When it comes to listing a home for sale the traditional method involved listing on For Sale By Owner (FSBO) sites or through an agent. FSBO sites offer very limited in terms of service and sometimes may not be able to get the home on local Multiple List Services (MLS) which is important. With the HomesBuyMe Flat Fee Listing Service the homeowner gets the best of both worlds in that they are listing their home for sale with low fees and get exposure to the MLS. Flat fee listings may not work for everyone and in this article homeowners can learn what it takes to successfully sell their home using a flat fee listing service.
Cost of Selling a Home?
Given the right price a home will sell in any condition. For those homeowners who want to get the best price with the minimum amount of investment a flat fee listing service could be ideal. With this flat fee listing service the homeowner can limit the amount of commission they are paying to an agent. They can pay just the flat fee and not offer any buyer agent compensation with the intention to deal directly with home buyers or they can optionally consider offering buyer’s agent compensation on a case-by-case basis as offers come in. With the new rules real estate agents are operating under buyer’s agent compensation is required to be separate from the listing contract. What that means is that the homeowner is only offering compensation to the listing agent or listing service and the listing contract cannot mention any compensation offered to the buyer’s real estate agent. That does not mean the home seller cannot offer compensation to the buyer’s agent, just that it cannot be tied into the listing contract directly.
Flat Fee Listing Ideal for DIY
There is so much information online from how to stage a house, what to prepare in a home before listing if for sale, to how to figure out what to price the home at when selling it. With all that information the home seller can quickly learn what is needed to get the home ready for sale without the need of anyone else’s advice.
A home that has been properly prepared for sale should be shown off online through great photos and videos. The home seller can research online to find the best photographer to take those pictures/videos for them. Those videos and photos are then shared online to draw the buyers in. Home sellers can talk with our trusted photographers, home inspectors, contractors and more to see if they have services that work for them. When the home seller has all the information at hand and is ready to undertake getting the home ready for sale they can do so on their own schedule.
For the home seller who wants help with negotiations they can hire a real estate attorney to either directly negotiate for them with sellers or provide them advice on how to negotiate with buyers in terms of what is allowed and what is not allowed. There are many deadlines in a real estate transaction and missing a key deadline can mean giving up valuable rights.
Flat Fee Won’t Work For Some
With a flat fee listing agreement all the work is for the home seller to do. For those who do not live locally providing access to contractors to take photos, make repairs and more will be a challenge. A full-service real estate agent should be willing to help with that and many already have professional photographers and maintenance/cleaning team members on speed dial.
For the home seller who has a lot of questions and wants someone to guide them each step of the sales process, a flat fee listing agreement will not work. With a flat fee listing agreement there is minimal input and advice being provided by the listing agent. The home seller can discuss matters with their attorney, but the attorney may not be able to provide advice with regards to preparation and marketing for the home that will make the home shine for buyers. Home sellers need to consider are the ready to take on the entire selling process themselves with a flat fee listing agreement.
Final Thoughts
For those comfortable handling the process of selling their home themselves it can be done. With proper attention paid to the initial preparation steps the home seller will set the right stage. If the home seller later decides they want additional help be sure to reach out as HomesBuyMe does offer full service options as well!
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