- What happens after I order?
- Are there any additional fees?
- What is the MLS and who owns it?
- Will my listing look the same as other listings?
- How does your service compare to companies that help me sell my home for 1 or 2%?
- Do I need to come to your office to be listed?
- Will traditional agents with buyers really show my home even though I am saving so much money?
- Is there any situation where I would have to pay the selling agent commission if my home sale does not successfully close?
- If I find my own buyer, do I still have to pay a commission?
- Why are all the listings I see on the internet listed by Realtors and they do not say for sale by owner?
- How do I know for sure that my listing will go into the MLS since as an unlicensed person I cannot view the MLS?
- Do you match prices of your competitors?
- Can I use your service if I am a Realtor or have my real estate license?
- Will you answer my questions about how to sell my home?
- Does your service include all the disclosure forms?
- How soon can my home be in the MLS?
- What if my plans change and I no longer want to be listed?
- How do I know if the buyer will get approved for a mortgage?
- Can I get my sign, lockbox or other hardware shipped overnight for an extra charge?
- How do the photos get attached to my listing?
- Will my telephone number be on the MLS listing?
Question: What happens after I order?
Answer:
- After ordering above, you will immediately receive an email with the Missouri forms and Missouri disclosure forms attached. These documents must be printed out, signed, and faxed (to the fax number provided on the forms) before your home can be listed.
- You will receive an email with a form where you can enter the your home’s details (number of bedrooms, bathrooms, etc.) which will go into MLS. You will also receive an email address where you can email photos or a mailing address to mail photos or a photo CD.
- Your home selling hardware (yard sign(s), key lockbox, etc. included with this service listed above) will be shipped, usually the next business day. The hardware can be shipped to a different address if you tell us on your order.
- Your home will be listed in MLS no later than the next day after your fax and photos are received with the complete information. You can request that the listing go into MLS at a later date if wish by marking that date clearly on your fax. You will receive further detailed instructions and a copy of your MLS listing to double check for accuracy.
- Once listed in the MLS, your listing will instantly be visible to the agents. Publicly available websites usually update in 1-2 days. Let the showings begin!
Question: Are there any additional fees?
Answer: No. The only fee we charge is the listing fee which you pay when you are listed. See our No Hidden Fee Guarantee for more information. When your home is listed in the MLS, you also list the commission amount you are willing to pay the agent for the buyer (3% recommended, broker minimum may apply). If you accept an offer from a buyer involved with an agent, you pay that commission at closing (BuySelf Realty does not keep any portion of it, it all goes to the buyer’s broker). If you accept an offer from a buyer who isn’t involved with an agent in any way, then you pay no commission at closing. Shipping costs are included and there are no additional fees charged by other agents involved in the transaction. We do not charge any other fees to you for the sale of your home, guaranteed. Please call us if you have any question about this.
Question: What is the MLS and who owns it?
Answer: To input listings, one must have a Missouri real estate license and be a member of the area’s association of Realtors: St. Louis Association of REALTORS®, St. Charles County Board of REALTORS, Jefferson County Board of REALTORS, and Franklin County Board of REALTORS.. MLS members cooperate by showing and selling the homes listed by other members, for which they receive a commission for bringing the buyer to the seller. The MLS requires that commission amount offered to the buyer’s agent be listed along with the detailed information about the home and picture(s).
The MLS is the primary tool agents use to find a property when they have a buyer. 86% of buyers use agents to help them find properties (especially the most motivated buyers: relocation, preapproved, etc.). For most agents, the MLS is the tool used every day to find a home for their buyers (for many agents, it is the only tool they use to find homes.) The MLS is not available to the public, only MLS Members can view the MLS listings. In recent years, most MLS systems have distributed some listing information to websites like Realtor.com and allowed MLS members to show some listing information on their own websites.
Our service enables you to get the best of both worlds: get MLS exposure to buyers and pay a commission only if you accept an offer from a buyer involved with an agent. Our average customer walks away from closing with a check that is $8,072 higher than using a traditional agent.
The MARIS Mid America Regional Information Service MLS is owned and used by:
St. Louis Association of REALTORS®, St. Charles County Board of REALTORS, Jefferson County Board of REALTORS, and Franklin County Board of REALTORS.
The market area served by these MLS systems is Saint Louis County, Montgomery County, Gasconade County, Crawford County, Pike County, Ste. Genevieve Couinty, St. Charles County, Jefferson County, Franklin County, Lincoln County, Warren County, and St. Francois County
The MLS is used by agents from nearly every real estate company, including all of the large and medium sized companies, including CB Gundaker®, Keller Williams®, Century 21®, Coldwell Banker®, ERA Realty®, Keller Williams Realty®, Prudential®, RE/MAX Realty®, and Realty Executives®. Note: These companies and their names are properties of their owners and are used here for descriptive purposes only. No affiliation, ownership, endorsement, or relationship of any kind exists.
