Best Flat Fee MLS listing company in the Birmingham area? (Avon: for sale, real estate) - Alabama (AL) - City-Data Forum

bigposse · 09-23-2014, 07:41 AM

I'm trying to sell my home, but can't afford to pay two RE agent commissions. Can anyone tell me of a good, effective Flat Fee MLS listing service around? FSBO option with MLS listing?

cpg35223 · 09-23-2014, 08:38 AM

If I understand your question correctly, you don't pay two real estate commissions. You pay the same commission rate whether one person both lists and sells your home or one lists and the other sells.

bigposse · 09-23-2014, 09:57 AM

Ok, I guess I'm being lied to then by the realtors. Imagine that. I was told by a realtor, that if he brought me a buyer, he would take 2-2.5% and that was all. You're telling me that most realtors are wanting the full 6% if they bring the buyer?

I don't mind paying the commission for one agent 2-2.5%, but that's ridiculous if you have to pay 6% to one agent.....I just didn't want to pay 2.5 to two agents.....

BishopRidge · 09-23-2014, 10:46 AM

I have purchased and sold 5 houses in my life and never used an agent. Why would you want to give money to someone for something you can do on your own?

cpg35223 · 09-23-2014, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BishopRidge

I have purchased and sold 5 houses in my life and never used an agent. Why would you want to give money to someone for something you can do on your own?

Depends on whether you're talking about some soccer mom who shoehorns it in between errands and kids activities or a real professional.

Here's the deal. A mediocre real estate agent (85% of them) just facilitates the transaction. A really good real estate agent creates value in the eyes of the buyer, thereby making sure the homeowner leaves the closing with better results.

I'll give you an example. I talked to some realtors about listing my house in Avondale years ago. Mind you, it was a neighborhood in the throes of gentrification at the time. But we had taken a signature home in the neighborhood, improved it a good deal, and turned it into a very desirable property.

When talking to a couple of realtors, all they did was look at the comparables in the area and then suggested an absurdly low listing price. Never mind that the house was on a double lot. Never mind that it was a historically-significant home. Never mind that it had lots of improvements. Nope. They just looked at the houses nearby that sold and went from there.

Then we found an agent who knew the area and said, "What? That's crazy. You can get a lot more for that." And we took her advice. She warned us that it would take longer to sell at a higher price point, but that we would be able to find someone eventually.

And she was right. We sold our house for almost 50% more than what the first two agents said we would. So she was worth every dime of commission she earned.

bhamoutlook · 09-23-2014, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigposse

Ok, I guess I'm being lied to then by the realtors. Imagine that. I was told by a realtor, that if he brought me a buyer, he would take 2-2.5% and that was all. You're telling me that most realtors are wanting the full 6% if they bring the buyer?

I don't mind paying the commission for one agent 2-2.5%, but that's ridiculous if you have to pay 6% to one agent.....I just didn't want to pay 2.5 to two agents.....

The standard commission percentage is 6% total, regardless of who brings the buyer. If the listing agent finds the buyer, they make 6%. If another agent brings the buyer, then they split it and make 3% each. You would be pretty hard pressed to find a listing agent to do all of that work and spend money out of their pocket to get your house sold for only a 1.5% potential if another agent came in.

The other side of that is, you don't want only your listing agent trying to find the buyer because it will take forever to sell. It takes agents from all over the city bringing traffic into your house to really get it sold... Unless it's just one of those lucky situations.

I'm not sure about flat rate real estate agencies. I know they're out there but not very good from what I hear. I know the 6% sounds like a lot but you get what you pay for. If you want to get your house sold, I would agree to the full commission.

cpg35223 · 09-23-2014, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhamoutlook

The standard commission percentage is 6% total, regardless of who brings the buyer. If the listing agent finds the buyer, they make 6%. If another agent brings the buyer, then they split it and make 3% each. You would be pretty hard pressed to find a listing agent to do all of that work and spend money out of their pocket to get your house sold for only a 1.5% potential if another agent came in.

The other side of that is, you don't want only your listing agent trying to find the buyer because it will take forever to sell. It takes agents from all over the city bringing traffic into your house to really get it sold... Unless it's just one of those lucky situations.

I'm not sure about flat rate real estate agencies. I know they're out there but not very good from what I hear. I know the 6% sounds like a lot but you get what you pay for. If you want to get your house sold, I would agree to the full commission.

Of course not. Who would do all that work for such a small payday?

bhamoutlook · 09-23-2014, 11:54 AM

Exactly... I was trying not to be so straight forward with it. ;-)

BishopRidge · 09-23-2014, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cpg35223

Depends on whether you're talking about some soccer mom who shoehorns it in between errands and kids activities or a real professional.

Here's the deal. A mediocre real estate agent (85% of them) just facilitates the transaction. A really good real estate agent creates value in the eyes of the buyer, thereby making sure the homeowner leaves the closing with better results.

I'll give you an example. I talked to some realtors about listing my house in Avondale years ago. Mind you, it was a neighborhood in the throes of gentrification at the time. But we had taken a signature home in the neighborhood, improved it a good deal, and turned it into a very desirable property.

When talking to a couple of realtors, all they did was look at the comparables in the area and then suggested an absurdly low listing price. Never mind that the house was on a double lot. Never mind that it was a historically-significant home. Never mind that it had lots of improvements. Nope. They just looked at the houses nearby that sold and went from there.

Then we found an agent who knew the area and said, "What? That's crazy. You can get a lot more for that." And we took her advice. She warned us that it would take longer to sell at a higher price point, but that we would be able to find someone eventually.

And she was right. We sold our house for almost 50% more than what the first two agents said we would. So she was worth every dime of commission she earned.

So you knew your house was worth more than the first 2 agents told you but you gave someone 6% to tell you what you alrady knew? I don't follow that logic. Why not set your price, adveritse, sell it and keep 100% for yourself? I had 2 people wait unitl their cotracts expired for me to buy their house because I would not buy through an agent. Plus I knew they would take less because they were willing to give some of it to an agent. I am sure it's the way my father raisesd me. He would never buy a house through an agent. I saw him get prices reduced by doing so over the years. But I am sure there is some convience to having someone else do the listing and showing for you. I do tend to do things for myself when possible to save money. I do my own taxes, incorporte my own business, buy and sell my own homes. And since as you say 85% of the agents are just there to take part of your money, why let them?

cpg35223 · 09-23-2014, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BishopRidge

So you knew your house was worth more than the first 2 agents told you but you gave someone 6% to tell you what you alrady knew? I don't follow that logic. Why not set your price, adveritse, sell it and keep 100% for yourself? I had 2 people wait unitl their cotracts expired for me to buy their house because I would not buy through an agent. Plus I knew they would take less because they were willing to give some of it to an agent. I am sure it's the way my father raisesd me. He would never buy a house through an agent. I saw him get prices reduced by doing so over the years. But I am sure there is some convience to having someone else do the listing and showing for you. I do tend to do things for myself when possible to save money. I do my own taxes, incorporte my own business, buy and sell my own homes. And since as you say 85% of the agents are just there to take part of your money, why let them?

That's nice.

But a really good agent is working the phones, talking up your property, getting your home in on the house tours, networking with other realtors, making sure the property is in salable condition,and generally busting it on your behalf in ways that just banging a For Sale sign in the yard just won't do, sorry. What's more, I'm pretty sure that a really good agent will get more value for your home than you could.

I mean, hey, if you think you can do a better job and want to spend all the hours doing it, knock yourself out. As a guy who owns his own biz and raises kids and does about a million other things at the same time, I simply don't have the time.