What it the Total Commission I Pay?
The total commission you pay is up to you. This is paid at closing, if the buyer was brought by an agent. You do not pay any commission to us; only a Transaction Fee of $495.
100% of the commission you decide to pay is given to the broker that brings the buyer. 3% is average - if you offer more you'll get more attention, and if you offer less the opposite will happen - but the amount is completely up to you.
Can I pay more or less than 3% commission?
While 3% is an average amount offered to Selling Agents (Agent/Broker that brings the Buyer) you can pay more than 3% if you want to offer an added incentive to get your property sold faster, or you can offer less.
In either case the entire commission goes to the selling agent. Just remember that the more you offer, the harder Agents will work to find a buyer for your home.
Do I have to pay anything up front?
No. We do not collect any fees up front.
What if I change my mind after listing my property with you?
No problem, you can withdraw your listing at any time as long as you have not accepted a contract with a buyer that was brought by an agent, and that contract is still in effect.
Do I need to give you a reason for withdrawing my listing?
No. We will not question your reasons for withdrawing. Simply notify us in writing by email, fax or letter and we will promptly release your listing.
Will I owe money if I withdraw my listing?
No. You have no obligation to us. Any monies and resources we might have spent on your behalf remain our expenses, not yours.
How long is my listing for?
As long as you want. Usually properties are listed for 6 months (even though it may sell within a week), although you can chose any time frame you want as long as it is at least 30 days.
Regardless of the initial time frame chosen, you can withdraw at any time, or leave it in effect for as long as you want.
What happens if I find my own buyer?
You can sell your property to anyone that was not initially brought to your home by an agent, and pay no commission.
When this happens, you have a choice of either handling the transaction by yourself and pay nothing at all, or we will handle the entire transaction for the $495 transaction fee. Your decision completely.
What services do you provide for your Full Service Commitment?
 |
Accurately listed in the MLS (Multiple Listing Service). The MLS can be an extremely powerful and effective marketing tool, or it can be almost useless if not properly used. Unfortunately, many agents input listings with careless mistakes that prevent the property from coming up on Realtor searches and effectively excluding those properties from many showings and sales opportunities. You will be given a copy of your MLS listing as soon as it is input so you can verify that everything is perfect. |
|
|
|
We will market your property continuously until it is sold using the best mix of media, contacts and approaches for your property type. |
|
|
|
We will post your listing on numerous Web Sites, including Realtor.com, Trulia, Zillow, Homegain.com, Craigs List, Homefinder.com, Google, Vast, HotPads, Relocation.com and Many other sites plus thousands of Broker IDX based Sites. |
|
|
|
We will hold open houses with your permission and if local ordinances/association rules allow sign placement. |
|
|
|
You will get a professional sign when allowed, including a brochure box (stocked with property brochures) when there is room to place one. We will also give you a professional looking brochure to keep inside and be given out to visitors to your property. |
|
|
|
Lock Boxes are recommended and provided with your permission. We only use state-of-the-art Supra Electronic Lock Boxes for maximum security. |
|
|
|
We Provide an initial CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) along with periodic market activity reportsshowing your competition, sales activity and relevant market news so that you stay informed about exactly where you stand in the market at all times (many of our listings sell before the first report can even be prepared). |
|
|
|
We coordinate all property showings per your instructions and cooperate fully with all other agents in making your property as easy to show as possible. We also encourage other agents to advertise your property and promote it's presence on as many public access sources as possible. |
|
|
|
We send direct mailings to your neighborhood (at your option) announcing your home for sale. Amazingly often neighbors have family or friends who are interested in living in the area and we actively search for these sales opportunities. |
|
|
|
We handle all offers on your property and work closely with you on the negotiation process of each offer. We will review of provisions of the contracts being presented and make sure you understand exactly what each aspect of the offer means to you. |
|
|
|
Once an offer is accepted, we coordinate the entire transaction from start to closing. We make sure that the borrower is qualified. We make sure that all deposits have been received. We coordinate access for appraisers, inspectors, surveyors, etc. We handle interactions with title companies, mortgage companies, attorneys, other agents, insurance agencies and government entities when needed. We explain inspection results, represent your interests in minimizing repair costs and other seller closing costs. We coordinate any repair work needed, re-inspections, renegotiations arising from unforeseen changes in circumstances and virtually everything else needed to bring your transaction to a successful closing with the least amount of effort on your part. |
How is this service different than other $295 to $495 Flat Fee Listing Offers?
The main, and very big difference is that we provide Full Service and Representation with our program (others provide no or very limited service), and we do not collect any money up front.
