Do You Really Need the MLS to Sell Your Home?

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Let’s face it, there are plenty of opinions out there whether or not listing your home on the MLS is crucial for selling your home.  There was a time I would’ve told you that you needed to put your home on MLS but these days it is by no means required.  We know what sells a house and our goal here at ListingDoor is to get your home sold quickly and for top dollar so let’s look at why the change of heart.

If you look at recent statistics, three of the top four sites for housing sales are Zillow, Trulia, and Yahoo! Real Estate, according to Experian’s Hitwise monitoring service.  And where are real estate agents in this new online equation?  Well, did you know that the Internet system that agents use most often—the MLS—is hopelessly behind the times?  Read on…

Zillow is the biggest of the big boys—the busiest real estate site on the Internet.  It’s far bigger than the MLS.   With ListingDoor you will be leveraging the strength of Zillow and other top sites to sell your home as well as marketing your home with customized marketing materials.

Selling Your Home Online – The New Way To Sell Your Home

Isn’t it amazing, you can do just about anything online, including selling your home — all without the help of an agent? There are incredible tools available today because of the Internet and these big sites will give your house exposure, and they’ll be a huge asset for you.

Of course, you can also list your home on MLS if you wish.  If you are considering the MLS, wait at least a couple of weeks before deciding. Unless it is absolutely urgent you sell your home, we suggest you see what traffic you get from the top consumer sites and then evaluate whether you want to contact an MLS listing service.  Remember, the beauty of ListingDoor is you are in charge.  We are here to empower you and give you options – we are inclusive, not exclusive.  If you feel that listing your home on the local MLS is imperative then by all means do so.  There are companies that will do it for a flat fee, usually around $100 to $200.

There are two (2) important things to remember about listing on the MLS:

  • The MLS provides absolutely zero marketing. All the MLS service does is list your home on the MLS.  You are still responsible for marketing your home
  • When you deal with MLS, you’re promoting your home to real estate agents, which means there is a good chance you will pay a commission to the buyer’s agent

So here’s the fine print:  If you do decide to list your home with an MLS service, be sure that you quote all agents and the public the same commission rate. So let’s say you want to net $450,000 for your home, you now need to add a 3% commission to the sales price to suffice the buyer’s agent.  Remember that you will then need to sell your home for $463,500 to allow for the commission and still net the $450,000.  Also, if the buyer is financing the home they will need to qualify for the loan and part of that equation is supporting the value of the home.  So the appraisal should support the sales price of $463,500.  Lastly, if you add in a commission and a buyer contacts you and they do not have an agent, tell them they can deduct the commission.  This keeps the listing price consistent so there is no confusion.

So listing your home on the MLS is only a small (and maybe not beneficial) piece of selling your home.  You will still need to do everything we walk you through step-by-step here at ListingDoor.  These sites will get you traffic yet they definitely miss the mark on an important part of the equation: To sell your house fast and for the most money, you need a marketing plan that is specific to you, your market, and your particular home.  Once you have created a plan that fits your situation, you can use these sites as strong marketing tools.

If you are ready to sell your home and ListingDoor sounds like a good fit you can get started now.

Here’s to successfully selling your home!

Want a free step-by-step guide for professionally selling your home (and keeping all the profits)?

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