This article written by Keith Gordon, Broker for ADDvantage Real Estate Services™, for flat fee MLS customers in Naples (www.getmoreoffers.com)
ADDvantage started offering flat fee MLS services in Naples in May 2005. Its broker, Keith Gordon, has been a licensed Florida real estate broker since 1984. We offer flat fee MLS services throughout Collier County and all Florida. We are members of 18 Florida MLS boards.”
ADDvantage, through its broker Keith Gordon, is a member of the Naples Board of Realtors. Many Naples MLS flat fee MLS companies use what's called “third party websites.” These companies are often not Florida based and merely collect money like a ”vending machine” and subsequently “sell” the seller's listing to a third party broker. This practice is often called ‘off-ing’ because it “offs” the responsibility of inputting, maintenance and MLS changes to another entity/broker. This practice is not in the seller's best interests because it results in inconsistencies, accountability issues and is often a frustrating experience for the seller. We at ADDvantage never “off a listing” to a third party as we have three full time MLS administrators, are members of 18 Florida MLS boards and we have developed a truly state-of-the-art flat fee MLS software program that allows sellers to change anything about their MLS listing on-the-fly 24/7. Our hours at ADDvantage are 8:00-8:00, 7 days week. Changes to your MLS listing are typically completed with 4 hours of a request. Our slogan, “Real Estate By YOUR Rules!” is our business model.
ADDvantage is a Naples discount real estate broker. We are the only flat fee MLS company in Naples that publishes its sales statistics on its website. As of 6/27/2007 , ADDvantage has sold or has “under contract” about 32% of its MLS listed properties.
Our goal at ADDvantage is to sell more homes in Naples than any other MLS discount company. We are Naples's only flat fee MLS discount real estate firm that answers the phone 8:00-8:00, 7 days a week. Our long hours of operation along with our international and domestic marketing produces more showings for sellers.
Naples Realtors® hold the key to 84% of the real estate transactions in greater Naples.
The National Association of Realtors® research indicates homes sold through Realtors® net 32% more than those sold by FSBO. In today's buyer's market, getting your home sold requires extensive marketing and attention to detail.
FSBO: Selling FSBO works best in a seller's market because marketing is not a significant factor. A FSBO sign in the yard and an ad in the local paper should get it sold. In today's buyer's market, sellers need internet presence as well as the assistance from local Realtors® The MLS, Realtor.com, Homes.com and other popular real estate websites such as themovechannel.co.UK are not available to FSBO sellers.
Flat Fee MLS: We are members of the Naples Board of Realtors. Flat fee MLS means the seller pays “no listing commission.” The seller pays only the agent representing the buyer a commission, plus the flat fee charge. Flat fee MLS listing prices vary. In the Naples area, prices range from $99-$599, depending on the quality of listing service. www.getmoreoffers.com offers four programs: MLS ADDvantage™-$349; Street Smart ADDvantage™-$599; ADDvantage PLUS-$799 up-front and $500 at close; ADDvantage WORKS-$1299 up-front and $500 at close.
Full-service: A full service listing is typically 6-7% of the sales price of the home. Normally, 3% of this total commission goes to the agent who procured the listing as a “listing commission” and the remainder of the commission is offered to any agent (called a “co-broke”) who delivers a contract (with a buyer attached) to the listing agent. Listing commissions are EXPENSIVE AND OFTEN TIMES THE LISTING AGENT DOESN't DRESERVE a 3% commission for inputting a listing into the MLS and placing a lockbox on the door. Unless; (i) the listing agent is well connected to buyers and your listing agent has a “recent” history of selling similar homes to yours in your immediate geographic area; (ii) the seller is not available to help in the showings and cannot lockbox the property because it is occupied, pets or valuables; (iii) the property is complex and the seller needs representation.
Naples Realtors® are motivated by commissions. The smart thinking behind Street Smart ADDvantage™ is to offer higher than a normal “3% co-broker commission” (that's the commission the agent representing the buyer would earn) in an effort to garner more attention from Realtors.
Our proprietary Street Smart ADDvantage™ e-mail system sends a bi-monthly email report to Naples Realtors® within 35 miles of your property informing them of the “higher than average” commission being offered on your property. By going to www.getmoreoffers.com (left side middle), you can estimate the number of Realtors® located within your zip code.
ADDvantage's Street Smart ADDvantage™ Realtor® eblast reaches Realtors® in all Collier Country. Street Smart ADDvantage™ emails are well received by Naples Realtors® because the message is good news for them…more commission. Approximately 11% of the emails are read. As well, unlike other Realtor® sent emails which contain information about just “one” property, the Street Smart ADDvantage™ eblast contains typically 10 properties all offering a high co-broke commission. This type of email is unique and informative.
Street Smart ADDvantage™ Concept 3: It's may be better to raise the commission than to lower the sales price: If you are selling a $300,000 home, 1% of commission is $3,000. In a typical co-broke flat fee MLS listing, the seller offers 3%. When negotiating price with a buyer on a $300,000 home, a $5,000 price move between counters offers is realistic. $10,000 may be more realistic in some markets. The math: Raising commission 1% or $3,000 is less than a price drop of $5,000….so adding commission could be more lucrative than adjusting your sales price.
Street Smart ADDvantage™ Concept 3: Offering more commission to the agent/Realtor fee. They are positioned to offer the commission where it should be: to the agent who sells the property. Instead of paying 6% to a listing agent, half of which would be offered by the listing agent to a buyer's agent, sellers could theoretically list flat fee and then offer the entire 6% to the buyer's agent. If all things are equal and a Realtor® could only show one of two homes, it's logical that they would choose to show the one offering a higher commission. By using our Street Smart ADDvantage program, you’ll get our powerful a bi-monthly e-blast to the Realtors® within 35 miles of your property.
Street Smart ADDvantage™ Concept 3: Realtors® value their home sale more than yours. A recent study conducted using public recorded sales of nearly 100,000 houses in suburban Chicago showed that more than 3,000 of those houses were owned by realtors. Those agent owned homes sold for an average of 3% higher than the other “non-Realtor” owned homes which stayed +1d on the market for an average of two additional weeks. Check out more on this at www.getmoreoffers.com/streethome.asp