This article written by Keith Gordon, Broker for ADDvantage Real Estate Services™, for flat fee MLS customers in Florida (www.getmoreoffers.com)
ADDvantage's™ broker, Keith Gordon, has been a licensed Florida real estate broker since 1984. ADDvantage™ has been offering Florida customers flat fee MLS since 2005. Prior to ADDvantage™, its broker Keith Gordon offered one of Florida first flat fee MLS services called Miami Pro Realty, based in South Beach, Florida. ADDvantage™ replaced Miami Pro Realty in 2005 expanding to 18 Florida MLS boards offering more flat fee MLS programs to Florida sellers.
Yes they do. Again, same principle as above. Buyer leads are value and can generate $5,000-$30,000 in commission. Why mess around with a flat fee MLS “fee” when you can trick the Florida public into a flat fee MLS listing that favors the Florida flat fee MLS service. Carefully read their Florida Flat Fee MLS Listing Agreement or choose a Florida Flat Fee MLS service that offers a clean traditional flat fee MLS listing with no strings attached such as ADDvantage™. Our Florida Flat Fee MLS Listing Agreement is designed to support the Florida flat fee MLS seller's Rights. View ADDvantages™ Florida Flat Fee MLS Listing Agreement.
If they disclose this in their Florida Flat fee MLS Listing Agreement it is more legitimate from a legal sense. If they don't, there remains no rule that says a Florida flat fee MLS listing services must hand over all buyer leads to the Florida flat fee MLS listed seller. Caveat emptor!
Because ADDvantage™ is direct members of 18 Florida MLS boards. We input and control our Florida flat fee MLS listings without the use of what's called “third party” inputting of a listing. Our Florida flat fee MLS seller's receive 100% of buyer leads from Realtor.com, Homes.com, yard sign calls and other Internet sources. ADDvantage™ offers Florida sellers a traditional flat fee MLS listing in their local board and we never miss buyer calls or Realtor® requests for showings. We do this 8:00-8:00, 7 days a week. All buyer leads are forwarded in real time to our client flat fee MLS sellers.
These websites are literally just websites. They lack: (1) MLS administrators; (2) are not direct members of any Florida MLS boards; (3) there is no consistency or reliability of service; (4) they have no MLS flat fee listing software; (5) The Florida flat fee MLS seller has no idea if the third party referral broker will answer their phone or forward buyer leads; (6) Edits to the Florida flat fee MLS listing are not reliable.
Read our testimonials. Our Florida sellers trust us because we are available 8:00-8:00, 7 days a week. We are the only Florida discount flat rate real estate company in Florida that keeps hours like this…
The real estate business is all about sales leads. Because our Florida flat fee MLS sellers are typically self-represented, they rely upon us to capture all possible sales leads. Florida flat fee MLS sellers are not always available when Realtors® call. If they don't reach the flat fee MLS seller, they immediately call ADDvantage™. Therefore, we close this “unavailability gap” 12 hours a day and help Realtors® show more Florida flat fee MLS listed properties…that is if you list flat fee MLS with us!
Yes. With ADDvantage, our Florida flat fee MLS sellers get same day service on all their MLS edits. We have three full-time MLS administrators.
Yes. Most of our leads (buyers) come from Realtor.com and Homes.com. We just partnered with “themovechannel.co.uk” to reach the outside Florida to the UK and Europe.
Yes we are. The IDX feed is a partnership agreement between the National Association of Realtors®, your local Florida MLS board and the listing broker. IDX feeds allow local Realtors® websites such as remax.com, Coldwellbanker.com and others to display a broker's listing on their sites. This draws more buyer interest to a property and is critically important for the Florida flat fee MLS service to have their IDX feeds properly configured. Many Florida flat fee MLS services and national flat fee MLS websites do not have IDX feeds because the listing broker must take the necessary steps to authorize such a feed. The broker must be licensed in Florida and belong to the local MLS board as well.
ADDvantage™ offers four levels of flat fee MLS service in Florida. MLS ADDvantage™, Street Smart ADDvantage™, ADDvantage Plus™, and ADDvantage Works™. ADDvantage Plus™ and ADDvantage Works™ come with full contract to close representation.
Yes, Florida flat fee MLS sellers would just pay the difference between what you have already paid and the cost of the new plan.
ADDvantage™ is the only Florida flat fee MLS company that publishes its sales statistics on its website. As of 7/22/2007, ADDvantage™ has sold 33% of its listed properties.
