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WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIST2MOVE AND AMERICA'S CHOICE? |
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HOW DO I CHOOSE THE BEST FLAT FEE BROKER FOR MY NEEDS? |
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HOW DO BUYERS EARN 50% OF YOUR COMMISSIONS? |
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Q. CAN I OFFER COMMISSIONS BASED UPON MY OWN SELLING STRATEGY?
Yes! That is the beauty of List2Move.com! Full service agents, who are still charging 6% to list homes on the Realtor MLS, are still demanding a 3% commission for their agent counterparts ... but ... at List2Move.com, we respect our home owner's selling strategy. Sellers, after all, are paying the commissions for the very people who are actually negotiating against them. Buyers' agents are working in the best interests of their clients (well, they should be anyway!) and the dictate that sellers "owe" them 3% for their "services" is long outdated!
Listed below are some of the commission strategies utilized by our clients when listing their homes on the Realtor MLS:
The $1.00 commission
Clients list their home at $1.00 for myriad reasons. Some just plain want to work with buyers in an effort to save the entire 6%. This strategy works best for clients who are offering a desirable product at the right price and want to attract buyers without agents.
This strategy has worked for many of our clients. To date this year, 41 % of our clients have successfully sold their homes without any commissions at all. That means that they saved 3% on the selling side and 3% on the buying side! (For those that buy their new home with List2Move.com, the savings are even greater because we split our buying agency commissions with our buyers straight down the middle! The earnings can then climb up to 71/2%!)
The flat fee commission
Clients who opt for this plan, decide for themselves what they feel is a fair commission. The great thing about the flat fee commission, is that like the $1.00 commission above, sellers are in a position to negotiate.
One of our very first clients utilized this strategy. When a buyer's agent called the seller with a qualified buyer, she asked him if he would negotiate the commission for her services. Our client negotiated a commission that satisfied not only the buyer's agent but that still came no where near the 3% he would have paid on his higher end home under the old rules of 6%! (Clients with higher end homes don't understand why they pay so much more in commissions and who can blame them? Research tells us that it takes the buyer's agent about 40 hours to complete a transaction - regardless of the price of the home.)
Another example comes from my own experience as a seller. When selling two of my own investment properties at the same time in 2007, I utilized a 3% commission on one (on a less desirable street) and a flat fee on the other (on a nicer street.) Same buyer for both properties, same buyer's agent for both properties, but different commission strategies. The money that I saved more than made up for the occasional complaints from agents!
Broker advice for those opting for flat fee commissions: Be open to negotiations. It has been our experience that professional agents will not complain - they will negotiate. They are getting the notion that times are changing and if they are working with a qualified buyer, professional agents will call sellers to professionally negotiate their services. (If though, the thought of negotiating with agents intimidates you, this might not be your best option.)
The Percentage Commission
A commission of 1% and 2% is acceptable and many clients appreciate that they now have that option. Be realistic about your home and what you believe is fair for bringing in buyers. Some homes sell themselves through price, location and desirability. Don't leave money on the table. For the home though, that could use the boost that a buyer's agent might bring, upping the commission through negations is an option. It is a slow market at the moment and some agents would rather earn 1% or 2% in commissions than nothing at all. Remember though, you are selling your home to buyers, not agents.
(Some buyers have understood the work that their agents have put forth on their behalf and have paid the buyer agency commission themselves. It is another option available to sellers who wish to pay less than the typical 6% of the past. The buyer's agent, is unless otherwise disclosed, working for his buyer best interests and not for yours.)
THE FREEDOM OF OPTIONS!!
The option to declare commissions is setting sellers FREE from the high cost of selling real estate. It is a long time coming and those that are willing to think out of the box are reaping serious savings! The best part of listing your home with List2Move.com, is that as a seller, you are never locked into one selling strategy. Want to play with commissions? You can. Any time you wish to raise or lower the commissions that you have offered to a buyers agent - you can - with your own computer and on your own time frame. List2Move.com is completely automated and data-driven and sellers can tweak their strategies anytime, day or night, with the stroke of a few keys! It is your selling strategy and your money! Enjoy the freedom of naming your own commissions and ... saving the THOUSANDS of DOLLARS that comes with it!
