Over the past 4 months, buyers and sellers in Orlando are coming closer together with their expectations of value. This narrowing of these “price-expectations” along with the added urgency of the expiring tax credit deadline has depleted our inventory of available MLS listings homes in Florida by 21%.

I see the real estate market in Florida completely differently now as we move into the second-half of 2010. I am Keith Gordon, broker and co-owner of a Florida flat fee MLS listing and full-service discount real estate firm, ADDvanatge®. We are a state-wide flat fee MLS listing service that specializes in being “available” for sellers, buyers and Realtor 7 days a week from 8:00am-8:00pm.

As a flat fee MLS broker, I primarily work with sellers so I have a unique and accurate view of how they are pricing their homes and I see a dramatic change in their expectations.

There remains a few “hold-outs” that bought right at the top in 2005 and possibly 2006 that remain 12-15% over-priced. But, unlike past years such as 2008 and 2009 where there were more over-priced MLS listings than well-priced ones, I see the reverse now.

It is not uncommon to to a new flat fee MLS listing at ADDvantage® sell during the first 2 weeks of being active in the MLS. This means that seller priced their Orlando home within a few percentage points of appraised  value. When a seller does this, every Realtor that has attempted to negotiate a home with their buyers and failed due to over-priced and inflexible sellers pounce of these well-priced listings.

Listing with one of ADDvantage’s® flat fee MLS listing plans helps the seller price their homes better because we don’t charge 6% to list but rather a flat fee starting at $349. This saves the Orlando home owner at least 50%.

Every poorly price home we have at ADDvantage is still active. I can recall about 10 homes out of our 147 we currently have listed in the MLS that are over-priced. They have been priced poorly from the start and continue to be priced behind the curve. The typical scenario of this type of listing is “we aren’t selling if we can’t get “x.” But “x” has nothing to do with current market value. I have yet to see one of these listing sell.

At ADDvantage®, we are the messenger, albeit a good one!. We list Orlando homes in the MLS, we market aggressively on the Internet and I represent many of the sellers ar ADDvantage® who use our full-service discount listing service ADDvantage Success.

There are two distinct advantages of listing flat fee in the MLS with ADDvantage®. The service and marketing are excellent and you save at least 50% in real estate commissions.

There are also two distinct advantages of using our full-service discounted flat fee plan ADDvantage Success. If you going to sell a home in today’s market, you must sell within what I refer to as the “appraisal envelop.” Every successful seller at ADDvantage® gets their deal done somewhere within this envelop. What I do for the sellers that I represent is get a deal done faster and at the high-end of this envelop. The extra cost to the seller over our traditional flat fee MLS “self-representation” plan is $350 up-front and a additional 1/3 of 1% at close or $330 per $100,000 in sales value. My value to home sellers is professionalism from start to finish. I do expect to get my sellers a sales price at the high-end of appraised value and I make sure no buyer’s agent takes advantage of one of my sellers or that no buyer is engaged that can’t close.

If, by chance, I push the buyer’s agent too far in value and we don’t appraise out, then the seller can always opt out of the contract, negotiate the difference by meeting in the middle, the buyer can agree to pay the original contract price or a combination of asking the buyer to take some or all of the seller’s closing costs such as documentary stamps on the deed or title policy.

My best advice to sell a home today is get the most for it and go buy another home at these bargain prices. 

Call anytime, 1-877-232-9695 or 727-942-2929. Might check out of smart home selling tips.

Managing a Flat Rate MLS service is complicated because we service the Realtors® with showing instructions and must do an excellent job with Internet marketing, making sure our MLS listing are accurate and manage our clients change requests in a timely manor.　

At ADDvantage®, we have succeeded is both categories of delivering excellent service to Realtors® and our Orlando home owners for 5 years in a row.　

Our formula for success was simple to think of but very difficult to implement. We decided in 2005 that all calls will be answered “live” by a human between the hours of 8:00am-8:00pm 7 days a week. 　

We are the only Florida flat fee MLS or full service real estate service has done this…Even Saturday and Sunday.　

Realtors® throughout Florida now know ADDvantage® as the real estate company that is always available. Our positive reputation with Orlando Realtors® helps you get more showing because when a Realtor® searches the MLS and sees our name they know one phone call gets immediate gratification….Instant showing instructions!　

It’s no secret Realtors® don’t love flat fee MLS services because we represent competition for listings and flat fee MLS services are notorious for horrible service to both teh Realtors® and their clients.　

