I was looking into this site www.flatfeelisting.com. What do you think about it?

Especially what they say in these 2 pages:

"Why you shouldn't list your home with a traditional Realtor for 6%":

http://www.flatfeelisting.com/why6percent.html

FAQ's:

http://www.flatfeelisting.com/faq.html

The problem with all of these sites is that buyer don't use them. And why should a buyer use them or buy a FSBO? By not using a REALTOR a buyer takes on a lot more risk and ensure more costs to close the deal. In addition, in my experience most FSBO's that I see close the buyer has over paid.

Most buyers are smarts and use REALTORS to purchase property so by going this route you limit the number of people that will see your property.

Buyers use realtors when purchasing homes w/ flatfee listings - they are entered on the MLS along with all the other listings.

I think the fundamental flaw in thinking is that putting a home on the MLS is all that is involved in effectively marketing a home. And in a seller's market, that's probably true.

There are a few flatfee listings (Housepad) in my MLS. Only one has sold in the past year. I've shown them - not all of them but a couple. They offer a buyer's commission and everything. My buyers were not interested and I think most of the homes were/are grossly overpriced...

Someone that does use a service such as this needs to make sure the MLS that their property is listed on is the one the majority of agents in that area use. It would not be very effective to put a home in the MLS on the other side of the state as far as ensuring the local buyers agents are aware of a property.

It is so very important that the home must be easy to show. In the past when I have had buyers interested in a property that was listed with a similar company, either no one answered when I called to make the showing appointment and there was no answering machine OR the seller called me back 3 days later.

A seller needs to really research the effectiveness of using any real estate company, whether flat rate or a more traditional company before listing with them. There are definite advantages & disadvantages to every business model.

Thank you all for your comments.

That's true from the side of the buyer. But from the seller's side, I really want to know: what a Realtor can do in marketing that a seller can't do? (other than put the listing in the MLS?). Because the seller can put a lock box too, the seller can pay his own marketing too, right?

You hire a Realtor prinmarily for his/her negotiating skills. Especially in this market, it is important to have someone who can diplomatically manage the transaction. It's not easy. Sellers and Buyers both tend to draw hard lines in the sand. Look at it this way, if we didn't do something they can't do themselves, the industry wouldn't have survived this long.

2 quick reasons:

1. A seller cannot get honest feedback from buyers as to the true problems with why their home is not selling.

2. A seller cannot show their home in an environment where the buyers feel free to talk to each other. Unless the seller agrees to wait outside which is rare.

I love them. I tell my buyers I'm going to show you a Discount Joe listing and that discount belongs to you, plus Discount Joe is not a strong negotiator so we stand a great chance of getting it at a price you'll like.

This is assuming a poor negotiator always ends up getting a low price for the buyer. Sometimes a poor negotiator means not being able to convince the sellers that in order to sell they need to come down from their listing price. Sometimes it means that the seller put the stuff on the MLS themselves and had no clue what some of the options meant and how it would affect their listing in search results, or they have a grossly overpriced listing...

The disservice can come not from getting the buyers a "smoking hot deal" but in not being able to get a sale at all.

How many homes has a seller marketed and sold?

How much training does the seller have in marketing homes in that area?

Negotiating is part of it. So is understanding how to market a home. Also understanding how to effectively market a property to the maximum number of qualified buyers without violating the Fair Housing laws or causing any potential liability concerns can also be an advantage of using an experienced licensed agent or REALTOR.

I could go on and on about the advantages of using someone with the experience and knowledge to effectively market & sell real estate.

However, if you feel you are capable of handling everything yourself, then by all means try it.

Just remember that there is a reason that the majority of sellers still rely upon a real estate professional. Good luck and best wishes!

I was a FSBO before I became a realtor. I made my own website, took my own pictures. My cousin told me land was going for $30,000 an acre (I'm not sure in what world) and so we priced it at what we thought was an AWESOME deal = $695,000 for 23 acres and a 4 acre pond and woods and fields and flowers and butterflies.

Let's say this - it didn't sell at that price. After I had an appraisal, it was amazing how someone else came and offered us exactly what the appraisal was (were they in cahoots? I think so.)
Which was half of what we were asking.

Then I got a real estate license and could search the MLS and learn all about "comps." I couldn't do that as a FSBO. And I think that while initially I was of course grossly overpriced (what FSBO isnt?) I think the next deal I got was definitely not to my advantage. I had zero experience knowing anything about property values - TRUE values - not what I thought, not what someone told me - but true values.

Are you 100% sure that all discount "Joe's" are bad negotiators?

Regarding Discount Joe's or any other agent. After you been on the battlefield long enough, you will try to make it a point to get to know the other agent's strong points and weak points. There are many bad negotiators, and they may be a Discount Joe, or the agent at the next desk.

I like to know the type of agent I'm dealing with. I have always subscribed to the theory that every house deal has a 6% commission built into the deal, and its just a matter of who is going to get it, the seller, the buyer, or the agents. If any of it is going to go to a buyer or seller, it should be the party I represent.

A Discount Joe may be a tiger, and I did run into one of those. Three months later she was sitting at a desk in my office, and making the money she should have been making. But in general discounting agents are just buying business, and their clients are better negotiators then they are. But on the other hand maybe they are just charging what they know they are worth and what value they bring to the table.

Haha! I can't help to relate this thread with that phrase that says: "95% of men give bad reputation to the rest". All men when they hear or read this phrase, they say they belong to the 5%! lol

It always boggles my mind that people want to buy and sell houses on their own. Obviously, it's going to take you longer to sell the house than it will take a realtor, and it's not gonna be worth your money. You really think a flat fee agent is going to bust his butt to get you the highest price for your house, you are dreaming.