Calgary's Flat Fee Listing Service

[sml]

I've read some debate on selling a house using welist and a realtor, it seems like the pros of going with a realtor is time and the "power" of the mls. Has anyone heard of this: Flatfee495? It is basically a flat fee listing service which list your house on mls and handles all calls for the showing of your house for you. They also help you write up the contract and help you negotiate and represent you at closing of the deal. You pay a flat fee, no commision on the seller side and only pay the buyer's agent's commission (usually 3.5% and 1.5%).

Has anyone had or heard of any experience with these guys? It sounds like there's only one guy there and he works for Discovery Real Estate Ltd.

[CalgarySupra]

Original Post Removed. (Please read the Forum Rules and Terms of Use before posting again, or risk getting banned).

[Paul@CustomAuto]

buyer agent is normally 3.5 first 100k and 1.5on bal. you never want to discount on the buyer commision when they are coming to your house with buyers. I have seen a couple discount agents now but I can't see what kind of job they will do for 500 bucks when an industtry standard is up around 5,000. Even with me being a realtor I still have friends that sold through welist and couple went smooth. you really have to do your research and have a good understanding of contract law and know what you say, you can be held accountable for. keep in mind a lawyer is not a realtor.

Ive seen people get sued because they didn't know the measurement guidelines and went off the title for square footage (which was wrong because of a previous sale). that ended up being a $48,000 mistake by the sellers to save $4,000 up front.

[HRD2PLZ]

If your options are only between welist and the flatfee MLS then I would go with the flatfee MLS service. As long as the Realtor is a full service professional. Most Realtors associated with a large franchise brokerage (Re/Max, Royal LePage, C21, etc) have fairly high overhead and simply can't afford to work for $495. I know for myself, that wouldn't even begin to cover my monthly fee's. To provide full service and take on the legal liability just wouldn't be worth the risk.

There is no set real estate commissions in Alberta, all commissions are negotiable

[sml]

Using this 495 service does not affect the buyer's agent. It is the seller's agent who essentially is providing a listing on mls and the owner shows his/her house. It's a cross between realtor and welist. Everyone talks about the power of the mls, this gives you the power of mls and the buyer's agent is guaranteed the same amount of commision as if they were to go through another "full priced" agent.
With regards to the "industry standard commission" of $5k, there may or not not be a reason for that standard to be in place. I will not assume that I know anything about selling real estate, but I do know as a fact that with escalating house prices, there's no reason why realtor commission is based on a percentage of the final price. There is no reason why realtors get more commision selling a house that is $500k vs $300k. The second point is that it is also a known fact (at least to me) that the seller's agent has very little affect on attracting the final buyer. The buyer's agent basically does most of the leg work for their clients and bring them to the seller's house. I agree with paying the buyer's agent full commission because they're the one running around and looking for potential house matches for their clients. So, what does the seller's agent do? Takes a few pics, do up a CMA (which every realtor will do for you for free these days), list it on mls, sit around and wait for a buyer with agent to call, give them the lockbox code, follow-up, and do up a standard PA contract, and a bunch of other paperwork which seems like a lot of work but in reality is the same rountine of work over and over again.
With that said, I am still on the fence which way to go. I have crossed out welist on my list because we just don't have that kind of a market today to be successful on it. But the realtor partners on beyond need to sell me on why they think a full fledged realtor is better than a flat fee discount realtor. Just trying to pick your brains!

[Paul@CustomAuto]

I wasn't sure if this reply would stir up a wasp nest but I will tell you why I think the selling commissions are up there.
To me its exactly like owning or starting a store you have your monthly desk fees and brokerage fees (same as rent on the store). You then have your buy-in with your suppliers to get your product at a reasonable price for us that’s cost of education. Then you sit as a store owner and come up with a profit margin to cover advertising and monthly expenses before you can think of wages. in real estate I found the marketing and advertising money that you spend to be HUGE! it costs money for you to know our names and decide to use us. if you think about it an average good realtor only needs 4-5 ends a month and spent about 6,000 in advertising and fees for you to find them. In customauto when I had that shop took a couple hundred customers a month to cover the bills because our profit margin was low to compete with ebay and other businesses. Same thing in real estate just ALOT less customers, more liability and risk and intern you get a higher profit margin.

To me, this is how I see it as a business. Its only my opinion and could be right or wrong. I hope its understandable cause it does look like one big run-on sentence. lol

p.s - please keep in mind I did not intend for this reply to be a battle aginst realtors and welist. I support people making decisions on where and who they want to sell with be it welist or other services because it is alot of money to pay. this is only a general statement in regards to the question of asking "why" realtors seem to have high fees.