Q. WILL AGENTS "SNUB" MY LISTING?
Boycotting and Steering are against the law but it has been the experience of our clients these past four years that some agents are not overly concerned with the law - or even pretending to be.
If you are marketing to buyers on the MLS Public Sister Sites (Homesteadnet.com, Realtor.com, ect.) you may wish to utilize the no or little commissions strategy. If you are marketing to buyers on MLS Public Sister Sites and to agents on the MLS, you may wish to offer commissions.
We have an arsenal of stories from clients regarding agents who call them to say that they will not bring by buyers and even in some instances ... that their entire office is boycotting the listing! This upsets some clients - but not others. In the cases where it concerns sellers, most offer commissions. In the cases where it does not - sellers opt to market to buyers and save the commissions on both the selling and buying side. (That is the reason that so many of our sellers have saved the entire 6%. )
We also have stories though, regarding agents who are every bit the professional and ethical agents that the Greater Rochester Association of Realtors would hope that they would be. Professional agents call to negotiate - not to harass. These are the agents with whom it is a pleasure to work and you will recognize them them by the way in which they treat not only their clients but by how they treat you!
Buyer's agents are hired by buyers with the expectation that the agent will put his own feelings aside and do what is in the buyers interests - NOT HIS OWN! An agent that readily admits to you that he does just the opposite, is telling you more about his own moral and professional codes than he probably should.
(We ourselves, as buyer's agents, have stepped away from more than a few deals and the commissions when it is in the best interest of the client.)
The bottom line is that some agents are not above threatening home sellers with boycotting. It just is a fact of life for now. If working with agents is a part of your strategy, you may wish to include commissions based upon your own estimation of your home. If you are marketing to buyers on the MLS Public Sister sites and decide to omit commissions, that too ... is your option!
Note: One agent who tried to shield his client from a listing in 2008 because he did not like the lower commission shot himself in the foot doing it. When the buyer found the listing on Homesteadnet.com on his own a few days later he asked his agent why the home had not been presented to him. The agent in fact not only lost a buyer and a commission (the buyer made the deal on his own with our client) but a great deal of self respect too.
* Remember - rogue agents are all talk... and they can only make you miserable if... you let them!
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Q: WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIST2MOVE AND AMERICA'S CHOICE?
List2move is a Real Estate Brokerage. When you list your home with List2Move, your listing goes directly onto to the Realtor MLS. The Realtor MLS is the Realtor database upon which Realtors list their Full Service - Full Commissioned Home Sellers. The Realtor MLS includes the entire Realtor Network, including Homesteadnet.com (in Rochester), Realtor.com, Realtor Websites, the Democrat and Chronicle, and hundreds of other national websites tied into the Realtor Network.
America’s Choice DOES NOT list your home on the Realtor MLS! Your home is listed on their own personal marketing website. If you want the Realtor MLS - you must list your home with them Full Service. They call it 2.5% Direct and you must offer compensation to a buyer’s broker and America’s Choice will take a percentage of the selling price of your home for themselves as well! How does that save money?
List2Move and America’s Choice have very different philosophies and business models. America’s Choice is one of many marketing websites on the internet - List2Move lists Home Sellers on the Realtor MLS!Back to Top
Q. HOW DO I CHOOSE THE BEST FLAT FEE BROKER FOR MY NEEDS?
First and foremost - Be certain that your home will be listed on the Realtor MLS! Some companies are not Brokers at all - but private marketing websites! Why pay $500.00 - $1000.00 to be listed on yet just another private website?
There are many differences between the services that National Flat Fee Companies offer and those services offered by Local Broker Owned Companies like List2Move.
Many National Companies bid your listing to local Brokers who have little to gain or lose with your selling success or failure. You are listed on the Realtor MLS and ... very little else! List2Move brokers are Boots on the Ground brokers who own their own businesses. Seller success is their success and as owners of their own company, they have a stake in the experience of every client!