Our approach since we started ADDvantage® in 2005 was to do the opposite of what we perceived as “business as usual” real estate. Hence, ADDvantage® was born and we now we enjoy without doubt the best reputation of any flat fee MLS service in Florida.　

ADDvantage is also a “concierge” flat fee MLS service because 2 of our flat fee MLS plans blend in with other full-service listings.　

ADDvantage® offers 2 hybrid flat fee MLS plans where we represent the seller, take all calls, schedule all showings and negotiate all offers right through closing. The seller benefits by often getting a higher price for their home. These 2 plans also add additional value to our already good reputation because unlike a flat fee listing, these listings are imputed into the MLS as an “Exclusive Right of Sale Listings” not “Exclusive Agency.” Full-service listings are designated in the MLS as “Exclusive Right of Sale Listings” and flat fee listings are “Exclusive Agency.”　

The names of these plans are ADDvantage Plus™ and ADDvantage Success™. With a “Plus” listing, the seller “works” all unrepresented buyer leads in an effort to sell without paying any commission. With ADDvantage Success, our Orlando agents “work” all unrepresented buyers to help sell your home.　

The seller never pays more than one commission which is typically 3%. Just one agent will be earning that commission. Regardless of which plan you choose and the saving are at least 50%. The “Success” plan removes the hassles of working with buyers. But, some sellers want to work the buyers so I recommend “Plus.”　

List your Miami home with the company that has earned the trust of Orlando Realtors, ADDvantage®.

1-877-232-9695

Most Orlando home owners do not fully trust Realtors®. For whatever their reasons, this remains a fact. I am Keith Gordon, broker for flat fee MLS Orlando listing service ADDvantage®.

I belong to 26 Florida MLS Realtor Associations, including the Mid Florida Regional MLS. I have been a licensed Florida real estate broker since 1984. My honest real estate brokerage dealings for the past 25 years has earned me a reputation as being forthright, respected and as a result, zero complaints with the Division of Real Estate in my 25 years of brokerage activity.

Trust will always be an issue when money is involved, especially big real estate commissions. Because 6% represents huge money, Orlando by owners have turned to an alternative way to list and sell real estate in Florida…Flat Fee MLS.

I have found that many of our clients even doubt our honesty and sincerity until they have listed and dealt personally with our staff. Once they see our professionalism and have experienced our easy to use MLS listing software, the trust barrier comes down. We are timely with our MLS edits once you are a client and our overall customer satisfaction is unapproachable.

I believe there are three areas that Orlando, Florida owners have trust issues with:

1) Buyer leads are one area that flat fee MLS home sellers do not fully understand. At ADDvantage®, our policy with regard to buyer leads has been effective and honest since we started ADDvantage® back in 2005. Once a buyer lead is received by us from any source such as Realtor.com or Homes.com, we promptly forward it to our seller in real time 7 days a week from 8:00am-8:00pm. This level of service is unheard of in the real estate. Between these hours, all emails and calls are answered “live” by our staff and forwarded to our Orlando flat fee MLS sellers…Either by phone and/or email. Our relentless attention to all details has earned ADDvantage ® the best reputation in all Florida for delivering the most reliable and trusted flat fee MLS service. As well, all leads and Realtor® calls for showings are stored in the sellers account in their easy reference and retrieval.

2) The next point of trust or dis-trust is how Realtor.com and IDX works. Most Orlando by owners do not fully understand the nuances of Realtor.com and why should they. Fact is, no seller contact information is allowed, by rule of Realtor.com, to be published in Realtor.com. ONLY the listing broker’s phone number and name may appear. All Realtor® websites such as Coldwell Banker and remax.com receive their MLS listing data directly from Realtor.com through a feed called IDX. This means all websites that display MLS listings contain the listing brokers contact information, not the sellers. So, sellers must implicitly trust the flat fee MLS broker to professionally handle buyer leads. The sellers contact information is displayed on our site http://www.getmoreoffers.com and sites such as Homes.com.

3) Offers from Realtors® are another big trust issue. Sellers do want the marketing and cost saving offered by flat fee MLS listing services but, “don’t touch my offers.” Sellers would prefer their offers going directly to them and not through the flat fee broker. At ADDvantage®, we facilitate our seller’s deals and would never impede the sale. We forward all offers directly to our sellers (8:00am-8:00pm 7 days) and call notifying of the offer being forwarded by email. We have never mishandled an offer in 5 years. Most offers do come through ADDvantage® as Realtors® prefer the “listing broker” to initially receive the offer and then forward the offer to the “self-represented” seller. From there, the buyer’s agent and seller negotiate the offer. As a note, it is clearly stated in the MLS to call seller directly for all showings and includes the seller’s phone number. But, it has been Realtor® protocol for 80 years to deal only with the listing broker. This also assists ADDvantage® with timely updating the MLS listing status from “active” to “contract pending” an MLS board requirement.

