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By Owner
The Multiple Listing
Service (MLS) and Real Estate For Sale By Owners from
$350
Your Pinellas County property can be listed in the MLS for a Flat Fee of $475.00. Your
listing includes color photos and detailed information about your property and the
cooperative commission being offered to a licensed real estate agent assisting a buyer.
You receive a comparative market analysis of recent property sales similar to your
property to determine the asking price. You receive a featured ad on this web site. If you
have your own digital photos (jpg or gif format) that can be loaded, have done your own
comparable analysis and have decided on an asking price then the Fee is reduced to
$350.00.
The fee will increase if your property is not in Pinellas County. We are
licensed Realtors
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The MLS is one of the most effective tools for selling real estate.
Real Estate Agents continually review the MLS searching for real estate for their
potential buyers. The MLS listings are sorted by locations, prices, square footage and
dozens of other details. Agents show their buyers the ones that meet their criteria.
How the MLS works with real estate agents and commissions
An agent will call to schedule an appointment to show your property to a prospective buyer
and may ask questions concerning the property. You should have a sellers disclosure
statement already filled out. (You will be supplied with one). An inspection of the
property by a licensed inspector is highly recommended prior to listing. (We can supply
you with a list of licensed inspectors for you to choose from). If a buyer makes an offer
that you desire to accept, you will be responsible to pay the commission amount at closing
to the buyers real estate agents brokerage. A co-operative commission must be offered for
the listing to appear in the MLS. The commission is listed in the MLS at the time it is
entered. By Florida Law there is no fixed commission fee. Commissions offered to the
Buyers agent is generally 2.5%, 3%, 3.5%.
If you accept an offer from a buyer without an agent, you do not pay any commission.
You're not required to accept any offers. You can advertise your property in newspapers,
put for sale by owner yard signs on your lawn and hold open houses.
Most contracts will be offered subject to inspections to determine if there are defects or
termites etc. and also most contracts are also contingent on financing.
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Notes to remember:
Selling requires an intimate knowledge of the real estate market. If your property is
priced too high, it may sit and develop a reputation having a problem or being overpriced.
If the property is priced too low, you may cost yourself money.
Many owners discovered that the lost money as a result of poor decisions outweighed the
commission.
Before you decide to sell by yourself, consider these questions and compare the
responsibility versus using a licensed agent.
Questions To Consider:
Do I have the time, energy, know-how, and ability to devote the full effort required to
sell my real estate on my own?
One of the keys to selling is accessibility. Many homes sit on the market much longer than
necessary because the owner was unwilling or unavailable to show it to potential buyers.
Are you prepared to deal with buyers who consider For Sale By Owners a target for low
balling the price?
Will you offer financing options to the buyer? Are you able to answer questions about
financing?
Selling real estate requires pre-screening prospects and dealing with low ballers.
Are you knowledgeable of all the steps necessary to sell real estate? Are you
familiar with the legal ramifications and proper procedures required in selling real
estate? Real Estate offers can be cancelled because of incomplete paperwork, lack of
inspections or not abiding by floridas' disclosure laws. Are you capable of handling the
legal contracts, agreements and any disputes with buyers before or after the offer is
presented? Many sales are lost due to misinterpretation of what was negotiated.
Do you have a list of professionals... title company, home and pest inspector, real estate
attorney, escrow company?
Like any profession there are a few individuals who will slow, delay and can even cost you
the transaction.
Many people fail to order an Appraisal Report to establish an offering price (Seller) or
to substantiate a purchase price (Buyer).
An appraisal is a reliable estimate of value used to determine an offering price. A seller
should consider ordering an appraisal before listing the property. The cost of the
appraisal (appx $350 depending on the size) sometimes is not done in advance. Most sellers
knows that a buyer will pay for an appraisal when applying for a loan. Most appraisals are
ordered after a sale price is negotiated and agreed upon by buyer and seller. Lenders
request the majority of real estate appraisals to establish the property's value for loan
purposes.
Without an appraisal a for sale by owner could lose a sale for a variety of reasons:
The property appraised for less than the sale price when appraised by the lender or
buyer's appraiser. The appraiser identified a problem that could have been solved before
the sale. The property will not qualify for the type of loan indicated on the contract,
allowing the buyer to back out of the deal.
A real estate agent typically performs a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA). The appraisal
laws in most states allow real estate agents to perform CMAs without an appraiser's
license or certification. A CMA is an important part of an agent's preparation for a
listing and consists of examining sales of properties in the area to arrive at a listing
price. The reliability of the CMA depends upon the agent's experience and the
characteristics of the property. The agent will suggest a selling price to the seller
based upon the analysis. Neither the seller or agent are bound by the results of the
analysis. The agent is not required to follow any formal procedure in completing the CMA.
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