Some National Companies list properties on the Realtor MLS but, as out of state brokers, are not gaining access to the Local Public Sister Sites! That means that you are getting only half of what you pay for! You are in essence only displaying to agents and NOT to buyers! List2Move Brokers are members of their local Realtor MLS boards and as such, their listings display on the ever important Local Public Sister Sites!
Some Brokers are Full Service Brokers who are not particularly interested in your success selling By Owner! Their main goal in listing you on the Realtor MLS is to convert you later down the road into full service and full commissions paying clients. Beware! His best interests may not be yours! List2Move does not offer full service realty. When asked, we will refer, but will not act as a Full Service Agent. Our business model is to show sellers how to sell ... without the commissions!
National Companies whose brokers live states away from yours can not keep abreast of local laws and changes regarding real estate or even the local Realtor MLS. List2Move Brokers know their territory and their Realtor MLS!
Choosing the Right Flat Fee Broker can Make or Break Your Success Selling by Owner.
Be Sure that Yours is as Interested in Your Success as are You!
Q: FULL SERVICE AGENTS SAY THE PAPERWORK IS DAUNTING AND THAT I COULD MAKE A MISTAKE. THEY CITE EXPERIENCE AND MARKETING AS A REASON TO PAY OUT 6%. ANY THOUGHTS ON THAT?
Our flat fee clients are given all of the paperwork and disclosure forms necessary to ensure compliance with NYS laws and guidelines. Have a question? Call or email us or speak to your lawyer.
As for experience; per the National Association, in 2005, 24% of Realtor® sale associates have been less than 1 year in the business! If you do, decide to list full service, check out how long your Realtor® has been in the business and their reputation. There are a lot of really great, professional Realtor®s out there that deserve their hard-won reputations. Be sure to find one! If you are going to pay 6% or 7%, you may as well pay for the best! If you want an unbiased opinion call us. We have the stats on every agent.
As far as marketing goes: If you are listed on the same Realtor® MLS that full service Realtors® utilize in the marketing of their listings, what do they have that you don't?
(Remember, less than 5% of full service Realtor®s sell their own listings. Selling their own listing means that they find the buyer, as opposed to the buyer or buyer's agent finding them on the Realtor® MLS).
Full service Realtors® rely on the same Realtor®MLS database that flat fee listers do. There is no magic in real estate - just tools of the trade; exposure being primary!
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Q: HOW DO BUYERS EARN 50% OF YOUR COMMISSIONS?
Since buyers today are searching for homes themselves on MLS Public Sites, some of the work that buyer's agents do is done for them. Why shouldn't buyers be rewarded for their efforts? We set buyers up on MLS Sites (new homes listed on the MLS within buyer parameters come right to their emails everyday) and when they find the homes that they are interested in - we set the appointments! We write the contracts and guide buyers through the process of purchasing their new homes. After closing, we split our commissions with our buyers ... in half!
Buyers Purchasing List2Move Listings Excluded - 250K Minimum - 3% Buying Agency Minimum
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Q: CAN I ADD SERVICES TO MY LISTING AS I GO?
Sure. Come back to our website anytime and purchase services on line. It is your selling strategy. Tweak it whenever necessary, and at your own convenience!
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Q: WHAT HAPPENS IF I LIST FLAT FEE BUT WISH LATER TO LIST FULL SERVICE?
You may withdraw your listing at anytime. List2Move® will refund your flat fee listing cost upon the sale of your property, if you choose to use a full service Realtor® referred to you by us. (Win/Win Disclosure: We receive a referral fee directly from the broker/agent and pass your listing fees back on to you at the closing table.)
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Q: YOU MENTION THAT YOU ARE A FULL SERVICE BROKERAGE. ARE YOU A MEMBER OF THE LOCAL MLS?
Yes. Roxwell Properties, Inc. is a member of the Greater Rochester Association of Realtors. Our broker is a New York State Real Estate Broker and a Certified Real Estate Instructor. He is also a recipient of the GRAR Sales Master Gold Award. He sits on the GRAR Ethics Committee and the MLS Board.
All affiliates are also members of their local Realtor MLS.
We are excited about the changes being wrought in the real estate industry by new technologies. We love what we do and sharing our knowledge and experience with our clients ... sellers and buyers!
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