Miami By Owners Save on Average 65% in Real Estate Commissions when using our Flat fee MLS Listing Service

Since 2005, Miami Realtors have been receiving a special email called the Street Smart ADDvantage High Commission Eblast Report.

Only sellers that list through an ADDvantage flat fee MLS plan can get their properties into the Street Smart ADDvantage eblast.

As well, only those Miami sellers that offer a 4% or > buyer’s agent commission can be included in the eblast. The 4% or > commission offer is what makes the Street Smart ADDvantage email the most popular Realtor-to-Realtor email in all Florida…it’s about money!

Does offering 4% as a buyer’s agent commission (as opposed to 2%, 2 1/2/% or 3%) really make a difference to the Realtors? Are they truly motivated by the higher than average commission offer? The reason why sellers use Street Smart ADDvantage is for the extra marketing that Street Smart ADDvantage delivers. The additional point of commission is typically offset by selling at a slightly higher price. Realtors do have some influence on how high to push offers. That’s where the higher buyer’s agent commission may help.

Below are a few examples of how the Street Smart ADDvantage marketing helps Miami sellers get more Realtor showings and possibly a higher price for their property:

The seller is competing against similar properties in the neighborhood and the higher commission often results in at least a “showing.”

The Realtor makes an offer for a buyer and during negotiations the Realtor will not forget the fact that this seller/property is offering an extra point or two in commission.

As proof Street Smart ADDvantage works well, any attempts by the seller to renegotiate a lower commission from what’s advertised in the MLS with the buyer’s agent/Realtor is typically meet with stiff resistance. The Realtor will likely say, “no, I like the 4%, let me see what I can do…” Sometimes the Realtor will accept a 3% after a 4% was advertised in the MLS to help close an offer/ask difference.

ADDvantage’s website tracks all hits that are generated from the Street Smart ADDvantage Eblast and all other referred traffic, as well. Sellers simply go to their “customer control panel” and click “property view history.” It will display all website hit activity.

The Street Smart Eblast program works by taking a 35 mile radius from the Miami property you are selling and locates all Realtors in our data base of 148,987 Florida Realtors that live or work within that radius. It then sends every Realtor a copy of the Street Smart ADDvantage Report every two week. To see how many Realtors are living or working within 35 miles of your property, just insert your zip code.

ADDvantage…members of Greater Miami Asscioation of Realtors

Winners of 2008 Realtor.com Online Award for marketing Excellence

Members of 25 Florida MLS Associations

Advocates of Florida flat fee sellers….We published the “Flat Fee MLS Bill of Rights in 2007“

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.   

Choosing a flat fee MLS service in Miami is a very important decision. Flat fee MLS services vary greatly in South Florida and the more you know about them, in particular what’s said or what’s not said in their listing agreement, the better off you will be.

Miami-Dade residents should pay particularly close attention to three critical elements that should be in the MLS “listing agreement.”

The first critical element of a listing agreement would be who receives buyer leads from sources such as Homes.com and Realtor.com. These leads do not automatically go to the flat fee seller because no seller information is allowed in Realtor.com, therefore all leads go to the listing broker by default.

Traditional flat fee MLS means these leads should be forwarded to the flat fee seller. Not all Miami flat fee MLS brokers send these valuable buyer leads to their seller clients. Some even state this “disturbing” fact right in the listing agreement  (at the bottom) and some don’t mention anything about buyer leads. An articulate flat fee listing agreement would clearly state…

“all buyer leads from Realtor.com, Homes.com and other Internet advertising sources belong to the seller and will be forwarded by email.”

Without such protection in the listing agreement, these leads may never find their way to the seller. Instead, the listing broker may take these leads for his/her own agents or refer them out to another broker for a referral commission.

One of the biggest reasons why Miamians use flat fee MLS is for the opportunity to sell “FSBO” which means selling to an un-represented buyer from sources such as Realtor.com or Homes.com. If successful, the seller pays no real estate commission at all. Without buyer leads, the seller loses this benefit of listing flat fee.