How long have you been doing this?
We have been offering this program on a selective basis for over 15 years.
Does my property have to meet certain requirements to qualify for your program?
We are currently able to offer this program on single family homes, townhomes, villas & condos in Broward and South Palm Beach County, Florida.
In some cases we can also offer it on vacant residential lots and Mobile Homes when the land is owned (not if the land is leased).
Are there any other requirements for using this program?
There are really only two things we need in order to work efficiently with you.
First, the property needs to be able to be shown either on lock box (we use electronic lock boxes that track and register all visitors), or shown by you with an appointment, or a combination of both.
Second, you will need to have access to a computer, tablet or smart phone, so we can reach you quickly and send documents that you can easily review and sign (in most cases without having to print anything).
We will be happy to answer any additional questions you may have about this. Just give us a call or send an email at your convenience.
How will you market my property?
Most importantly, we make sure your home is expertly listed and thoroughly described in the MLS (Multiple Listing Service), along with professional quality photos and a video tour (when appropriate), which is distributed on REALTOR.com and hundreds of other Sites, and also posted on YouTube.
We strive to make it as easy as possible to show for maximum activity. We post your listing in all the major real estate sites on the Internet including REALTOR.com, Trulia.com, Zillow.com, Homegain.com, Craigs List, Homefinder.com, Google, Vast, HotPads, Relocation.com and Many other sites plus thousands of Broker IDX based Sites, including international Sites.
Anyone, anywhere in the world that could possibly be interested in buying your property will know about it. How can you make money offering this service for only $495?
In fact, we really don't make any money directly off of this program. The majority of that fee is spent on marketing and transaction & administrative costs associated with handling the listing.
We make our living selling homes, not just listing them for sale. However, having homes listed for sale is probably the best way to get buyers (besides referrals of course), so this program helps us earn a living selling homes, without forcing you to pay a commission to both the listing and the selling agents, as is normally the case.
Why would one of your agents, earning only a small fee, give me the same great service, attention and marketing efforts as an agent who would be getting a large commission?
Our system is designed to reward our agents for outstanding service to our sellers, and in fact they often make more money than the 'usual' agents waiting for those large commissions.
They do have to work hard for it, but there is satisfaction in truly helping people save a lot of money and the combination of referrals from happy sellers and new buyer opportunities generated from our marketing efforts makes it all worthwhile.
If your program is so great, why doesn’t everyone use it?
Well, maybe someday they will. But actually, there are two main reasons:
First, we really don't promote this program in a big way and we are still limited in the area and types of properties that we can offer it to.
Second, and quite frankly, many people just don't believe this program is what we say it is, or they really don't understand the power of properly using the MLS and Internet, and how real estate actually gets sold these days.
For example, we recently had a customer in Plantation who we offered our program to while they were trying to sell their home by themselves. Not having any luck, they eventually decided to list with an agent, and after much deliberation, selected an agent from a nationally franchised real estate office. They thought that by going with a "big name company" that their house would sell quicker. As it turned out, our company sold their house within a week and because their agent turned out to be a part-timer with a "real" day job, we also did most of the work for the seller's side of the transaction as well. The only difference that decision to not use our program made was to cost the seller over $6,000 in extra commissions.
Other agents who are trying to convince sellers to use them instead of our program have frequently tried to compare us to most other deep discount brokers by saying to the prospective seller "you get what you pay for". Often in life that is true, but when you compare our program to other deep discount brokers, you'll find that you get a lot more than you pay for with us - and when you compare us to traditional full service brokers, you pay a lot less for what you get.
With us you can get the best of both worlds - the low costs of a deep discount broker, and the full service of the best traditional full commission brokers - all in the same deal.
Do you have a program for Rental listings?
Yes. This program can also be used for rentals. The details are the same except that the commission paid has to be either 1/2 month (in the case of an annual lease), or 5% in the case of a seasonal or short lease - 100% of which is paid to the renting agent (the agent with the tenant).
Our fee on rental listings is $395.
Do you handle Short Sales?
Yes, but not with this program. We have a special Short Sale program that does not cost the seller or the buyer a single penny. Many other brokers either charge hefty fees to buyers or they affiliate with title companies, attorneys or other negotiators that charge thousands of dollars to buyers, which chases many of them off and greatly reduces your ability to complete the short sale process.
All of our short sale listings are handled by a law firm and are professionally negotiated, but at NO COST to either the seller or the buyer, giving you the maximum opportunity to successfully short sell your property in the time frame you need.