[tictactoe2004]

When doing a transaction that can hold you liable, considering multiple parties including the buyer, the buyers realtor, lawyers, bankers and others, not to mention that the transaction is on average close to half a million dollars... why risk anything for $2-3K... considering most people have made a killing if they're already in the market.

If you know what your doing thats one thing, but if you have no exp. in it... use a realtor.

'sup paul, it's mark here

[sml]

Note that this post is NOT a welist vs realtor discussion, it is a FLAT FEE DISCOUNT realtor vs regular realtor discussion. Now I may not fully understand down to every last detail what the differences are, but the commission cost for a half million dollar house is $495 vs $9500. All I want to know is what services could a $9500 realtor provide me that a $495 realtor cannot and are those services worth $9000.

[Xtrema]

Is there really a $495 Realtor out there?

Now this is just a theory,

1) buyer agents will stay away from these listings because there's no $ in it.

2) The Realtor that offer $495 will only deal with buyers who surf MLS.ca. There's no way he'll waste $$ advertising them. Even then, he'll probably persuade the buyer on other properties on his hand before selling yours.

I think it's a trick to increase a realtor's listings to create buyer leads. There'll be no effort spent at all to get the place sold.

In this hot market, it may work. And if anyone has a good story about these guys, please share.

BTW, going rate commission on $500K home is just south of $20K. Agents may sell for less

[rusich]

Originally posted by Xtrema
Is there really a $495 Realtor out there?

He'll probably persuade the buyer on other properties on his hand before selling yours.

I think it's a trick to increase a realtor's listings to create buyer leads. There'll be no effort spent at all to get the place sold.

That it is exactly it.

[sml]

That may be true, but if the market is healthy and there's a lot of volume, the agent may not need to do very much to advertise the property. The buyer's agent could sell the house for him! Mind you that the buyer's agent is still guarrantee his/her full commission if you go with this 495 realtor. To the buyer's agent, there's no difference.

[Euro838]

Well, I don't think there's a straight answer to your question without a lot more information. Selling a house is like selling a used car.

From my experiences, using a "regular realtor" will usually fetch you a faster and higher sale. If you have a lot of time and are willing to do your own marketing (if necessary) then the flat-fee or any other discount method may work for you. I would suggest that if you really want your property sold quickly, then do your research/interview realtors, all realtors are not equal. I believe if you can get your property in on the "Realtor Network" not just MLS, you'll be better off! Realtors, just like beyond members, are part of a community and being able to utilize their networking power, is the true value of what you are paying for. There are A LOT of realtors out there that do not have the knowledge or instinct to pull off a sale and therefore are wasting your time. I truly believe that if you find a good realtor, they are well worth the money you are paying them. I wouldn't use an inexperienced new realtor to sell my house as a stepping stone to their career. It would appear these days that it's not that difficult to sell a house but as a seller, you want to sell your house for as much as possible. You'll need experience and an effective marketing plan.

Anyways, if you have time and marketing knowledge, then the flat-fee discount realtor is the way to go, otherwise go with a regular realtor as I think they've earned their price if they can have your property sold sooner, smoother, and highest value.

[Paul@CustomAuto]

just curious, is the 495 realtor making you sign a buyer brokerage agreement so they can get a purchase out of you as well?

[CalgarySupra]

not fair, we mention welist no one on my site is allowed to mention my service (dont want ot say or risk being banned)

yes we list is good. realtors charge way too much . theres ISHOTMYWIFE hes a good guy though.

[88CRX]

Originally posted by CalgarySupra
not fair, we mention welist no one on my site is allowed to mention my service (dont want ot say or risk being banned)

yes we list is good. realtors charge way too much . theres ISHOTMYWIFE hes a good guy though.

Oh you mean the spaming?

[Mangina]

Originally posted by CalgarySupra
not fair, we mention welist no one on my site is allowed to mention my service (dont want ot say or risk being banned)

yes we list is good. realtors charge way too much . theres ISHOTMYWIFE hes a good guy though.

[CalgarySupra]

Originally posted by 88CRX


Oh you mean the spaming?

its not "spamming" and i am sorry if someone it appeared that, people come on here asking for resources, some ask for garbage removal, some ask good store to buy certain thing, or someone who is into a certain trade.

i been a beyond member for a long time, i didnt just register today, i suggest welist calgary****** and other services.

meet me in person last thing you would think is that I "spam"

[turbotrip]

^ what was ur website again? i looked at it a couple of months ago and could use it about now

[CalgarySupra]

calgaryfinder

thank you.