Aug 16 2015

FSBO? Your New Secret Weapon in Less than 60 Seconds

We’re excited to announce the coming of the How to FSBO Podcast!

What’s this all about, and how can you participate as a FSBO and get value from it?

What’s in it for me!?!

The How to FSBO Podcast will be a weekly value-packed podcast that will run 5-15 minutes in length. It will feature a voicemail question submitted directly by a for sale by owner (FSBO) and answered by a real estate broker (that actually wants to help FSBOs be successful in selling their own home without a Realtor).

All it takes from you is asking a question 60 seconds or less!

The bite-sized podcast episodes will be a great value add to the FSBO community because:

Over time, a library of questions and answers from actual FSBOs will develop. Essentially, it will become a giant FAQ that’s packed with real world situations and actionable advice.
The voice of the FSBO, literally, will be heard loud and clear and we’ll all gain insight and clarity on what it’s like to list and sell your own home, advertise on the MLS, all without a Realtor.
The podcast format will be a new, creative, and innovative medium through which to consume content, opening the channels by which we can access helpful information on selling your own home, and doing it with excellence.
The helpful, personal, and no baloney approach of the podcast will continue to reshape the FSBO landscape for the better, arming FSBOs with high quality, professional, FSBO specific education not found anywhere else.

To help get the podcast started by asking a question,, all you have to do is go to http://howtofsbo.com/ask and leave your question in the SpeakPipe widget located on that webpage – it’s super simple to submit your question, you just need a microphone, and you can even leave a voicemail question using your mobile device!

There are a few guidelines to follow when asking a question, and more information about that is located at http://howtofsbo.com/ask.

Get your questions in now, because the How to FSBO Podcast will be launching soon!

Jul 11 2015

Latest FSBO Office Hours Packed with Helpful Content

You remember office hours, right?

Back in your school days, office hours represented an opportunity for students to spend one-on-one time with the professor to ask their questions.

It was an opportunity to drive deeper knowledge, sharpen your skills, and level up on your expertise. Getting to know the professor a little bit more didn’t hurt either!

We regularly spend time with you as a FSBO by giving you the ability to ask questions as you prepare to list and sell your own home, and we do that through our FSBO office hours question and answer sessions – a unique and creative opportunity that we offer to FSBOs to help you sell your own home with excellence and drive FSBO expertise.

What we’ve seen in the for sale by owner (FSBO) and flat fee MLS entry only listing space is that massive value can be delivered to you, someone who wants to list and sell your own home, via professional, high quality, FSBO education.

The office hours concept, where FSBOs can come together to ask questions and have them answered by a real estate broker (who actually wants to help and assist FSBOs in being successful rather than flipping them into full commission listings), is a step towards delivering that value to you.

Weren’t able to join us for our July 2015 live FSBO Q&A session?

No problem!

We’ve got a replay available (click here to watch and listen).

Here’s what you’ll learn by tuning in:

The power of exposure an MLS listing provides in syndicating your home to popular real estate websites like Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com
Why FSBOs are making a mistake by claiming their listing on Zillow
Where FSBO contact information is located on an MLS listing and how buyers reach a FSBO for showings and offers
Practical advice on who is responsible for holding earnest money deposits during a flat fee MLS entry only listing transaction
The do’s and don’ts of for sale by owner real estate yard signs in Massachusetts

Jun 04 2015

Free Live FSBO Question & Answer Session

It’s so evident in the current market that FSBOs are a forgotten constituency group, and at best, looked down upon and ridiculed by those in the real estate community who have received training in the field and gone through the paces of doing hundreds of deals.

Why shouldn’t a homeowner have the ability to sell their own home, if they so choose? Why is it so difficult, in the 21st century, the information age, for sellers to gain access to the exact same tools Realtors use and the same level of exposure, without paying a hefty real estate agent commission to make it happen?

It’s clear to Entry Only New England that massive value can be delivered to those who want to list and sell their own home via professional, high quality, FSBO education.

A step towards high quality FSBO education is our FSBO Office Hours sessions, which represent a chance for FSBOs to join a live free question and answer session with a real estate broker to get equipped with information needed to successfully list a home o the MLS without a Realtor, and save a tremendous amount in real estate agent commission at the same time (our clients save on average over $13,000 when using our flat fee MLS realty service).