At ADDvantage, a Miami flat fee MLS service, our flat fee clients sell 30% of their properties with no Realtor involved…see our sales statistics. Our 8:00am-8:00pm 7 day a week live phone support captures many leads. Nationally, 84% of all homes sold are sold by Realtors. At ADDvantage, Realtors sell only 70% of our homes.

The next important element to look for in a flat fee listing agreement would be the word “conditional withdrawal.”  This has to do with the seller’s right to cancel their flat fee listing at will. The words that a Miami seller wants to see in their listing agreement would be “unconditional withdrawal” which means the listing broker will remove the listing from the MLS and allow another broker to re-list the property immediately. The words “conditional withdrawal” mean the listing broker will “temporarily  suspend” the listing from being “seen” by other Realtors searching the MLS but no other broker can re-list the property until some further action is taken by the listing broker. The reason some brokers use this language in their listing agreements is because the broker wants is a “fee” or “penalty” from the seller for canceling the listing. This same ploy applies to full-service real estate companies as well. So, “conditional withdrawal” has to due with forcing a seller into paying a “cancellation fee.” The odd thing is flat fee is a “paid-in-advance service” so why would a flat fee service care if a seller wants to try a different broker? The answer is they are unscrupulous. 

The last critical component of the listing agreement has to do with the hours of operation, in particular, the hours that the flat fee broker answers the phone. The biggest misconception about listing flat fee in the MLS is that all calls go to the seller. Many sellers believe that the flat fee listing broker’s primary job is to list the property in the SE Florida MLS and make changes to the listing as requested by the seller. This is totally incorrect.

ADDvantage, a member of Greater Miami Association of Realtors and a flat fee MLS specialist, has fielded over 2890 calls from Realtors and buyers over the past 12 months. Our 12 hour work days make listing flat fee through ADDvantage a big benefit for sellers…8:00am-8:00pm 7 days. Why do so many Realtors call ADDvantage when it says in the MLS under “Realtor Remarks” to call seller directly for all showing requests. The reasons will surprise you…below are the top 10 sited reasons why Miami Realtors call ADDvantage…

Hello, I see a listing on Homes.com and can you tell me how much the seller is asking and when can see it?

Hi, I’m a Realtor with Remax in Miami and I don’t have the MLS listing sheet with me and I need to know if I can show the property at 1413 Sunset Harbour Drive #209 in South? Beach

Hello, I’, Mike Gordon from the South Miami Realty, you have a listing at 2101 Brickell Ave. #Unit 3002…can I show it at 2:30-3:30 on Friday?

Hello, I’m Bill Peterson from Sunset Realty in Miami, I showed your listing on 5425 Hammock Drive Coral Gables yesterday and would like to fax over an offer…what is your fax number?

Hey, Keith Gordon here, from ADDvantage in Coconut Grove, I have tried to reach the seller as instructed in the MLS for property 1145 San Pedro Avenue Coral Gables but I can’t reach them…can you assist me with showing instructions please.

Hi, it’s Bill Taylor of Century 21 in Miami, I need a seller’s disclosure statement on 5656 Pinetree Drive on Miami Beach, can you email me one please?

“Hi, it’s Oscar B. Smith from Coldwell Banker, do you know if the dock at 1145 San Pedro Avenue in Gables By the Sea, can handle a 65” Sun Seeker?

“Hello, my name is Mr. Romeriz of Pinecrest Realty in Pinecrest, Fl… I am presently in front of 720 South Mashta Drive Key Biscayne with my buyers. Can you assist me with showing instructions.

“I am running late to my appointment to show your listing at 1400 Pennsylvania Ave #apt 35 Miami Beach, would you so kind as to call the seller and let them know.”

“Hi, I’m Gilligan from Pembroke Pines Realty, I can’t find 1009 Gilligan’s Way. Can you direct me into this listing?