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Looking For A Flat Fee MLS Service in California?

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The Truth About Flat Fee MLS Services In California

If you’ve decided to list your home in California with a flat fee mls listing service, the potential savings are huge. While a flat fee MLS listing service offers less commissions it’s important to know the facts.

Flat fee MLS listing services have hidden fees beyond the flat fee price.

Listing on the MLS with a flat fee company just covers your listing. There are more fees and commissions you need to offer if you expect your home to sell. Real estate agents can view your home on the MLS, but if you don’t offer commission to a buyer’s agent, they won’t show your home, and you won’t have any different results than just listing for sale by owner.

You’ll also need to pay for your own professional photos, legal fees, title fees, a lockbox, as well as your own marketing.

In addition to extra cost, you’ll have to be available to show your home, and will have to navigate inspections, negotiations, and closing without an experienced party to help you.

In addition to costs, homes listed for sale by owner or with a flat fee MLS service sell for 13 % less than homes listed with an agent. In California, the average home price is $409,300, so listing by owner can leave $356,091 on the table.

Homes that were sold FSBO sold for an average of
13% less than homes listed with an agent.

  • $409,300

    Listed with Agent

  • $356,091

    Listed FSBO
In California the average home sells for $409,300, and the average home listed by owner sells for $356,091, $53,209 less than homes sold by and agent

flat fee percentage

A Better Alternative: Use A Local California Discount Real Estate Agent

Clever real estate has partnered with top rated agents across the country from every major brand that will list your home at a discount while still providing full service.

Clever lets you list your home for a flat fee of $3,000 if it’s less than $350,000, or 1% if the home is more expensive. Clever partners with agents from every major brand, as well as top rated local brokerages to list and sell your home, so potential buyers will have no idea that you’re saving on commissions.

Clever has over 1,500 top rated agents across the country, and we would love to help you sell your next home and save thousands on commission.

Click here to get connected to a local agent.
The Difference Between Listing with a Flat Fee MLS Service and a Clever Partner Agent

We’ve outlined the difference between a flat fee MLS listing service and using a Clever Partner Agent.

FlatFeeMLSvsClever

Hidden Costs Of A Flat Fee MLS Service: A Case Study

John is considering selling his home with a Flat Fee MLS listing service.

He’s attracted to the competitive low cost -- in John’s area, Flat Fee MLS is just $250 for a 6 month listing -- but wants to do his homework to know what he’s really going to end up paying altogether.

John starts planning out all his expenses selling by-owner.

First, he will have to pay buyer’s agent commission.

The advantage of getting on the MLS is that buyer’s agents can see your home is available for sale. However, if you don’t offer a buyer’s agent commission, these buyer’s agents have no motivation to show their clients your home.

The buyer’s agent commission you offer isn’t set in stone -- but it needs to be competitive compared to the commission being offered for similar homes in your area. Otherwise, agents will overlook your home. Generally, buyer’s agent commission is between 2 and 3%.

Next, John finds a friend with experience in professional home photography who agrees to take photos for John’s listing for $200. He finds a pair of “for sale” signs to put in the yard for $50 and buys a lockbox so agents can do showings.

At this point, John has paid around $600 and spent 5 or 6 hours preparing his MLS listing -- all time and money that he had to pay up-front.

If a buyer does make an offer, John will still have to pay for a real estate attorney to help with legal paperwork, usually between $750 - $1,500. If things don’t work out with the first buyer, he could end up paying this fee more than once.

In short:
John has to pay a lot of money up-front, with no certainty that it will work to sell his home.
He has to pay additional fees if he finds a buyer, and might have to pay these fees more than once if the first offer falls through.
In addition to these extra costs, John will have to make himself available for showings, answer calls from buyers and agents who want to list his home, and will have to navigate inspections, negotiations, and closing without an experienced party to help him make the right decisions.

The chart below breaks down the true cost of selling your home with a flat fee MLS:

FlatFeeMLSvsCleverChart

How much will you save in California with Clever?

There's another way to sell your home and still save on real estate agent commissions.
Simply select your home's value to see how much you'll save by listing with Clever

Home Value

$50,000
$1,000,000
  • Flat Fee MLS Sale Price
  • Clever Sale Price

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