I'm not certain which is worse. Probably it's selling a house, because your pain lasts so much longer.
Truth about flat-fee listings
We tried a flat-fee listing this time where you pay a fee for listing on the MLS, get a sign and a lockbox and nothing more. You are responsible for marketing and selling your home. Sounds great? Usually the listing agent doesn't do a lot to earn the large commission, so you can save some bucks by doing it yourself.
We had a hard time finding a flat fee lister in Illinois. We did find one and $700 later we thought we were all set. ($200 to an online agency to find a broker and $500 to the agent) We were wrong.
Turns out that Illinois became the first state to require real estate agents to provide minimal service (i.e. no flat-fee listings). The Realtors promoted this bill on the pretense that it prevents them from representing both sides of negotiation (which of course they'll do if they sell their own listing). The truth is that they just want to protect their listing agent commissions.
Our Realtor was a gem and agreed to handle the negotiations and closing for what we paid him as that was the deal. The local MLS was threatening to ban him if he didn't. We wound up giving him an additional $500 to help with closing and he did earn his money as local city inspections wound up requiring a bunch of repairs on 0ur home (another major issue).
Tips if you decide on flat-fee listing
Before you try a flat-listing, here's my advice:
- Make sure your state allows it. If you get wind they're considering legislation like Illinois, write your legislator and have them vote against it.
- Select a title company before you sell and find out what assistance they'll give you.
- Don't do a flat-fee listing if you have to move before the house sells. If you're long distance you really need a Realtor.
- Don't waste a lot of money on newspaper advertising. Most of all your leads will come from the MLS.
No comments:
Post a Comment