With so many Flat Fee MLS Services in Miami, which one is the best deal?
It is an interesting topic. Do I list flat fee MLS with the company that offers a listing in the MLS for $159 for 12 months or the one that is $298, $299 or $169?
Here’s the truth behind all the smoke and mirrors of listing flat fee in the MLS.
Truth number one about listing your Miami home using flat fee MLS. Some flat fee services in South Florida are horrible; some are good and some offer over-the-top service.
To find out what type of service you need depends on what type of seller you are? If you are a home owner that is detail oriented and wants the best service possible, list with a company that has the most articulate flat fee MLS listing agreement that protects you from possible ugly surprises.
ADDvantage, a trusted Miami flat fee MLS listing service, publishes their listing agreement on their home page for all to see. Listing agreements should include every significant detail about what the flat fee broker will do and won’t do. Some flat fee services say very little in their listing agreements and some “websites” doesn’t even publish one.
Like any contract between two parties, get it in writing. Flat fee MLS is a “paid-in-advance” service. Being that you are paying in advance for a service, the service provider should tell you in advance what they are going to do for the money you have paid.
If there is no listing agreement published on a flat fee MLS website, then move on to another flat fee service because listing flat fee with no listing agreement to pre-view would be like going to visit an un-licensed lawyer.
This will screen out truth number two about listing flat fee in the MLS which is the topic of “national” flat fee MLS ‘websites.” National flat fee “websites” are not licensed Florida real estate brokers and therefore cannot show you a listing agreement because sellers do not sign listing agreements with “websites” they sign listing agreements with licensed brokers. The point here is the “national website” only collects money and then refers the Miami home seller to a Florida licensed real estate broker. If you sign up with a national flat fee “website”, you will be signing a listing agreement of that “unknown broker” after you pay…that’s crazy…but people do it everyday because they believe what they see on the website “we are biggest national flat fee…” Conclusion…is if there is no listing agreement clearly published on the site, move on.
After you have located a listing agreement, choosing between flat fee MLS services boils down to service and technology. If a flat fee website looks homemade and lacks specific details about what they are offering, then their technology or effort they have put forth into their website will also reflect on how they display your MLS listing, search features on the website for buyers, IDX feeds, Internet marketing and customer control panel for easy edits. Crappy websites equates with crappy technology or lack of commitment into technology that supports their clients.
The next consideration is service or support. Flat fee is not just inputting a listing into the local SE Florida Regional MLS and my house magically gets sold. Flat fee is hard work and long hours. All calls do not go to the flat fee seller (see article…”Miami Flat Fee MLS Sellers should choose your South Florida flat rate MLS Broker Carefully”).
When it comes to selling a home using flat fee MLS, buyer leads and Realtor showings is what the flat fee MLS listing service should be focused on. The hours that the flat fee service keeps will directly affect the number of Realtor showings.
Cheap is cheap and selling a $1,000,000 Miami home is serious business. List with a flat fee MLS service that is serious about buyer leads and Realtor showings…one that answers the phone 12 hours a day 7 days a week…ADDvantage is Miami’s hardest working flat fee MLS service…8:00-8:00 7 days a week….2,890 showings booked through ADDvantage the past 12 months. Our basic flat fee MLS plan is $349 for a 9 month listing with excellent service.