October 2, 2007 by Joe Kennedy.

Last week I had a call from a gentleman here in Bellevue who was very excited about our $500 Flat Fee Listing program. We still haven’t officially announced or launched it, but he had read about it in a post on one of my blogs and gave me a call.

Apparently he has been trying to sell a family house as a FSBO (for sale by owner) for the past two or three months with no success. First of all, he should not feel all alone - there are many homes in our area that have been languishing on the market for months - and they are listed on the MLS and represented by agents!

I explained to him that it is very important for his property to be exposed to as many potential buyers as possible and that in my opinion, the best way to do this is by getting the house listed on the local multiple listing service (MLS). He agreed that’s what he needed to do and went to AAAListsHomes.com to get the forms to fill out to get listed.

A short time later, he called back to ask about the selling broker commission. With a Flat Fee Listing, no listing commissions are charged or paid, but the seller does need to offer selling brokers (or buyer’s agents) a commission for their work. Our FSBO didn’t want to pay the buyer’s agent at all - in his opinion that should be up to the buyer!

I explained that real estate commissions, while always being negotiable, are traditionally paid as a percentage of the sales price of a property - and from the sales price. That means the seller generally pays the sales side of the commission, even if that agent is working for the buyer. Another thing that I mentioned to him is that buyers are having a hard enough time finding financing, without having to come up with another big pile of cash to pay commissions.

AAA Properties is happy to be part of changing the real estate industry by eliminating listing commissions, but the fact is there are still thousands of agents out there who represent most of the buyers. We want those buyers agents to show our listings to our buyers, so we recommend that those who use our flat fee service offer a full 3% to any agent who brings them a buyer. This is truly the only way to make sure that your property gets full exposure to the market and will bring the best price possible.

In the end, it is unknown if our FSBO will be listing his house or not, whether he’ll choose to offer a selling broker commission, how long it will take him to sell the property or whether he will get a good price for his house. What would you do? What do think will happen in his situation?

Skidoodleski, Hair Farmer Joe

Posted in MLS, Residential, FSBO, Commissions, Listing, Bellevue | No Comments »

September 27, 2007 by Joe Kennedy.

Here is a recent press release about MLS consolidation here in Washington state.  There are a number of companies working on putting together a national platform.  Some how I think one of these companies will be able to pull it off a long time before there is national consolidation of the existing MLS.

Olympic Multiple Listing Service is dissolving effective Sept. 30, but no disruption in service is expected, according to officials from Northwest MLS which will enhance its presence in Thurston County with the opening of an office in Olympia. 

Jerry Wilkins, manager of Olympic MLS since January 1997, and all three staff members of that service will become employees of NWMLS and be based at the Olympia satellite office, located at 556 Lilly Road Southeast, Suite D. 

“We expect this will be a seamless transition,” Wilkins remarked, noting planning has been under way since the first of the year when the Olympic MLS board voted to dissolve, ending 50-plus years of service (under various names) to local brokers and agents. Northwest MLS started offering services to Thurston County brokers in 1999, but until now its closest satellite offices were in the adjacent counties.

Wilkins expects most members of Olympic MLS who are not already members of Northwest MLS will affiliate with the larger, regional group.  NWMLS, based in Kirkland, is the largest full-service MLS in the Northwest.  It is owned by its member brokers and currently encompasses more than 2,200 companies with nearly 27,000 sales associates. Together, they serve 19 counties, mostly in western Washington, plus Grant, Kittitas and Okanogan counties in the central part of the state. 

Olympic MLS chairperson Jeff Pust, general manager at Van Dorm Realty, Inc. in Olympia supported the decision to dissolve and consolidate services.  “It’s a win-win for brokers, agents and their clients,” he commented, citing NWMLS’ reputation as a leader in technology and customer support.  There will be no interruption and service to the public he emphasized, noting NWMLS members have access to the “latest and greatest” tools to assist home buyers and sellers.

The move by the Thurston association reflects a trend toward regionalization of MLS functions that is occurring nationally and locally, according to Jack Johnson, president and CEO of Northwest MLS.  Such consolidation enables more efficient exchange of information, broader exposure of inventory that benefits both buyers and sellers, streamlined operations and other economies of scale for accessing standardized forms and state-of-the-art technology, Johnson explained.

Posted in Consolidation, MLS, NWMLS | No Comments »