List by owner in the MLS

For years, extremely knowledgeable home sellers, people like commercial real estate agents, real estate attorneys, and former residential agents, would reach out to their friends in the residential real estate business asking them to make a deal. “Just sign me up for the Multiple Listing Service (back then it might have been known as Multiple Listing) for a small fee and I’ll handle all the work,” they said. From time to time, the residential real estate agent would oblige, although they would want to keep the deal a secret from their full-paying clients. Although the home seller did not have a way to directly list his property on the MLS, he was able to gain access through his friend’s real estate agent. However, real estate agents would not offer something like that to the general public.

In recent years there has been so much demand for this type of service that real estate agents have realized that it can be a viable business to focus on this niche exclusively. Flat fee real estate brokers effectively unbundled their services by charging a base listing fee for the listing and offering upgrades that a client could pay for, such as signs, safe deposit boxes, and virtual tours. These money-saving programs are becoming more popular for a reason: they work. Many sellers close escrow on their properties after thousands or tens of thousands of dollars have been saved.

Homeowners need to understand what the “by owner” listing is on the MLS. First of all, the listing is not technically “by owner” since every time you list with a broker, even a flat fee broker, the owner or FSBO no longer considers your property to be for sale. It is treated like any other property listed on the MLS. Buyer’s agents find the property in their normal search process and show the property knowing that the seller will pay a particular level of compensation at closing should the buyer purchase the property. However, the “by owner” concept is helpful in understanding that the owner is in control of his own list. They can decide how the exhibit will be run, when to hold open houses, and how they want to negotiate. For some sellers, simply having control over their listing is their primary motivation for listing on the MLS with a flat fee; the money they save is an added bonus. They can list the property as they see fit. They may stick to a particular price or lower the price so that the sale goes through. Since the money is saved on commissions, they will often walk away with more money in their pocket. Some sellers like that they can answer their cell phones for all phone calls from potential buyers and real estate agents instead of worrying about those calls going unanswered.

Owner listing on MLS, flat rate listing, flat rate MLS, or whatever the term is, has grown in recent years and continues to grow even in a down market. Preserving one’s wealth is important to homeowners, regardless of market conditions. After all, when a real estate agent sells his own property, he usually does it himself, offers the buyer’s agent a commission on the MLS (often 2.5 or 3%) and saves thousands in the process. Homeowners want to list their own properties the same way, and luckily they now have the option.