For Sale By Owner

News headlines are blaring day in and day out about the slump in real estate market of U.S. Gone are those golden days for house owners to sit tight and get their asking price with conditions imposed on home buyers from that landslide month of August 2005. In the present day buyers’ market and the heap of foreclosure properties available in abundance in all the States, prudence calls for effective marketing of FSBO housing properties. Using the ultra-modern techniques made available by the internet marketing and reducing the cost of selling by innovative methods are the order of the day for sellers.

Thanks to the Multiple Listing Services websites, compiling the entire data available for the properties on sale throughout the country at one place, it is now possible for the home owners to show their respective properties to millions of prospective buyers, wherever they are. Appointing a selling agent for a comprehensive service of advertising to closing the deal of the property on sale and paying them a minimum commission of 3% on the sale price, notwithstanding the commission of another 3% to the buying agent is no more needed. By paying a flat fee of $399 to $699, the home owners can avail the services of discount brokers and list their properties in the MLS for a period of 6 months. By renewing the contract for another six months by a nominal fee of around $50, the benefit gets extended for a whole year, by which time any property is sure to be sold out.

It is estimated that over 77% of home shoppers and buying agents searching for their clients, find their dream property only through MLS services online. So, one can calculate how much of money can be saved in real terms by engaging a flat-fee MLS listing service providing agent. If the property’s intended sale price by the home owner is $200,000 the traditional way of appointing a selling agent for marketing the property would have been $6000 as commission, plus the additional advertisement costs in the news papers and other media would bring up the expenses to nearly $6500. Comparing this with the meager $500 spent on flat-fee, there is a sizeable saving of $6000, which would go to the pocket of the selling agent otherwise. Add this to the benefit of the property getting an exposure to millions of leads all over the country through the MLS listings, with photos of the property for visual exhibition and that would be saving thousands of dollars more on selling expenses. In a tight situation of real estate marketing, where the asking price of properties is dwindling by enormous competition, it is a prudent and 100% beneficial decision to avail the flat fee MLS services for real savings.