MLS^® Listing by Owner

A Brief Lesson

MLS^® listing by owner is a fairly new add-on to the for sale by owner arsenal, when it comes to selling for sale by owner.

MLS^® which stands for Multiple Listing Services, is probably the strongest argument that the Realtor^® have for listing with a real estate broker.

The reason the MLS^® system has an advantage is the multiplication factor. Here is what happens:

* A homeowner named Dan lists with real estate agent Beth.

* Beth enters the property into the MLS^® system.

* Every agent that belongs to the MLS^® system, now has the information about Dan's house and can either sell themselves, or if they practice in a different area, make a buyer that is moving to Dan's area, aware of the property and the details.

I've always thought that the MLS^® system as the biggest advantage that Realtors® have, when it comes to selling real estate.

Now You Can Have it Both Ways

Not every country, state, province, or territory, may have this service available.

The Short and Sweet of this system

- You are "for sale by owner" promoting and showing your own property.

- You are also listed with an agent that provides the MLS^® exposure.

- You pay the listing agent a flat fee for the service. This may be in the $300.00 to $500.00 range.

- You also agree to pay any selling agent that finds a buyer a commission. This may be somewhere in the 2 - 3% range.

- If you find the buyer yourself and complete the transaction without a real estate agent, you are only out the flat listing fee.

Advantages of MLS^® Listing by Owner

* Exposure - Realtors^® will possibly bring qualified buyers to your house.

* Exposure - Buyers may find your listing on such places as Realtor.com® or Homes.com in the U.S.A. and buy directly through you.

* Cost - If you sell through a Realtor^® this way, you save the listing commission minus the flat fee.

* Cost - You will pay more money out of pocket than if you sell the traditional "for sale by owner" way.

A Comparative Example of Costs

Using our traditional $275,000.00 house that I've been using throughout this website, lets look at the comparison of costs.

Whether you are doing a traditional "for sale by owner", or a MLS^® for sale by owner listing , your advertising costs, signs, flyers etc, should be roughly the same.

Don't forget, you are still offering your house "for sale by owner".

What we will do, is just look at the Extra cost involved with a MLS^® for sale by owner sale. We will look at two different scenarios.

You Sell Without a Realtor^®

In case you are using the MLS^® listing by owner and you find and sell to your own buyer, it would cost you:

* The flat listing fee of perhaps $300 - 500 plus any applicable taxes.

Sell Through a Realtor^®

In case you use the MLS^® listing by owner option and you sell to a buyer that a Realtor^® brings you, your costs would be:

* The flat listing fee of perhaps $300 - 500 plus any applicable taxes,

* The Buyer Commission percentage on your contract. This may be in the 2% - 3% range.

Lets split things in the middle and say the listing fee is $400.00 and the selling commission is 2.5%. We will not consider the taxes that may be involved.

Here is the 4 different possibilities of FEES ONLY costs.

* Sell for sale by owner on your own. - $0.00

* Sell using MLS^® listing by owner but, you find and sell to the buyer on your own.- $400.00

* Sell using MLS^® listing by owner and a Realtor^® brings you the buyer.- $400.00 plus 2.5% of $275,000.00 = $6,875.00 bringing the total to $7,275.00

* Sell using the full MLS^® service without the option to sell for sale by owner.- 5% of $275,000.00 = $13,750.00.

Savings Please

Obviously, you put more money in your pocket if you sell totally on your own. You will have costs but, they will vary greatly depending on some of the following;

* Advertising budget

* "Listing" with a for sale by owner company costs.

* Length of time on the market.

* Extra costs such as signs, flyers, feature sheets etc.

Lets just compare the Full MLS^® listing costing $13,750.00 and the MLS^® for sale by owner listing costing $7275.00

Some simple math would mean if you sold using MLS^® listing by owner service, you would save;

$6,475.00 plus any taxes on the difference compared to selling by the traditional full MLS^® system.

How do I do this MLS^® Listing by Owner?

You can simply go on line and search for MLS^® listing by owner websites. Depending on where you live, you may find many companies, few companies, or none.

Look at their services and costs and then you decide if this is a viable option to you.

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