Where are the flat-fee MLS listing services?

[flatfee101]

I've been working on building out a Flat Fee information website. Should be up shortly and will give users a bunch of information about listing your home for a flat fee on the MLS system. www.flatfee101.com It's not fully functional yet but will be soon so definitely check it out when you get a chance!

In the mean time be careful about the services you pick. There are many of bad services out there for every good one. Full Disclosure - I worked with Simon @ CloudRealEstate.ca and he helped me sell my home. Great guy, great service and way better than the competition in the neighbourhood. Believe me I called many!. He actually goes to your home to help you out. Definitely worth considering or at least checking out!

I agree with Coloradorockes... we should really start a list of companies and show their specific target area.. Here's my start

one flat fee for Vancouver
i hate commissions for Ottawa
www.cloudrealestate.ca for GTA Toronto etc
Com Free for Ottawa
flatfee495.com for Calgary

Having this list will help you list your home on MLS with the a realtor that actually has exposure on the local MLS system. If I were to list with oneflatfee in Toronto I simply wouldn't get any results! The listing woulnd't be on the local Toronto MLS board (which costs ~$2000 to become a member).. Anyway...Hope this helps!!

FlatFee101!

 

[kalvinone]

I worked with a top producer once... not to say all top producers are like this - but her service suxed... rarely returned my calls because she was so busy

 

[cityplaceguy]

You dont want to go this way, a Realtor is the only way to go, we have the EXPERIENCE and know what how and when to do it properly. After all you should never settle for less.

 

[Wooba]

You dont want to go this way, a Realtor is the only way to go, we have the EXPERIENCE and know what how and when to do it properly. After all you should never settle for less.

I thought 95% of sale price was less than 100%

 

[cityplaceguy]

I thought 95% of sale price was less than 100%

Well if you say so Look at it this way if you were selling on your own you will be selling at 75% max while I will be at 110-120%

So you can get 100% out ou 75% or get 95% out of 120% Do your math.

 

[Wooba]

Well if you say so Look at it this way if you were selling on your own you will be selling at 75% max while I will be at 110-120%

So you can get 100% out ou 75% or get 95% out of 120% Do your math.

I know you're trying to defend your profession, but at least make up realistic statistics.

 

[cdr108]

Well if you say so Look at it this way if you were selling on your own you will be selling at 75% max while I will be at 110-120%

So you can get 100% out ou 75% or get 95% out of 120% Do your math.

OMG ... talk about pulling numbers out of your a$$

 

[neubilder]

Well if you say so Look at it this way if you were selling on your own you will be selling at 75% max while I will be at 110-120%

So you can get 100% out ou 75% or get 95% out of 120% Do your math.

I've sold 2 properties without real estate agents, and a third through only a cooperating agent. In each case I did the negotiating and had the flexibility of the 5% commission to allow both myself and the buyer to arrive at a price we were happy with. In All three cases the end price I got was higher than any of the agents who wanted to list my property thought I would see.

It's only a matter of time before the R.E. industry will be forced to adapt by offering a higher standard of competence and a more realistic fee structure.

 

[WanderLust]

I once sold my place to friends ... so the total cost involved was just the legal aspect of it, and we shared the same lawyer, so it was just, I recall, maybe $500 on my part, my friends same, plus land transfer tax for them.
Anyway, sometimes it's possible to do a totally non-MLS/cheap do-it-yourself-listing type thing by just posting a notice on your condo bulletin board that you're thinking of selling. But ... it has to be a hot area and a desired building, else probably not so easy.
Anyway, my co-worker tried one of those do-it-yourself sell-jobs, because she thought she had such a hot property in Burlington, that she thought it'd sell itself, and she can pocket the saved commission expenses. Anyway, knowing ahead of time what similar properties in her neighbourhood sold for, she decided to ask $60k more ... because, ummm, she had some kind of expensive stove, and some silly tasteless custom fridge, that was already 7 years old. Anyway, guess what ... people weren't stupid, no offers. So, she reduces the price a few times over the period of a few months. Then, she caves, gets a 'real' real estate agent to list it ... and he offers her 3% ... but then he plays her ... re-lists it for even more than she originally tried to sell it for ... and guess what ... nobody's stupid, and everybody has retained their memories of 'stale' listing. Anyway, it did eventually sell ... the agent 'found' a buyer after a couple more price reductions, so he pocketed the entire 3% commission ... and it actually sold for the exact same comps as when she first ventured out. So, in the end, she should've just listed it with an agent and listened to her agent's advice of what the comps were, and she could've saved herself 7 months of carrying costs.
Bottom line is ... avoid using do-it-yourself mls type real estate traps ... unless you really know how to work it. I.E. ... if the comps say your place is worth 500k, list it for 495k, with some room for wiggle room, because you'll find interest and you might be able to walk away with more in your pocket than if you would've went through a regular agent. That's how it's done. Just slightly underprice your place from the comparables, and you'll make money if no commission going out the door. But don't go asking 600k, hoping somebody will offer you 550, on a place that's worth only 500k.

 

[Kei]

I know this post is a few years old and things have change a lot. You can easily sell your own home nowadays. Places like property guys have been around forever. I just sold my condo in Toronto and found a place to do it for $99 ALL IN!
www.bestflatfee.ca is a service offered by a licensed real estate office and they have a do it yourself website that is simple to use and I was on mls and realtor.ca websites in a day. I sold in 3 days with multiple offers from agents and saved a pile of money.

You guys can debate till you're blue in the face but I found a way to do it and do it well....and CHEAP! The girl I was emailing for paperwork and such was Jenn and OMG I was treated like I was paying them $100,000. Super fast service.

