Tips On Using Flat-Fee Real Estate Listings And Preparing Property For Sale
Multiple listing services, or simply MLS, is a system that real estate brokers use to share information about property listings with fellow agents in an effort to speed up the process of finding an appropriate buyer. In the past, information on the MLS was distributed to brokers through manuscripts published on a monthly basis and updated every week. With the advent of the Internet and online MLS providers, however, information sharing can be done in real time and buyers can be found as soon as a house is listed in the service.
There are numerous advantages to using online MLS systems when selling a home and the first among these is wider coverage. Information on the MLS can usually be viewed by agents in a particular area, but other services can also share information with real estate brokers in other areas in the country or even abroad. As such, home sellers can reach more people than if they used traditional advertising devices such as local ads and signs. In addition to wider coverage, using MLS for home selling also allows for greater savings. This is particularly true for vendors who make use of flat-fee real estate listings; in flat-fee MLS, home sellers only need to pay a few hundred dollars to list their homes on the service and they do not need to pay commission since they are not represented by an agent. Home sellers can save even more if a buyer contacts them directly and is not represented by an agent as well.
However, sellers can only enjoy these benefits if they use the MLS properly and effectively — a sloppy real estate ad will still be unable to bring in potential buyers, even if it is placed on a highly popular MLS site. As such, it’s very important for sellers to provide adequate details about their listings as well as high-quality pictures as these can help attract buyers who are interested in such a property. In addition, it’s also imperative to price a piece of property fairly; buyers nowadays have the necessary tools for determining a home’s value right at their fingertips, and they can easily tell when a home is fairly priced and when they are being ripped off.
In addition to improving your online listings with the abovementioned tips, sellers can also increase their chances of success by preparing the property adequately for the sale. This means cleaning up the property prior to showing it to buyers, fixing or replacing any broken fixtures, arranging furniture and de-cluttering to allow light and air in and finally, highlighting the most attractive features of the property. It’s important to note that while the MLS can help boost the chances of successfully making a sale, traditional tips for house selling such as preparing the property and creating a great advertisement still apply.