getting

As a home seller nothing is more important than knowing exactly what services you are getting from your agent. With flat fee MLS companies all services are made available on an a la carte basis so sellers know what to and not to expect. If you are considering listing with a full serivce agent be thorough. You don’t want to sacrifice thousands of dollars in equity to receive the same services you can get for a fraction of the cost. There are many full-service agents out there that don’t do anymore than list the home in the MLS and wait for a sale. When you consider that you will be paying out 3 percent of your home’s final sales price to compensate a full-service listing agent you should weigh all the options. Is an agent really going to do $10,000 or $12,000 worth of work. Before you sacrifice that much money in equity, you may be wise to list your home as a for sale by owner in the local MLS through alternatives like flat fee or discount brokers, where you can control the advertising aspect of the sale.

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Virginia Real Estate Sales Drop

Use flat fee MLS to market your home more competitively

For the eighth consecutive month real estate sales fell in April. Closed home sales were down 14 percent, the number of homes put on the market was down 22 percent and days on market was up from 94 days a year ago to 104 days in April. Even with the dropping numbers Kit Hale, president of the Virginia Association of Realtors, remained optimistic saying “we’re now making the transition back to a more normal marketplace where conditions show better balance between buyers and sellers.” As a seller the spring time is a great time to put a home on the market, but under these conditions it is more important than ever to price the home competitively. As a “for sale by owner” using a flat fee MLS broker you have a competitive advantage over homes sold through a full service agent. Because you are saving a minimum of 3 percent with flat fee MLS on the sale of your home you can be more flexible with the asking price, lowering your overall list price while still pocketing more equity than if you used a full service agent.

See Also

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Technology Driving Change

What’s the biggest influence on the real estate industry

What has had the biggest effect on change in the real estate industry? Has it been lawsuits filed by the Department of Justice providing increased awareness of flat fee MLS companies and limited service brokerages? Has the internet and the display of MLS listing information had the greatest effect? Or has it been free websites providing home valuation information to home sellers? Whatever the answer, one thing is for sure, the industry is changing on a daily basis. There are more alternatives to selling with a traditional agent than ever before and the internet has empowered home sellers. Sellers can learn home valuations, search for homes currently for sale in their area for pricing, list in the MLS and create home fliers all from the convenience of their own PC. It will be interesting to see over the next few years if technology will have the same effect on the real estate industry as it did on the travel agency industry.

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Real Estate Commissions Under Fire

Are Real Estate Commissions on the Decline?

Could the six-percent commission standard become a thing of the past? Economist Steven Levitt along with industry expert Brad Inman have reason to believe the commission structure of the real estate industry is going to change, and change drastically. With the alternative fee for service or flat fee MLS models in conjunction with the evolution of the internet and the way information is being displayed, home sellers and home buyers are ascertaining more control over the real estate transaction. With the recent development and launch of websites performing functions of a traditional agent the internet has literally become the new sales agent according to Brad Inman. It is estimated that 90 percent of the buy side work is done by the purchaser. That being said, how much longer can buyer agents expect to earn 3 percent on a sale?

 

Home buyers are not alone in their abilities to find useful resources and alternatives to the traditional model, home sellers now not only have the opportunity to list their homes in their local Multiple Listing Service for a low flat fee – broadening the market potential exponentially – they have the opportunity to take advantage of websites offering home appraisals, valuations, neighborhood information and advice on how to properly market their homes.

 

Not only is the competition becoming fiercer for traditional brokers, but they are continuing to turn more attention to the commission structure through ongoing legal battles with the Department of Justice. The DoJ has claimed real estate agents “collude to prop up commission rates through such anti-competitive actions as ‘boycotting’ the listings of discount brokers.” The DoJ has also charged that attempts by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) to raise the minimum requirements laws of the listing agent is also anti-competitive as it attempts to divest the industry of discount and flat-fee brokers.

 

Scott Levitt doesn’t stop with declining commission he offers his parallel to the fading profession of travel agents. With the Multiple Listing Service the main service agents offer their clients Levitt believes alternative models will win out, driving down the commissions and possibly driving out the traditional agents.

See Also

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Housing Bubble?

Talk of housing bubble overstated. Home sales remain steady,

With all the talk recently of a housing bubble, what can home owners expect in the months ahead? Comparisons to bubbles in other industries fail to take into account several salient factors with regard to real estate.

For instance, the tech bubble of the 1990s saw stocks in that industry tumble nearly 80%. Can we really think that the same kind of correction could take place in the real estate market?

Real estate differs from other assets in many important ways and is affected on a regional basis more often than a national one. A correction in one area of the country doesn’t necessarily spell a nationwide housing price drop. While it has become much more difficult to buy a home in many cities, in others it has actually become easier, pointing to a boom taking place regionally, rather nationally.

In comparison to stocks or bonds, homes are largely illiquid assets that can take a significant amount of time to sell as compared to stocks which are negotiable securities. Different factors drive housing prices such as mortgage interest rates, the local economy and housing supply and demand.

The United States leads the world in population growth. Not suprisingly, this increasing population needs housing. Children of the baby boom are now reaching home buying age.

It may be that housing prices are due for a correction, a slow down is likely, but home sales should remain steady and will regain momentum throughout the next decade.

See Also

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Will New Real Estate Models Survive Housing Bubble Burst?

How limited service and MLS entry only models can help homesellers in a down market.

Much of the real estate news today focuses on the "eminent" housing market downturn. What after the longest run of increasing house prices since World War II, it seems likely that the housing bubble must end at some point, sooner rather than later.

During these residential real estate market boon years, alternative discount and limted service models of real estate brokerage have proliferated and flourished. Under a "sellers market" it’s easy to understand how home sellers might need fewer services and less marketing in order to sell their homes. In a seller’s market homesellers have obviously been able to sell their homes without paying a traditional 5-7% commission because of the demand for housing.

But what happens when the bubble bursts? Won’t sellers come running back to the traditional Realtors?

Not according to Claude Davenport, President of limited service brokerage, InSight Realty. "InSight has operated in markets throughout the Mid-Atlantic since 2001. And during that time, not all of these areas have experienced the same housing boom as most of the United States has for the past 5-7 years. The tremendous success we’ve had in those areas where housing sales have been sluggish is indicative of how limited service brokerages can assist sellers in a down market." 

His point is that in a down market, the key to selling property is competitive pricing, not as many traditional agents contend, more services. By charging clients less to sell their homes, limited service and "MLS entry only" companies allow sellers to pass on those savings to their buyers thereby undercutting the competition in terms of house pricing.

Most Realtors will tell you that the ultimate amentity is price. The lower the price, the easier it is to sell a home. It makes sense then that if you are not paying a relatively high real estate commission, the largest single expense of the sale, you would be able to offer your property to a buyer for that much less thereby attracting a larger portion of the market to your home.

"If you can sell your home in a down market for 2-3% less than your neighbor because you don’t have to pay those monies to a Realtor, your going to sell your home faster." Davenport said. "You really can’t get much more marketing exposure for your home than you can with an MLS listing and posting on Realtor.com, so the differentiating factor then becomes price."

If all of the recent forecasts and forewarnings of a bearish housing market come to pass, we may find out for sure fairly soon.

See Also

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