FSBO MLS

Homeowners who choose to sell their home on their own, without using a real estate agent, need to have a way to effectively market and advertise their property in a way that is both cost effective and gets lots of visibility.

Advertising your FSBO  in the news paper can cost a bundle of money, and may not be all that effective since the majority of home buyers are shopping for homes online.

Having a for sale sign on your lawn is of course a must, but how much traffic do you really get on your street?

FSBO (For Sale By owner) MLS

A great way to market your property is to use the same service that real estate agents use, the MLS. The MLS, (multiple listing service) is a data base of all properties for sale that are listed with an agent. The MLS is the first place all agents look when they have a buyer who is shopping for a home.

Enter the Flat Fee MLS

Since the mid nineties sellers can take advantage of what is called the "flat fee MLS" or, "fixed rate MLS"
which means you will contract a licensed real estate agent, or broker, sometimes referred to as "flat fee brokers" to list your property on the MLS, but not to represent you in the sale.

A contract will be drawn up between you and the flat fee broker calling for the broker to include your listing and all property information in the MLS in exchange for a set fee.

A flat fee service can save you a lot of money. They typiccaly cost between $79 and $499 depending on what services are included. Compare that to the (average) 3% your agent would have collected at the closing... For a $300,000 sale, that would be $9000 in savings!

Why do a FSBO MLS?

FSBO MLS have numerous advantages to both you the seller, the buyer, and even their agent. Saving the fee of the sellers agent can allow you to be more flexibel if you need to sell fast. You can have the option of setting a more attractive price for your property, allowing for a faster sale.

In order to make your property the one that the agents will show their clients first (out of the list of hundreds) you could offer the buyers agent a higher comission as an incentive. The more money they will make on the transaction the more they will show YOUR home.

You could also not allow any agents at all, saving the total amount of the 6% comission. This would probably make your house take a lot longer to sell as most buyers do involve an agent.

A FSBO MLS listing can save you a lot of money, keep you in charge of the transaction, and make you more flexible than your competition.