Trust will remain an issue when big money is involved. Orlando by owners that do choose ADDvantage will soon believe it is possible to trust a flat rate MLS service with your home sale and still 50% off the cost of a traditional listing….Or, possibly pay no commission if you sell without a Realtor®. At ADDvantage®, we have earned our reputation as Orlando’s most trusted and hardest working flat fee MLS broker. We consistently deliver more offers, more buyer leads and Realtor® feedback on all showings. We do this 7 days a week from 8:00am-8:00pm for 5 years in a row.

Cal us anytime 1-877-232-9695 

This unique MLS listing plan has all the features of a full-service listing but you pay a low price of $499.

This offer exceeds all other flat rate offers because you don’t sacrifice service and you only offer a commission to the buyer’s agent.

ADDvantage Success™ guarantees Orlando sellers the most powerful Internet marketing available on important websites such as Homes.com Realtor.com, MSN Craigslist, Vast, Yahoo, Zillow, AOL Oodle, RSS feeds, IDX feeds and many more features to help u sell faster.

Highlights of ADDvantage Success™

• 9 month MLS listing in the Mid Florida Regional MLS – Orlando’s MLS. You can cancel anytime with no fee or other complications.
• Agent Assure®…We guarantee you’ll never miss a Realtor® showing. Agent Assure® is our concierge showing service. We schedule and confirm all showings for so you only communicate with ADDvantage®, never a Realtor®. We are here 7 days a week…Even Saturday and Sunday. Your exact showing instructions will be given to Realtors® just they way you want. And, an email sent for your records. ($199 value, free with ADDvantage Success™)
• Feedback…Orlando home sellers need feedback from Realtor® showings. Our system will automatically send an email to each Realtor® that shows your home requesting feedback. ($99 value, free with ADDvantage Success™)
• Agent Activate®…Local expertise and knowledge helps you sell faster. Our local agent knows your home and you. They will never miss an opportunity to show and sell your home. If one of our agents is successful selling your property, we will REFUND the ADDvantage Success™ $499 fee at closing. Our Agent Activate® service engages our best Orlando agents or local affiliate to work with each buyer prospect. You pay only the offered buyer’s agent commission, the same commission you are offering any agent (which is typically 3%). If our agent sells, we take the deal from contract-to-close. Our agents will pre-qualify buyers, show your property, write the offer, negotiate the offer, inspection and inspection related negotiating, if any, assist with financing, work with your title company or real estate lawyer and complete the closing in a professional manor. Having an agent help with negotiatons often results in a higher sales price, a faster sale and less hassles.
• Broker Assist… Advice 7 days a week. If an offer comes from an outside buyer’s agent, other than ADDvantage®, our house broker will consult, advise, review the contract, check for missing disclosures and assist in the closing. There will be a transaction fee of $395 at closing if this occurs. (A $799 value)
• Street Smart ADDvantage®…Powerful and Effective Realtor® eblast. Since 2005, ADDvantage® has been promoting properties throughout Florida by email. This email, called the Street Smart ADDvantage® eblast, is reserved for sellers offering a 4% or greater buyer’s agent commission. Twice a month, most local Orlando Realtors® within 35 miles of your property will receive the eblast. Street Smart ADDvantage® is the best read Realtor-to-Realtor email in Orlando, Florida. (A $599 value, free with ADDvantage Success™)
• An Exclusive Right of Sale Listing in MLS, not an Exclusive Agency. At times, “by owner” listings are passed over because Orlando Realtors® perceive them as too much work. While there is only a slight chance of this occurring to your listing, the cost savings of listing flat fee in the MLS far outweigh any possible lost showings. But, why loose a Realtor® showing when there is a solution? List the property in the Orlando Mid-Florida MLS as an Exclusive Right of Sale Listing, NOT as an Exclusive Agency…Which is how all flat fee listing in Florida are inputted into the MLS. Because you will be represented by ADDvantage®, we will input ADDvantage Success™ listings into the MLS as Exclusive Right of Sale listings. It is a better way to get more showings, it is more professional and is exactly the same as a full-service listings.
• Realtor.com Showcase…25 Pictures on Realtor.com. We will upgrade your Realtor.com listing to “showcase” with a longer property description (2400 characters) and 25 pictures. Realtor.com is the world’s most important real estate website. ($49 value, free with ADDvantage Success™)

Call us anytime 1-877-232-9695 or vist our website for more details on ADDvantage Success™ flat fee MLS.