My ex-sister in law is a broker and she wanted 4% as the family discount rate. She even said I will sell fast because of the high demand and low inventory. She said a monkey could sell his own house in this market. Well; I saved a whole pile of bananas then. I paid $99 to get the listing and then I offered 2% commission if an agent had a buyer. One agent wanted the deal SO BAD he agreed to 1.5%.

So the math is $18,500 ovewr asking price and only 1.5% total commission plus the $99 listing on www.bestflatfee.ca ....4 hours total time for listing paperwork, showing the house and doing offer reviews. DONE.

 

[marcopolo36]

cdr 108- $37,000 is Gross before expenses of the average agent. In this business like any other you "reap what you sow". The 10% who are Top Producers are not here by accident. We are here because of a very high level of service and ethics. We are committed to our profession and to our "clients". In this business we are independent contractors that work with in a Brokerage. We are responsible for all of our expenses to run our business including all vehicle costs, desk fees, brokerage fees, advertising and branding costs, errors and ommission insurance, CPP (both the employer and employee amounts), etc. It is not uncommon for a Top Producer to have a commitment of upwards of $70,000 for advertising, desk fees, etc for an operating year. These costs are paid regardless if we make a commission of any kind. And if the economy tanks.....we are still on the hook. As an independent contractor we are not eligible to collect unemployment insurance. We wake up every day with the motivation that we are unemployed and that we have to find, nurture and provide a service to the public that we do not get paid for unless we produce. Not everyone we meet will buy or sell but money will still be spent.
As for MadMax we are required by ethics and law to leave our business in the hands of another agent for client servicing. You should have complained to her Broker and then to RECO if you were not satisfied. I do not understand how you dealt with the Buyer's Agent directly as he would have been required to contact your agent's broker to present the Offer in her abscence as the listing is the property of the brokerage and not any one individual agent. The brokerage responsabilities would have been outlined in your Agency Agreement signed at the time of listing of which you have a legal obligation to read them and ask questions if you do not understand anything contained in it. It sounds like both the listing and selling agents acted improperly to me based on what you have provided, but there may be other info that you did not provide that would explain some of the circumstances and the actions that followed.

There is absolutely no justification for a commission based fee, the service is the same regardless of the price of the property.
Also, I do not understand why the reference to this realtor that charges 1% is offered when the request is for a flat fee, 1% is not flat fee, any % based fee is not a flat fee.
I find that just about all realtors to not care about their client, they all manipulate information and are NOT looking for your best interest.

Here are some examples I gathered over the years:
- shopping for new property, did the lookup myself online, asked realtor to show me property that just got listed, she gets back to me in 3 days suggesting something else, the one I wanted is already sold. The property she wanted me to see clearly does not match my requirements, I ask her what is going on - no actual reply. I cancelled the representation and found a perfect house myself, just days later.
- leasing out luxury condo on Toronto waterfront, real-estate agent is aggressively pushing me to accept an offer from someone who has no assets and lots of debt, more than once. Very annoying to have to keep telling her, NO, that is not someone I trust moving into my property. I found 5-6 days later perfect tenant, again, just because I stuck to my rules of vetting a potential tenant.
- shopping for new construction property (sold by builder), ask realtor in the office what are common fees, no idea. I had to call condo corp to ask and find out. Ask her where is south, no idea, gotta pull out my compass to see orientation of windows, I am 100% sure she knew where south was. We step in the garage, small enough that a full size truck does not fit through the door (no kidding) but high ceiling, realtor first comment is "and a really good size garage, right ???" I am looking at this person in disbelief with a "Do I really come across as an idiot ?" expression on my face, after an awkward smile she stops talking.
- leasing out our condo in Toronto, the realtor representing the tenant shows up with the contract, can't read anything due to being faxed multiple times between realtors, I tell her that contract is not worth the paper is printed on (old women, many years in the business, your 10% top realtor) and she cannot suppress her displeasure at me daring to not be pleased and grateful for the contract offer and her 20 minutes of her time. So I just stood there and watched her, in silence, until she mumbled "OK, will regenerate the contract with all updates and print it from the computer.

In summary, realtors do not work for you. Do your home work and double check at every step what they do. Make phone calls as needed. Ask for paperwork.

 

[marcopolo36]

So I read everywhere that one downside of listing yourself and opting for flat fee (no commission) type of transaction is that real-estate agents representing a buyer will not mention your property to their client.
Well, do we need more proof that a real-estate agent does not act in your best interest ?
If I ever decide to use a realtor in the future to buy, I will clearly ask them if they will skip listed properties that show "no commission" type transaction wanted. I will ask them to put in the representation contract a clause that if I catch them doing that they will pay me a fine and the contract will be void that moment.

 

[vinu]

So I read everywhere that one downside of listing yourself and opting for flat fee (no commission) type of transaction is that real-estate agents representing a buyer will not mention your property to their client.
Well, do we need more proof that a real-estate agent does not act in your best interest ?
If I ever decide to use a realtor in the future to buy, I will clearly ask them if they will skip listed properties that show "no commission" type transaction wanted. I will ask them to put in the representation contract a clause that if I catch them doing that they will pay me a fine and the contract will be void that moment.

Zown Realty offers zero commission for selling if we both sell and buy with them

 

[Admiral Beez]

There is absolutely no justification for a commission based fee, the service is the same regardless of the price of the property.

Equally so there‘s no justification for property tax to be based on value. The municipal services provided is the same regardless of the price of the property. Make everyone pay a poll tax. Certainly, when the house is bought or sold the value should be hit with VAT, and the primary resident exception on capital gains should be scrapped.