What is a Flat Fee MLS Listing? 

A Flat Fee Listing allows you, as a for sale by owner, to place your home in the MLS network without paying a listing commission. Using this approach gives you two powerful ways to sell your home. First, you have the ability to sell directly to a buyer, without any commission due to a buyer's agent. Secondly, agents will be showing your home to their potential buyers. A commission which you decided to offer the buyers agent would be due only in the event of a sale to their client.

The following examples review these two approaches. If you sell your home as a direct result of your efforts, or to a buyer who has seen your MLS listing, no buyer agent commission is due. Additionally, by utilizing the Flat Fee MLS service, you expand your exposure to a large number of agents who represent the buyers that may be interested in your home. 

1.     A buyer notices your home listed on MLS, Realtor.com, other sites, or an ad you placed. They are not represented by a agent and contact you for information, or to schedule a tour. The results of this effort leads to a sale. You paid for the Flat Fee MLS service, and no other commission is due. Assuming a sale price of $ 400,000 and a 5% fee for a traditional listing commission, your potential savings would be $ 20,000. 

          $ 400,000 X 5% = savings of $ 20,000.

2.      Another way a sale can occur is a real estate agent sees your listing on MLS, and finds it a good fit for a buyer of theirs. They call you to arrange a showing, and it leads to a sale. You had offered a commission rate of 2.5% for buyer agents on the Flat Fee MLS listing you ordered. At closing, $ 10,000 will be deducted from your proceeds as a commission given to the buyer's agent. 

          $ 400,000 X 2.5% = savings of $ 10,000. 

These example savings exclude the Flat Fee cost for the MLS listing, any additional services ordered, and any advertising that you would be placing to assist you in attracting buyers for your home. The Flat Fee MLS is a powerful medium to have working for you when marketing a home For Sale by Owner.