The MLS can have many different names used by agents and buyers, including Rappatoni, ML, MLExchange, Multi-list, Multiple List Service, the MLS Book, MARIS, Mid America MLS, St. Louis MLS, St. Charles MLS, Jefferson County MLS, Franklin County MLS, Missouri MLS and the Missouri MLS.
Question: Will my listing look the same as other listings?
Answer: Yes, your listing will be identical to the listings of competing real estate companies. It will show photo(s) and all the same listing information. The listing shows the commission rate offered to a buyer agent who successfully sells the home, instructions for showing the home, and your telephone number. Often our listings look better than the average listing because we strongly encourage our customers to send us all 15 photos, which makes the listing look more appealing. View a Sample MLS Listing
Question: How does your service compare to companies that help me sell my home for 1 or 2%?
Answer: Companies that charge 1 to 2% do not include MLS, which is the most powerful tool to market your home. If you find a company that will list your home in the Realtors MLS for 1 or 2% total cost, email us their information and we will give you 2 free movie passes. We have made this offer to people for a long time and we have never heard of a company that provides a listing in the MLS for 2%. Read the fine print of their offer and you will see that it doesn’t include the most powerful tool for selling your home, the Realtors MLS. Note: for high priced homes, the cost of our service may be less than 2%. Call us for details.
Question: Do I need to come to your office to be listed?
Answer: No, you don’t have to visit our office to get listed. Our services are set up to maximize your convenience. The necessary paperwork can be emailed, faxed, or mailed both ways so there is no travel, appointment, or time-consuming meeting necessary to get listed. The signs, lockboxes, and/or other supplies are sent out for second day express shipment to your property address or any other address you tell us on your order.
Question: Will traditional agents with buyers really show my home even though I am saving so much money?
Answer: Agents from every large and most small real estate company have sold our listings–name a company, they have probably sold our listings: CB Gundaker®, Keller Williams® Coldwell Banker, Remax, Century 21, Prudential, the list goes on and on…
Yes, agents will show your home. Agents want to find a home that meets their buyers needs as quickly as possible, as long as they get paid a competitive commission for bringing the buyer. This explains why agents from every major real estate company have sold our listings.
It is extremely rare that an agent would refuse to show a home that pays them a competitive commission and meets their buyers needs. Refusing to show violates federal law, the Realtor Code of Ethics, and their legal responsibility to their buyer as an agent. There may be a very small number of agents in some areas that violate the Code of Ethics and Federal law prohibiting a boycott, but it is extremely rare. The MLS listing does not tell them how much you are paying to list your home, only what you are offering to pay the agent who brings the buyer, so the agent won’t know how much you are saving.
This topic comes up most often when an agent resorts to scare tactics to get you to list with them. The agent who hopes to list your home tells you that agents won’t show your home to their buyers. While making this statement violates Federal Law and the Realtor Code of Ethics, realize that this is attempt to list your home because the agent doesn’t have a good reason why you should pay their 6-7% listing fee.
In addition, the local, state, and national associations actively police agents who make these comments. Email us for a link to a recent article written by a Realtor Association Attorney that states:
“Two or more firms should never agree to refuse to deal with or cooperate on less favorable terms with another competitor (usually a discount broker) or attempt to drive such competitor out of business. Boycotts such as these are illegal. Nothing can be done to intimidate “discounters” so that they will abandon their alternative marketing strategies. You should never indicate that other brokers would not do business with the discount firm.[emphasis added]“
Question: Is there any situation where I would have to pay the selling agent commission if my home sale does not successfully close?
Answer: The commission is only paid if the buyer actually purchases the property and the closing is successful. In the unlikely scenario that your buyer is unable to complete the transaction, you do not owe the buyers agent a commission. Assuming that you don’t break the purchase agreement that you previously agreed to in writing, you only pay a commission upon the successful closing of the sale of your home.
Question: If I find my own buyer, do I still have to pay a commission?
Answer: No commission is due at closing if the buyer is not involved with an agent in any way.
Question: Why are all the listings I see on the internet listed by Realtors and they do not say for sale by owner?
Answer: Only Realtors can list properties on the 30-50 most popular home for sale websites. Those sites are often owned or controlled by Realtors, and they only allow other Realtors to input listings subject to their rules. All of those websites have more money spent promoting them and attracting buyers than the most popular “by owner” website. In fact, there simply isn’t even one “by owner” website that gets much traffic from real estate buyers. Few buyers search so long that they make it to the 51st most popular website and beyond, where the most popular “by owner” websites rank.
