This article written by Keith Gordon, Broker for ADDvantage Real Estate Services™, for flat fee MLS customers in Key West and the Florida Keys (www.getmoreoffers.com)
Because buyer leads from Realtor.com, Homes.com, the flat fee company's website, yard signs with the flat fee MLS company's number on it and other lead sources are more valuable than the small income these flat fee MLS services receive from their flat fee MLS operations.
Buyer leads are valuable in the sense that they lead to commissions for buyer's agents. Therefore buyer leads are in high demand. Many Florida flat fee MLS operations are just a front for collecting buyer leads. And it's not just the cheap flat fee MLS listing companies…Even some of the more pricey services are taking the buyer leads from their clients.
Considering that the average buyer's agent commission is about 3%, on a $500,000 Key West flat fee MLS listed home, the commission at stake is $15,000. The flat fee MLS company who doesn't pass on unrepresented leads to their FSBO clients doesn't give the flat fee MLS seller the opportunity to ever avoid paying that 3% commission. In other words, the seller isn't really a FSBO at all…they are essentially entering into a convoluted 3% exclusive listing arrangement with the “flat fee” MLS company. In most cases, this important detail isn't even disclosed in the listing agreement. ADDvantage™ forwards all buyer leads to our sellers unless expressly requested to do otherwise. And we spell this out in our Florida Flat Fee MLS Listing Agreement.
ADDvantage™ sees the flat fee MLS industry differently. Keith R. Gordon, broker for Florida ADDvantage™ says, “We are a traditional flat fee MLS service that has an honest approach to everything we do. Though this appears to be the exception these days, we hold high ethical standards and intend to maintain our integrity because a good business is built on trust. We believe our clients will respect us for this and turn to us for other real estate needs such as full service or buying. We are launching our new buyer's website called Buyerskey.com in early 2008. Our flat fee MLS clients will receive a free listing in Buyerskey.com to help promote a sale without having to pay a commission.”
With over 77% of buyers using the Internet to find a home, your Florida Keys property needs Internet marketing perfection. ADDvantage™ has authorized the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) and the Marathon Association of Realtors® to feed your MLS listed property to all Realtor® (broker or agent) websites. Any Florida Keys or Monroe County real estate website that is powered by an NAR approved IDX feed will carry your Florida Keys flat fee MLS listing. This is an important marketing tool because websites such as Remax, Coldwell Banker and others will be advertising for you.
Brits have the strong currency and these buyers use Europe's most prolific real estate website for FSBOs, the themovechannel.co.uk. Valuable pounds and Euro dollars makes marketing to these Western Europeans an important buyer resource for your Key West, Marathon and Middle Keys property. ADDvantage™ clients can opt in to the international marketing for free but because of the requirements set forth by The Move Channel, ADDvantage™ must represent those buyer leads and pay back a referral fee to The Move Channel. This means that as the seller, you are still only paying one commission but if a sale is procured via a buyer from themovechannel.co.uk, ADDvantage™ will earn the offered co-broke commission.
The more you understand the mechanics of a traditional flat fee MLS listing, the more you will realize that ADDvantage™ offers a flat fee MLS listing service to that is in the best interest of the Florida flat fee MLS seller…with literally no strings attached.
There are 2 critical components of listing flat fee MLS in the Florida Keys:
Hence the reason why a flat fee MLS company's role is important and the better that flat fee MLS answers the phone, the more Realtor® showings will result. That is why ADDvantage™ believes answering the phone live for Florida Keys flat fee MLS sellers is critical to the selling process.
ADDvantage's™ newest way for Conch's to save time and money is list flat fee MLS using our $49 MLS Fast List …this service is offered by the Florida Keys' most trusted flat fee MLS service…ADDvantage™. If you have decided to market your home FSBO with MLS consider using our fastest way to list.
All we need is your current or expired MLS number, address and payment of $49. Our Florida Keys flat fee MLS administrator will reconstruct a new flat fee MLS listing on our site using the previous data, check the Monroe County tax rolls and send you a link to verify the new MLS flat fee listing and you'll on your way the very same day.
It takes just a few hours to get flat fee MLS listed in the Florida Keys using MLS fast List. Once we have your account at ADDvantage™ set up, pick one of our flat fee MLS plans all designed to save you money while not compromising service or marketing.
