Tampa Bay Area Sellers Choose ADDvantage for Flat Fee MLS Listing
Buccaneers choose ADDvantage 3 to 1 over other services when listing flat fee MLS in Tampa. Tampa Bay residents prefer listing through ADDvantage because we deliver more service and a better overall selling experience.
Flat Fee MLS has become more popular in Tampa this year than in any previous years due to the cost savings that flat rate MLS listings provides to sellers. With real estate prices down 30% in two years, Tampa homeowners need every advantage possible to retain what equity they have in their homes.
When listed in the MLS flat fee through Stellar MLS, your MLS listing will be seen by Realtors® throughout Tampa, Oldsmar, New Port Richey, Holiday, Trinity, Orlando, Kissimmee, St. Pete, Clearwater, Bradenton, Sarasota and Venice. This new expanded MLS is now the largest Florida MLS listing system.
Flat fee MLS sellers pay only the buyer's agent a commission, saving 50% when compared with a traditional 6% listing. If the by owner MLS seller finds their own buyer, then the transaction is commission free.
To be successful using flat fee MLS in Tampa, you need to list with a competent MLS listing service. There are many choices in Tampa to list in the MLS, but there is only one company in Tampa that provides a "traditional" flat fee MLS listing that truly benefits the seller and not the listing broker.
There are 5 "UNTRUTHS" about listing flat fee MLS in Tampa:
One, all calls go directly to the by owner MLS seller and phone support is a waste of money;
Two, all buyer leads and Realtors® calls go directly to the MLS flat fee seller;
Three, cheap is better because all flat fee services are the same;
Four, sellers can cancel their MLS listing anytime and move to another broker;
Five, phone support on Saturday and Sunday is unimportant because the listing broker doesn't get any calls over the weekend.
There are 5 "TRUTHS" about listing falt fee MLS in Tampa:
One, phone calls are shared between the flat fee MLS listing brokers and the "by-owner MLS" seller. ADDvantage offers 7 days a week live phone support to every flat fee MLS Tampa seller because our phone does ring 7 days a week. Flat fee websites that say all calls go directly to the seller are advertising a "lie-of-convenience" because a service commitment such as ADDvantage's costs too much to guarantee.
Two, an advantage of listing flat fee MLS is that sellers can sell "by-owner" and pay no commission. But, to do so, the seller needs buyer leads to have any chance of selling by-owner. Not all flat fee MLS Tampa listing services forwards all buyer leads to their sellers. Leads are valuable. In our ADDvantage Flat Fee MLS Listing Agreement, we state in black and white:
LEADS: All leads received from any source will be managed and recorded in SELLER's account by the following protocol: i) informing caller of SELLER's contact phone numbers. ii) Following the showing instructions as provided by SELLER. iii) All leads will be documented in SLLER account under "Buyer Leads" section, located within MY ACCOUNT.
We articulate this important "buyer lead" fact because many flat fee services, especially the cheap ones, may take your buyer leads for their own agents. Flat Fee MLS sellers that list through ADDvantage are successful selling "by-owner" 27% of the time. We believe our phone ethic and buyer lead policy is the reason so many Tampa flat fee MLS sellers pay no commission at ADDvantage.
Three, cheap is not better. A cheap flat fee MLS listing means service will suffer. One missed buyer lead or Realtors® phone call for a showing could cost the seller a possible sale. Many FSBO or By Owners in Tampa believe the rhetoric that all Realtors® call the seller directly when listed in the MLS flat fee. This is untrue. Since 1913, the "code of ethic" which has been followed by every Realtors® states "not to communicate directly with the listing agent's client". While everyone is confused about how to handle the new fangled flat fee MLS listing popularity in Florida, many Realtors® insist on calling the listing broker and not the seller directly. It just happened yesterday exactly this way at 6:30 pm. A Realtors® from Tampa said these words, "I see the seller's phone number in the MLS, but I wanted to call you first." This happens every day and all weekend long which is the reason why flat fee MLS sellers should only use a service that publishes its hours of phone support in the listing agreement as we do:
Live Phone Support
ADDvantage Real Estate agrees to offer SELLER live phone support 7 days per week.
Another new feature that we just implemented to help Tampa Realtors® feel more comfortable with flat fee MLS listings is a email that we send to all Realtors® that request a showing on a property which the seller is "self-represented/limited-service/flat fee listing".* The email states, "The broker for ADDvantage, Keith Robert Gordon, gives you (Realtors®) his expressed permission to deal directly with the Seller (name). You may contact the seller at (phone number). This removes any "code of ethic" issues that may exist.
Not all flat fee plans that ADDvantage offers are "limited service". We also offer a low commission full service MLS plan that is NOT limited service. This plan is StreetSmart PRO. We represent the seller under this plan. We negotiate all offers, take all calls, schedule all appointments and close the transaction. We do not send the above email if a seller is an StreetSmart PRO client.
Four, flat fee MLS Tampa sellers can cancel their flat rate listing with ADDvantage at anytime with no fee or penalty. We will unconditionally terminate the MLS listing the same day we receive written notice from the seller. The same day, another broker can input the listing into the MLS, if need be. This is not the case with all flat fee "traps". They may use the word "conditional" or "suspend" in their listing agreement. No other word should be used in the listing agreement to articulate the meaning of permanently removing a listing from the MLS but "unconditionally terminate". Many flat fee "traps" use a cheap price to lure in by owners and when sellers attempt to cancel their MLS listing in Tampa and perhaps move to another broker, they are faced with a cancellation fee of $500 or be required to pay a referral fee of 25% back to the flat fee "trap". This is why in our listing agreement under section 5 states the following:
TERM of AGREEMENT and RIGHT to CANCEL: This AGREEMENT is not to exceed one year. (Please enter dates): The term of this AGREEMENT will begin on DD/MM/YYYY 6:24:41 AM and terminate at 11:59 PM DD/MM/YYYY If the property is not sold before the listing expires, SELLER may opt to extend the listing for an extra 1 year for a discount of 20% of your original service price. If listing agreement with BROKER expires while subject property's listing status is contract pending, then BROKER agrees to extend listing period for a period of 60 days. This extension includes an administrative fee of $25, to be paid at each 60 day extension period, as well as all current terms and conditions until such time as the property closes or the termination of such contract. This agreement can be cancelled by SELLER anytime* by providing written notice to BROKER. BROKER will terminate MLS listing within 24 hours.
Five, is the value of having guaranteed live phone support, even over the weekend. Buyers are especially active over the weekend. This is when they have time to search Realtor.com and other websites seeking their new Tampa Home. Realtor.com, the worlds most prolific website for real estate, forbids any seller contact information. All calls and emails from Realtor.com go directly to the flat fee MLS broker.
For all these reason above, flat fee MLS Tampa sellers should trust ADDvantage to list their homes.
Call us anytime, 1-877-232-9695