Buyer lead capture and our long phone hours are key to helping Florida flat fee MLS sellers close more deals. Florida flat fee MLS sellers can rely on ADDvantage™ not to miss a single Realtor® call for showing instructions or mishandle a buyer lead by email. Our entire business model for Florida flat fee MLS sellers is lead capture and marketing. We are the only Florida flat fee MLS service that gives all buyer lead to our flat fee MLS sellers in such a reliable manner.
Florida Realtors® are responsible for over 80% of all homes sold, including flat fee MLS listed homes.
Yes. You have a few choices. (1) Offer 1% buyer's agent commission(co-broke) and few if any estate agents will be interested in showing your Florida flat fee MLS listed home; (2) List your home flat fee in the MLS and hold firm with your listed price so if you get a deal, it is at your ask price; (3) List through a Florida MLS board which is not your “local” board so “local” Realtors® will not see the flat fee MLS listing. Although, this will not stop a user (general public) of Realtor.com from calling their agent and saying…”there's a home listed in Realtor.com...please get the details…in this case, then the Realtor® will likely call the flat fee MLS company and asked your details such as “the co-broke” commission.
FSBO: The Florida market is now a “buyers market.” FSBO works best in a seller's market because marketing is not crucial. Another disadvantage of selling FSBO is loss of the selling power of Realtors®. The National Association of Realtors® says…sellers that use Realtors® in Florida will get more for their home. ADDvantage's™ broker, Keith Gordon, agrees. As well, prolific real estate websites such as Realtor.com, Homes.com and themovechannel.co.uk are not available to FSBO sellers.
Flat Fee MLS in Florida: Listing flat fee in the MLS in Florida means the seller pays “no listing commission*”. Sellers pay only the agent representing the buyer a commission, plus the flat fee paid upfront. Flat fee MLS prices in Florida vary from “FREE” to $599, depending on the quality of Florida flat fee MLS listing service. www.getmoreoffers.com offers tfour programs: MLS ADDvantage*trade;-$349; Street Smart ADDvantage™-$599; ADDvantage PLUS-$799 plus $500 at close and ADDvantage WORKS™-$1299 plus $500 at close.
*Florida flat fee MLS offers come with many asterisks. ADDvantage™ offers a traditional form of flat fee MLS with no strings attached. This means the Florida flat fee MLS seller can cancel anytime and there is never a penalty. Before you list flat fee MLS in Florida, please read the flat fee MLS agreement carefully. ADDvantage™ offers its Florida flat fee MLS sellers an “articulate” flat fee MLS listing agreement. It is free of penalties, cancellation fees, and is written to favor of the Florida flat fee MLS property seller. Once you read it, you might think Ralph Nader wrote it.
Full-service: A full service listing will cost the seller between 6-7%. Normally 3% of this total commission goes to the listing agent as a listing commission and the remainder is offered as a co-brokerage commission to any “outside” agent that finds a buyer. Some Florida discount real estate companies will take a 4-5% listing. Listing commissions are worthless 95% of the time unless; (i) the listing agent is well connected to buyers; (ii) the seller is not available to help in the showings and cannot lockbox the property because it is occupied;
Florida Realtors® are motivated by commissions. The smart thinking behind Street Smart ADDvantage™ is to offer a higher than a normal 3% buyer's agent commission (that's the commission the agent representing the buyer would earn) in an effort to garner a higher offer and more attention from Realtors®.
Our proprietary Street Smart ADDvantage™ e-mail system sends a bi-monthly email to all Florida Realtors® living or working within 35 miles of a Street Smart ADDvantage™ listed property informing them of the “higher than average” commission being offered on your Florida property. Click here to see the number of Realtors® who will receive the eblast of the property that you are considering listed with Street Smart ADDvantage™. These Realtors® will have the opportunity to see your listing twice a month. If the Realtors® click the link of your Street Smart ADDvantage™ listed property, they will arrive at ADDvantage's™ website. Our site tracks all Realtor® hits from the Street Smart ADDvantage™ eblast so you can gauge the activity.
Street Smart ADDvantage™ emails are well received by Florida Realtors® because the message is about earning money. A typical Street Smart ADDvantage™ eblast contains 10 Florida flat fee MLS properties all offering a high buyer's agent commission (4% or greater). This type of email is informative. Street Smart ADDvantage™ tracks readership by Florida Realtors® which now stands at 13%.
A Realtor.com Showcase upgraded listing is included with Street Smart ADDvantage™ listings. Check out more on Street Smart ADDvantage™ at http://www.getmoreoffers.com/streethome.asp
To list your property on the MLS for a Flat-Fee in Florida, visit ADDvantage™ Real Estate