By Owner MLS

Listing your home on the MLS for a flat fee, or by owner MLS, is rapidly gaining popularity. Especially in todays market when we have seen declining house values resulting in less equity.  

With declining house values it can be important to save on comissions whenever it is possible. It can also mean that your property sits on the market for many months due to having to having a higher asking price to be able to cover the comissions.

 With declining house values it can be important to save on comissions whenever it is possible. It can also mean that your property sits on the market for many months due to having to hav a higher asking price to be able to cover the comissions.

FSBO, or for sale by owner, means you are sellng without using an agent, thus saving 2-4% in comissions. (Rates vary depending on location) Going it alone without an agent means that you are in charge of advertising your property yourself.

While there are a number of free classified ad sites online one can use to advertise such as Craigs List, posting there is tedious, time consuming and fraught with many rules.

One of the best and most cost effective ways to get your property in front the most amount of potential buyers is to list you property on the MLS by doing a "By owner MLS" or "Flat Fee MLS".

This means you are contracting with a licensed agent to place your property on the MLS only. This agent will not show the property or represent you, they will only place your listing in the data base.

What is the MLS?
The MLS is the database where all licensed agents, and all the By owner MLS, place their listings and property information. The MLS is the first place agents search when having a client looking for a home. It is estimated that about 90% of homes are sold through an MLS listing.

The MLS is also published on several high traffic web sites where the public can view the properties without engaging an agent.

By doing an by owner MLS listing you not only get superb visibility, you can also out price your competition who may be using a full service broker with the applicable comissions.

With so many homes on the market it is not uncommon to have several houses for sale on the same street. Saving on the comission by doing a by owner MLS listing, you can lower your price to make it more attractive to a buyer. Price is really important in a buyers market.

You can find by owner mls listing brokers from $79 to $399 and above. Do read the fine print. Make sure there are no hidden "processing fees" or other fees beside the flat fee you paid to get your property listed.