Orlando Saves Over 50% in Real Estate Commissions

Our Orlando Flat Fee MLS listings are selling faster than we are getting new ones

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.

I am the broker for Orlando flat fee MLS listing service ADDvantage®. The most popular question asked this time of year is when should I list my home in the MLS?

The dilemma is you want your MLS listing to be seen “fresh” to the Orlando Realtors® but you don’t want to miss the perfect offer.

The correct answer to “what’s the best month in Florida to list in the MLS” is…Right Now.

Sellers have no control over the timing of a sale. December 2008 was a good month for ADDvantage® selling homes which is typically a slow month.

Like fishing, the worse the weather creates the best fishing opportunities. Beautiful perfectly clam days often produce less fish. But…No bait in the water, no fish…On any day!

At ADDvantage®, we know the best time to sell your Orlando home is the day that perfect offer comes along. We will do our job our marketing everywhere possible on the Internet such as google, craigslist, Vast, Homes.com, Realtor.com, MSN, AOL, Trulia, Harmon Homes, getmoreoffers.com and hundreds more real estate websites.

Marketing alone is not enough to sell a home today. Buyers and Realtors® must be able to see your home when they call or email. ADDvantage® is the only Orlando, Florida discount MLS broker that guarantees to answers the phone 12 hours a day 7 days a week…starting at 8:00am and ending at 8:00pm. Buyers and Realtors® in Florida are particularly active on Saturday and Sunday. Sunday are mostly un-represented buyers calling on signs and Realtor.com.

We are the only Florida real estate company that considers the real estate profession a 7 day a week job. Why? Unlike other service industries where sales people are held accountable by their owners/managers, Realtors® have no responsibility to sellers. Once you sign a listing agreement, they are not committed to do much…Especially, answering their phone.

This poor level of phone service will never cost you a showing at ADDvantage® because our track record speaks for itself…3,107 calls answered live the past 12 months and 1,047 answered after-hours. ADDvantage® will convert calls into showings and showings result in more Orlando homes sold.

We have been through challenging markets since 2006. We are selling 26% of our Florida flat fee MLS listed homes with an average “days on market” of 117 days.

Your flat fee MLS listing service holds the key to your success. Our clients are more successful due to our 8:00am-8:00pm 7 day a week live support.

List your Orlando home flat fee MLS with the most reliable discount MLS broker in Florida…ADDvantage®.

1-877-232-9695 or 727-942-2929.