ADDvantage WORKS™ offers Florida Keys flat fee MLS sellers a combination of FSBO flat fee MLS marketing designed for sellers looking for a way to market like a professional agent would but without paying the price to hire one. Makes sense…no one wants to waste money on listing commissions so use a discount MLS service where all the commission goes to the agent representing the buyer.
Next, pick a flat fee MLS plan that offers:
ADDvantage™ is the only full service or flat fee MLS Florida Keys real estate company to actually have 12 hours a day live phone coverage. As well, ADDvantage™ is the only flat fee MLS FSBO service in the Florida Keys that has a method of getting the Florida Keys Realtors® to pay special attention to your Keys property for sale.
If you get more Realtor® showings, your chances of finding a qualified buyer dramatically improve. That is why ADDvantage™ offers Street Smart ADDvantage™ to all its Florida FSBO MLS sellers. This program was designed around research that supports the theory that Realtors® are motivated by higher than normal commissions. No kidding, we all know that!
If you want to read about this “money motivation” concept, check out the Wired Magazine article that inspired the flat fee MLS program Street Smart ADDvantage™.
The math and logic behind Street Smart ADDvantage™ is rather straight forward. If a Florida Keys home is worth $1,000,000 and the seller is offering a 3% buyer's agent commission, then the offered commission is $30,000. If the Keys flat fee MLS seller offering another1% commission, this extra “carrot” costs the Florida Keys home seller $10,000 more (4% commission).
Reasons why it may be more advantageous to offer a 4% or even a 5% buyer's agent commission:
Reason One: 1% costs the flat fee MLS seller $10,000. When negotiating an offer, the agent or unrepresented buyer will be negotiating at $30,000 increments, not $10,000. At the end of negotiations, the Florida Keys FSBO with MLS seller could end up with a higher net even after paying 1% more to the buyer's agent in commission. See our Street Smart ADDvantage™ interactive table to calculate your net with varied commission percentages.
Reason Two: Street Smart ADDvantage™ Realtor® email blast is extensive. Enter your Florida Keys zip code _________ and see how many Realtors® live or work with our 35-45 mile grid. This means _________ Florida Keys Realtors® all being active members of a Florida Keys Association of Realtors® will be receiving your special commission offer of 4% or greater (the minimum commission that must be offered to participate in the Street Smart ADDvantage™ Realtor® eblast program) twice per month.
View a sample of Florida Keys Street Smart ADDvantage™ Realtor® eblast
The ADDvantage™ website tracks the click throughs from the Street Smart eblast (see sample of Tracking Leads).
Get more showings combining the power of our two best flat fee MLS FSBO marketing plans available to Florida Keys FSBO flat fee MLS sellers…ADDvantage WORKS™ with Street Smart ADDvantage™ Realtor® eblast…We are always searching for answers to get more marketing for our Florida Keys FSBO with MLS sellers. ADDvantage™ has been working hard for years developing straightforward and effective marketing strategies designed for flat fee MLS sellers wanting more than just a listing in the MLS by owner.
All you need to do to get your Florida Keys property marketed FSBO with MLS using the double power of ADDvantage WORKS™ with Street Smart ADDvantage™ Realtor® eblast is offer a 4% or greater commission (all going to the buyer's agent, none to ADDvantage™) and sign up. We'll take care of ordering the virtual tour, designing the post cards, sending you your metal sign by UPS, installing your wood post, answering the phone, forwarding buyer leads, calling the Realtors® after they show and sending you a “showing report”… making your FSBO flat fee MLS property in Monroe County, FL stand out in Yahoo Classifieds, Wall Street Journal classifieds, Getmoreoffers.com, Homes.com, your local MLS, Realtor.com showcase and just about everything else one could want except…we don't show the home (unless the buyer is unrepresented and you opt into Agent Activate®).
Total fee of for the duo…$1299 and $500 at close.
If you have an old or current MLS number & want to list flat fee MLS using our $49 MLS fast List, click here.
If you haven't been listed in the MLS before and want to use Street Smart ADDvantage™, click here to list flat fee.
View our pricing on all MLS flat fee programs
Questions about Street Smart ADDvantage™, ADDvantage™ WORKS or any other product or ADD-on? Call us anytime between 8am & 8pm toll free at 1-877-232-9695.