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When listing your home for sale, you should consider all your alternatives. There are some good agents that will list your home for sale
and actually earn the commission they get for your listing (excessive marketing, knowledge, and client base). Unfortunately, those that actually earn the
listing commission are few and far between. I should mention that I am not one of those agents, and never take those listings because of that fact.
Bottom line is that most agents will take a listing at 5-6% of the final sales price. Of that amount, 2.5% will go to the agent that
brings the buyer. This is standard practice. The remaining 2.5-3.5% goes to the listing agent for showing the property, marketing, and any other bells and whistles
they may offer.
I firmly believe that a buyer's agent should receive 2.5% of the sales price for bringing a buyer to the sale, because this is very
time-consuming work, scheduling appointments, researching pricing, and pre-viewing listings. I also know that many For Sale By Owner (FSBO) properties will accept a buyer's agent to bring a buyer in exchange
for that same 2.5% of sales price.
So rather than offer your property for sale on Craigslist (or a yard sign, or wherever) and hope people find it, why not go with a flat-fee listing where the property
is exposed to the entire multiple listing service (MLS) and agents show your property.
What a flat-fee listing provides is exposure to the MLS, and all the sites that receive feeds from the MLS (Realtor.com, ChicagoTribune.com, etc).
This is where people look for homes to buy, so it makes sense to have your home listed on these sites. The FSBO web sites (BuyOwner.com, etc) are not worth
your money or time. I have been an agent for several years and have never used them to find a home for a buyer. I have called and emailed about
a property on three separate occasions, but never received a response (or knew the property address since its hidden). Why is it hidden?!?
Seriously, if you want to sell a house, shouldn't you always give the address? Especially in Chicago where a particular street defines
a neighborhood.
The down side of a flat fee listing is that you, the owner, needs to show the property to prospective buyers. Although this might sound like a
giant pain, you can either put the house on a lock-box to give access to agents, or just schedule showings at your convenience. If on lock-box, take the
agents MLS ID so you can verify who has been at your house. If you aren't comfortable with that, schedule it when you are home. If neither works out, then you just can't
accommodate that buyer. You wouldn't have been able to accommodate the buyer if you had a FSBO either.
Some flat fee listing service providers will offer some additional services, many of which are provided by the MLS (i.e. listing on numerous sites, open houses, pictures).
Don't be wowed by a list of websites that the listing will be sent. Every property on the MLS goes to all the same sites. Many flat fee providers just like to list
sites that they think a seller will get excited about (Yahoo, MSN, AOL, etc). Again, every property on the MLS goes to ALL THE SAME SITES.
So what should you look for in a flat fee listing?
Usually a flat fee listing will be an up front fee of $250-$500 that will include minimal or no service. Some offer upgrades of virtual tours, additional pictures, a website, etc.
Although there is some value to these upgrades, most are not necessary. Pictures, tours, and websites are nice for casual viewers, but any serious buyer will find your property on
the MLS if it matches their criteria.
I don't want to influence you to not use a real estate agent to sell your home. I just want you to be more informed of options you have when listing your home for sale 'by owner'
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