We have some great news, but you need to HURRY
Selling a home is changing rapidly. A little over 25% of my company’s current sales have come from buyers who are not represented by a real estate agent. These buyers are using tools such as Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia and the thousands of other websites that are now displaying listings. They are looking at the pictures and studying the interiors, driving through neighborhoods, taking flyers and then calling the owners of our listings and making appointments to view the property. Now is the ideal time for using Realtor.com and other sites as a great tool to sell your home.
Realtor.com is owned by the National Association of Realtors, and the only way to get on there is to list with a real estate broker. Even if you are not excited about selling your property through a broker, it is important to get on Realtor.com. Mills Realty can list your property with a low buyer’s agent commission and when you are ready you can increase the commission at anytime.
To see what your buyer will see, go to Realtor.com and enter your search criteria that matches your home. It will show you what your competition looks like and you can strategize accordingly. Pay attention to how many homes do not have interior photos. According to the Multiple Listing Service, only half of all listings have more than one photo. Realtor.com ran a survey of buyers and reported that they do not spend time looking at listings without interior pictures. This is where you need to HURRY and get your home on Realtor.com because there are obviously a lot of homes that are not being marketed in the way buyers are shopping today.
What is the perfect selling strategy?
I get asked regularly, “What is the best way to market and sell my home?” The answer is simply: “Get all of your bases covered.” This means getting your property on the multiple listing service, advertising as a “For Sale By Owner (FSBO),” and of paramount importance is to keep your selling costs down so when an offer comes in, you have the flexibility to actually sell it without losing your hard earned equity and profit to high real estate commissions. With the brainpower of like-minded Realtors across the country I have perfected a plan that helps you do just that.
It is important to have your property listed on the Multiple Listing Service AND to remain a “For Sale By Owner”. There are two main categories of buyers that are found in the marketplace: Those represented by real estate agents, and those who are not. Those that are represented by real estate agents are first time homebuyers and out of area relocation buyers. Those who are not represented by a real estate agent are the local house changer and the investor. If you are only marketing your property as a “For Sale By Owner,” then you are likely only attracting half of the buyers in the market. If you list with an agent under an exclusive listing agreement, then you are only targeting the other half of the buyers. It is important that you have all areas of the market covered. It is a simple strategy; if you target your marketing with all buyers in mind then you are more likely to sell your home.
Mills Realty uses both marketing strategies so that our clients Get all of your bases covered while saving thousand of dollars in commissions. Being listed in the Multiple Listing Service (by an agent) has, and continues to be, the #1 way to get your home sold which is why the phrase “agents protected” is often seen in For Sale By Owner marketing material to attract buyer’s agents and their clients. Unfortunately, the consumer has not had the ability to market their property on their own and be listed with an agent on the MLS at the same time. Traditional brokerages do not allow a seller to sell on their own and pay no commission to the brokerage. I have eliminated this archaic business practice through my own company, allowing you to have a groundbreaking, profitable and proven way to sell your home.
As a For Sale By Owner, why do agents not bring their buyer clients to view your home?
An exclusive buyer’s agent scours the MLS to find properties that meet their buyer’s requirements. Once they have identified a list of properties they map them out, call the sellers to schedule appointments and then drive their client around and show them the properties. They do not have time to go through FSBO websites, newspapers or drive the neighborhoods trying to find For Sale By Owner properties. The truth is there are so many properties to see on the MLS that the client will likely find a property to buy and the agent does not need to look any further.
When an agent runs across a For Sale By Owner property that has a sign out they will sometimes stop and call the number on the sign. Usually the sellers are not home, so the agent leaves a message to call them back as soon as possible, stating that they have a buyer with them and that they are out showing properties. All too often the seller calls back when it is too late as the agent is on a tight schedule and is already in another area showing their buyer other. Rarely will an agent go back to the “For Sale By Owner” since the buyer has likely found a property from one the agent has already shown them.
The other problem that most agents have when they are trying to show “For Sale By Owner” properties is their own client. Most agents do not have their client sign a Buyer Brokerage Agreement wherein the agent will get paid no matter what home their client buys. They fear that if their client likes the “For Sale By Owner” property that they will go direct to the seller and not pay them for their time.
The For Sale By Owners that are offering, “agents protected” are correct in their approach. The problem is it just does not work as well as listing your property on the MLS. When your property is listed on the MLS, all agents know that they are going to get paid because the listing agent has a binding agreement from the seller that they are paying a set commission.
The bottom line
In today’s real estate market the MLS is still the main reason homes get sold. Perhaps in the future that will change with new technology becoming available to the consumer. Due to the Internet, there has already been a major shift in power, but for now the bottom line is as long as buyer’s agents only search the multiple listing service to find homes, the MLS will reign supreme as the #1 search tool for everyone buying a home.
Our hope and goal is for you to sell your property as a For Sale By Owner even while you are listed with our program. However, to be seriously on the market we know that you need the multiple listing service as well as internet exposure as part of your marketing campaign. Thanks for taking the time and allowing me to share my insights on today’s real estate industry with you. I am passionate about what I do!
Simon Mills, Broker