Our brokers are able to list on many of these most popular websites, which gains substantial exposure for our seller’s homes. Unfortunately, we do not make the rules for these websites and often the publicly available websites do not allow the seller’s phone number to appear. While your phone number does appear on the MLS listing itself, it does not appear on most publicly available websites. In most areas, our Brokers do not work with buyers so they forward any buyer calls directly to you (see your area’s order page for more information on buyer calls to the Broker and phone number(s) that appear in the MLS). The greater amount of exposure for your home makes it worthwhile to list on these most popular websites even though the websites do not allow your telephone number to appear.
Question: How do I know for sure that my listing will go into the MLS since as an unlicensed person I cannot view the MLS?
Answer: You will receive a copy of the listing when it goes into the MLS and you will see it on publicly available websites like Realtor.com.
Question: Do you match prices of your competitors?
Answer: Yes, please call or email us for details and include the name of the other company.
Question: Can I use your service if I am a Realtor or have my real estate license?
Answer: Yes. Let us know when you order so we can tell you when and where this fact needs to be disclosed. Many agents use our service because they know it is such a great value. Some agents use us because they are not a member of the MLS, or others use us because our fees are lower than they would pay even with their company’s “employee discount” on selling a home.
Question: Will you answer my questions about how to sell my home?
Answer: Yes, call or email us-we are same people who will help you the whole way through your home sale. One phone number, one email address, no run around to different people or companies, unlike referral companies, who send you to a completely different company. With an experienced Missouri-licensed Broker or Agent on staff, you can get the best information on your real estate questions.
Question: Does your service include all the disclosure forms?
Answer: Yes, you receive all of the Missouri disclosure forms and the federal lead paint disclosure form/pamphlet. You are also free to ask us any questions about which forms you need or how to complete them. The forms we use are the most up to date standard forms created and used by the Missouri Association of Realtors. Make sure you know exactly what forms you will receive by getting a list of the included forms. Don’t settle for a company telling you that “you will get all the forms you will need” and demanding you pay before you find out more.
Question: How soon can my home be in the MLS?
Answer: In as little as two hours. Simply order, print out, complete, and sign the forms, then fax them to us. You can email us your pictures (other picture options available). No one can get you into the MLS faster because our service is so efficient and user friendly, and we don’t refer you from one company to another.
Question: What if my plans change and I no longer want to be listed?
Answer:Your listing can be withdrawn from the MLS within one day.
Question: How do I know if the buyer will get approved for a mortgage?
Answer: Most buyers today get preapproved for a mortgage before they look for a home, especially buyers that work with agents. Agents often require a preapproval letter before showing homes. The buyer should present a preapproval letter on the letterhead of a mortgage lender and signed by a loan officer. If the buyer does not have such a letter, you should not accept the offer until they have obtained one. Many lenders can provide these letters to a buyer within 1-2 days after the buyer completes the application and submits the required paperwork. Requiring a preapproval letter keeps you as the seller from having to determine whether the buyer will qualify for a loan and makes the process much simpler.
Question: Can I get my sign, lockbox or other hardware shipped overnight for an extra charge?
Answer: Yes, simply select USPS Express mail in the shipping section of your order and your order will be shipped for next business day delivery (areas far away from large cities may not arrive for 2 days, check the shipping time link to confirm delivery times) for an additional charge. Overnight delivery is generally not available for Deluxe Sign Post, call for more details.
Question: How do the photos get attached to my listing?
Answer: You have a choice what format to submit your photos. We recommend that you email us a picture of your home because we can upload it to the listing faster, and you get to pick a photo you like.
If you do not have a digital camera (or can’t borrow one from a friend, relative, or coworker), we suggest you take photos with a film camera (even a $5 disposable camera) and pay for a photo CD when you get your film developed (nearly all film developers now have this option). This will enable you to put the CD in your computer, attach it to an email, and email it to us. As a last resort, you can mail our corporate office a printed photograph and we will scan the photo and get it uploaded. Keep in mind that this is the slowest option and we cannot return photos.
When selecting your photo(s), keep in mind that having a current photo is important, especially in seasonal areas. Most websites that display your home information to the general public, so viewers will assume that the photo was taken when the home was listed. So, if you list in January with a beautiful spring photo, some viewers will assume that your home has been for sale since the last spring.
Photos are the last step in the MLS listing process. A listing must be entered, and activated before a photo can be attached. Therefore, it is usually the last item that we ask you for, and you will be given an email address to email your photos.
Question: Will my telephone number be on the MLS listing?
Answer: Your phone number will be listed on your MLS listing and all buyers and agents with buyers would be instructed to contact you directly to schedule a showing, ask questions, or present an offer. Non-MLS publicly-available websites choose their own format and rules and may show only the broker information.
