Advice about lower commission real estate agencies? (moved from the NC forum)

[VaNC]

I agree that a good agent is the best way to sell a house. A bad agent, of course, is not better than selling it yourself. THe agent should help you get it ready to sell, help you price correctly, help bring in buyers and help you after the sale.

The house at the top of our street used a FSBO agent. The houses on our street usually go for over a million and sell easily. (I get calls and letters all the time asking me to sell my house) He told them to price it at $850,000 and did no presale "talking around" like a good ITB realtor would have done. IF he had, there would have been a bidding war...as there usually is. The house sold in 10 minutes to a friend of the next door neighbors who happened to be there when it went on the market. The neighbors are a bit pissed, cause now we have this comp to live with forever. And we really like the neighbors and the general thought is that they left $250,000 on the table. They save a little money to lose a lot of money.

[Silverfall]

Originally Posted by Mranger

How many MLS properties a year are sold as FLAT FEE MLS ONLY? That number is most likely in the millions but you will never hear the facts. You know that is a hidden fact in the NAR statistical numbers...stop lying to yourself and others.

While I know that people think that MLS only is FSBO, it is not. This is an important distinction for states. MLS only listings have REPRESENTATION and by state definition are not FSBO. They won't get counted in FSBO stats because they are legally represented by an agent. It is just limited representation in nature.

So while you think there is some type of great lie going on here, you need to understand the definitions of representation from a state law standpoint. There is no great consipiracy to lie to the public.

[toodie]

VaNC, you'll only have to live with that comp for one year. At least that's what an appraiser told me. They use comps from the one-year time period of when a home is listed for sale.
best,
toodie