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MLS all the way. More data than Realtor.com. All the agent information.
And, I have no way to enter a listing onto Realtor.com. Realtor.com scrapes the listing from my MLS entry, and then I go in and enhance it.
Anyone who is serious about buying a home has many avenues for searching.
IDX search on an agent's site.
Realtor.com.
MLS autoemail update feed from an agent can be nearly real-time.
Scammer sites that scrape listings and repost without concern for accurate data abound and are fairly popular.
I have found homes in the newspaper for clients.
Craigslist
Kijiji
Backpage
Realtor.com is very much improved, but is not the end-all site for buyers.
Listings only get on Realtor.com by being submitted from an MLS. You can't bypass the MLS to get a listing there. This FSBO site is working with agents in various areas that are willing to enter the listing into an MLS just to get it into Realtor.com. I can't imagine why a Realtor would use anything other than their MLS to find listings in their local area (other than FSBOs). The MLS establishes the commission to be paid to cooperating brokers, not Realtor.com.
That seems excessive given that the current rate in my neck of the woods is 5% overall, which would make the Buyer agent's cut 2.5%.
Point of clarification....
The buyer's broker would typically get 2.5%. The overwhelming majority of agents at large, who function as buyer's agents, are on a 50-50 split with their broker, meaning the agent gets 1.25%.
In my neck of the woods, the buyer's agent also pays the listing broker a flat " courtesy fee of about $150-200 and an incremental transaction fee to their own broker, upon closing. The end result is gross commission, subject to income and self employment taxes.
Most agents in the U.S. barely gross, $20K a year.
Four years ago, about 30% of all sales in my own sub division, were FSBO. All it took, back then, was a sign in the front yard and word of mouth. About half of these sales compensated buyer's agents. Since then, we have not have any successful FSBO sales. My point is that the success stories need to be very recent to have relevency in thismarket.
From a professional perspective there are many reasons why FSBOs are not as successful as they could be:
They are not priced to sell, given the facts of closed comps for comparable homes. CMAs are living documents and reqire updating almost weekly, in some markets.
The property is not marketed to real estate professionals or the general public. No one knows it exists.
Buyers who seek out FSBO sales often do so with the intent of saving the same commission the seller does.
Sellers are not willing to offer a competitive reward to a buyer's agent.
Sellers do not answer their phone or find appointements inconvenient.
Sellers hover over buyers, believing they can "sell" their own home, by talking/talking/talking about all its features and stories.
If you want to give it a shot, consider listing with a flat fee broker and at least get MLS exposure. Make sure to take really great pictures.
One of the larger FSBO website companies offers several different packages. One puts your FSBO listing onto realtor.com. For another $100 - a different package gets your FSBO listing onto the MLS (and in turn realtor.com). As I understand it, a realtor.com listing does not require a commison to a buyers agent whereas a MLS listing does.
My sense is that anyone that is serious about buying a home now days uses realtor.com. I don't really see the value in spending the additional $100 for a MLS listing. Anyone agree/diagree?
If a FSBO seller fully intends to offer 3% to a buyers agent - I believe this can be advertised as such on realtor.com?
Any realtors out there that can speak to as whether they would typically find a listing that was only on relator.com and not on the MLS? I guess another way to put this question is: Do most realtors use realtor.com routinely to find properties to show clients or do they stick primarily to the MLS?
Thanks!
You cannot get on realtor.com without being in an MLS.
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