January and the first part of February were as slow as I have ever seen in my 26 years as a real estate broker.

This is great news for Orlando home sellers. I have an excellent pulse on how business is in Florida as I belong to 20 Florida MLS Realtor boards. I am the broker for Florida based ADDvantage®, a flat fee MLS listing service.

The calls are coming from Realtors® seeking showing instructions and un-represented buyers. Buyers have finally realized that if you are going to buy property in Florida, now is the time.

If you aren’t getting action on your FSBO listed property or you are looking for a better way to sell, try us. We are the most advanced flat fee MLS listing company in Florida.

Our systems are so advanced that we are going national with our MLS listing software.

Our flat fee MLS programs start at $349 and end at $799 plus $500 at close. They all do something different as far as marketing and representation.

All of our programs are flat fee. You pay just the buyers agent and if you sell “by owner” you pay zero commission.

Call us anytime….we are here 8:00am-8:00pm 7 days. 1-877-232-9695

We are the creators of Street Smart ADDvantage Realtor eblast which is Florida’s most successful Realtor-to-Realtor email.

We also offer the most unique and least expensive flat rate MLS contract-to-close listing plan, ADDvantage Plus.

We now bring another approach to garnering more attention for your Orlando MLS listing…Offer a Home Warranty.

Because the premium for the home warranty is paid only if you close, you gain the benefits that come with advertising the warranty and defer payment.

The other “why didn’t I think of that sooner” thought is that most Orlando Realtors that present offers will request that the flat fee MLS Orlando seller pay for a home warranty. The cost is about $400. If are you going to buy a home warranty after an offer comes in, you might as well gain the benefits of being able to advertise that fact in the MLS and 100’s of other FSBO websites before you a requested to purchase one.

According to a Gallup poll, 79% of both buyers and sellers rate home warranties as one of the most important considerations when buying or selling a home.

Call us anytime abut our Orlando flat fee MLS listing plans. We are here from 8:00am-8:00pm 7 days a week 1-877-232-9695.

Near 25% of ADDvantage listings are ADDvantage Plus. The sellers that do choose the ADDvantage Plus flat fee plan say the service they received was the best they have every experienced from a Realtor.

There are 5 reasons to consider using ADDvantage Plus to sell your Orlando, Florida property.

First, an ADDvantage Plus listing uses an Exclusive Right of Sale listing in the MLS. This type of listing looks and acts just like a full-service listing without the 6% cost. ADDvantage Plus cost is $799 and $500 at close. Sellers save about 50% off a traditional MLS listing. Unlike a basic flat fee listing, when using ADDvantage Plus, we take all calls, schedule all Realtor and buyer showings, and negotiate all offers with you. More contracts get done when I negotiate with ‘fellow’ Realtors. I go right after what my seller client wants and I have the advantage of being able to be more direct with the buyer’s agent. My 25 years as a Florida real estate broker and professional negotiator go a long way in getting the most out of every offer.

Second, our 8:00am-8:00pm 7 days a week live phone support ensures no calls or appointments will be missed. We do a better job of phone support than any Orlando real estate company. We schedule all appoinments for the seller, confirming each one with the seller and then send an email for a record. Because the seller is not directly communicating with Realtors, ADDvantage Plus adds a professional touch that Realtors prefer.

Third, when listing flat fee with ADDvantage Plus, our Street Smart ADDvantage Realtor eblasting program is included. The seller must offer at least a 4% buyer’s agent commission to opt into Street Smart ADDvantage eblast. The eblast contains details about each property and every Orlando Realtor within 35 miles of a Street Smart listing receives the eblast. Our website tracks all hits from the Street Smart Eblast so sellers can measure the results. The eblast is sent twice a month and is recognized as Orlando Florida’s most well-read Realtor-to-Realtor email.

Forth, I believe Orlando flat fee MLS sellers benefit greatly when I act as the contract negotiator. Two Realtors working together often can get the deal done faster and possible at a higher price for the seller. Real estate contracts can be tricky and Realtors can be aggressive with self-represented sellers because they know more.

Fifth, is that all buyer leads from Realtor.com, Homes.com and other FSBO websites go to the seller. Sellers remain “by owner” when it comes to paying a commission. Sellers only pay a commission if a Realtor is involved. ADDvantage never earns a commission.

A note about physically being in Tampa Bay… All offers are handled by fax or email. My physical location does not interfere with the representation process. Even if there are ‘inspection related’ issues, one of my strengths happens to be my knowledge of construction and the ‘trades.’

Call us anytime, 1-877-232-9695 or visit our flat fee MLS Florida website.

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5 reasons why Orlando FSBO sellers believe ADDvantage is worth the extra money:

1) We are the only Orlando flat fee MLS service that guarantees (it is actually in our listing agreement) 8:00am-8:00pm 7 days a week live buyer lead and Realtor assistance. Our live phone support is one reason why we are a more expensive flat fee MLS service. The common belief is that all calls go directly to the seller so why would anyone pay for extra live phone support of 8:00am-8:00pm? The fact is ADDvantage has answered over 2,900 calls live over the past 12 months from Realtors and buyers needing assistance. Flat fee MLS websites all say they same thing: that “Buyers and Realtors call the seller directly.” This is absolutely FALSE; we put the same remarks in the MLS as all flat fee services do which states “call the seller directly for all showings and offers.” The reason we have received over 2,900 calls is because Realtors are a busy bunch of people and often fail to slow down and read the Realtor remarks. Some read them and can’t find the seller, and some couldn’t care less what the remarks say and call the listing broker as protocol. Also, NO seller contact information is allowed in Realtor.com. These are the reasons why Orlando flat fee MLS sellers need reliable phone support. Is losing one buyer lead or missing one Realtor showing worth tying to save $150 and list with an unreliable cheaper flat fee service?

2) We are the only flat fee MLS service in Orlando, Miami, Tampa or Jacksonville that spends so much time making sure our flat fee sellers are ready for an offer. Just yesterday at 6:45pm, a Saturday evening, I received a call from an Orlando Realtor that was making an offer on a property she had shown earlier in the day. She reached me at 6:45 pm Saturday and received the advice she needed which was where to send the offer. I asked her if she needed the seller’s disclosure statement she said yes. I simply went to our “user docs” area of our seller’s control panel and emailed it to her. She got what she needed, the flat fee seller received excellent service as their offer wasn’t delayed and this was all made possible because our MLS Administrators did their job to ensure all clients have completed their seller’s disclosure. I believe that we are the only flat fee service in Florida that spends the needed resources to follow up with clients and mail “welcome letters” to inform sellers of what their responsibilities are. The list goes on about other success stories that flat fee sellers have experienced at ADDvantage. It all starts with excellent phone ethic and we take the time to get the details right. We help Realtors and buyers today, not tomorrow or Monday.

3) Another point about paying more for an ADDvantage flat fee listing is buyer leads. In our listing agreement we state that all buyer leads belong to the seller, not us. This is not the case with many flat fee MLS listing services in Florida who take the leads for their own purposes.

4) Another point is the listing agreement. Our flat fee listing agreement states that we answer the phone 8:00am-8:00pm 7 days and that a seller can “unconditionally” withdraw a MLS listing at anytime with no fee or penalty. By the way, “suspend” is not the same as unconditionally withdraw. Many other terms can be used that don’t mean you have the right to permanently cancel your listing with no penalties. Listing flat fee isn’t always cut and dry unless you’re dealing with ADDvantage.

5) Lastly, our flat fee MLS listing plans have more proactive features such as Street Smart ADDvantage Realtor eblast and ADDvantage Plus contract-to-close.

Cheap is cheap and with ADDvantage you simply get more.

Call us anytime, we are here 1-877-232-9695 or visit our flat fee MLS listing website getmoreoffers.com

In Florida, there are so many options to list your Orlando home in the MLS. Some services charge $69, while others charge $159; and then there is ADDvantage.

By owners listing in the MLS choose the ADDvantage brand of flat fee MLS 2 to 1 over others because of reliability.

Selling a home in Orlando is not as simple as getting listed in Mid-Florida Regional MLS. There are Realtors showings, appointment requests from buyers, questions from buyers and Realtors about listed properties and seller’s disclosures to manage. All these events happen fast or slow depending on which Orlando flat fee MLS listing service you choose to list with.

ADDvantage is the faster flat fee MLS listing service in Orlando and we guarantee that every detail of your MLS listing will be perfect. All calls that we receive will be answer “live” by one of our professional MLS Administrators from 8:00am-8:00pm 7 days a week.

Over 2,900 Realtors or buyers have called ADDvantage over the past 12 months looking for assistance. Every call was answered live and every call transcribed into an email and sent to our flat fee MLS client.

Call us anytime, 1-877-232-9695 ]]> http://www.flatfeemlsorlando.com/flat-fee-mls-listings-provide-by-owners-many-options-to-sell-and-save-commissions/hello-world/feed/ 1