We use Google Hangouts on Air technology to engage with FSBOs directly.

Lsten to the replay of our June 6, 2015 FSBO Q&A session.

Jan 03 2015

Flat Fee MLS Success Continues for FSBOs

The success of flat fee MLS listings continued for FSBOs in 2014.

It’s clear there continues to be a strong contingent of property owners selling their own homes without a Realtor by using entry only MLS listings, driving exposure to a home through the power of the Internet enabled MLS, all while saving thousands in real estate agent commission.

According to MLS Property Information Network (MLS PIN), Massachusetts’ official MLS system, the number of individual property listings sold during 2014 as entry only MLS listings was 1,502.

2014 Massachusetts Flat Fee MLS Statistics

Year to year, the number of sold flat fee MLS listings remained flat, however, if history is any indication of where the FSBO market may turn in 2015, flat fee MLS listings could be poised for substantial growth.

There appears to be a two year horizon in 2011 and 2012 where the number of entry only MLS listings sold in Massachusetts stayed level before experiencing nearly a 20% increase in 2013.

2013 and 2014 represent another two year horizon, when total sold entry only MLS listings seemed locked around 1,500.

If the past is any indicator of the future, 2015 may be another breakout year for flat fee MLS listings, perhaps surpassing a total sold count of 1,800.

Condo Flat Fee MLS Listings Increase

The flat fee MLS market typically tracks and drafts off the overall market, but condos bucked that trend in 2014.

The flat fee MLS market, in Massachusetts, represents approximately 2% of the overall number of individual properties sold. While it’s a small amount, it has grown in the past five years.

While the number of condominiums sold through a full commission Realtor in 2014 decreased, the number of flat fee MLS condos sold increased year to year.

Landlords Use Entry Only MLS for Rentals

One of the largest standouts of the 2014 entry only MLS statistics is rentals.

The number of apartment rentals in Massachusetts using flat fee MLS as the means by which a landlord finds a tenant increased by approximately 10% year to year.

The increase in flat fee MLS rentals far outpaced any other property type using entry only MLS listings.

While the increase in entry only MLS rentals tracked and drafted off the overall, and larger, market of rentals transacted using traditional real estate agents charging a larger commission (oftentimes half of one month’s rent), it’s clear that landlords are catching onto flat fee MLS realty services for rentals as a means to advertise, rent up their portfolio properties, and keep more operating income in their pockets.

Nov 09 2014

Maximize Flat Fee MLS Listings with Temporarily Withdrawn Status

Each autumn, as Massachusetts stretches towards winter, the real estate market slows down. There are simply less homes that are listed for sale during the season, and as a result, less homes that close.

FSBOs oftentimes don’t know what to do during the fall and winter months.

Should a home be left on the market, listed on the MLS, despite an entirely natural slowdown in the annual ebb and flow of real estate in Massachusetts, or, should the cold temperatures and short days be a sign that a home is to hibernate until the early spring?

Unfortunately for homeowners, there’s no crystal ball.

A case could be made for the fact that, during the fall and winter months in Massachusetts, there’s less inventory and supply of homes for sale so the chances of selling are increased.

While at the same time, one could argue that there are less buyers in the market who want to brave the cold and therefore the possibility of selling at a desirable price is reduced.

Clearly, there’s no definitive answer.

But, FSBOs have a choice, they have control over the status of their listings on the MLS.

An MLS listing can hold a number of different MLS Listing Property Status Types (PDF), and one of those, called Temporarily Withdrawn, allows a home to be taken off the market, only temporarily as the name suggests, and then reactivated for sale on the MLS to bring it back on the market at a later date.

FSBOs can utilize a Temporarily Withdrawn property status to remove an MLS listing from the market during the fall and winter months, and then reactivate the listing on the MLS once they believe the market is heating back up.

Before using Temporarily Withdrawn, a FSBO should have an overall plan and timeline for when they will reactivate their MLS listing, taking into consideration when their MLS listing coverage period expires – ensure there’s ample runway in the flat fee MLS listing agreement following reactivation for the property to sell.

At Entry Only New England, FSBOs can update the property status of their MLS listing as many times as they’d like, at no charge, within the listing agreement coverage period.

Whether a FSBO leverages a Temporarily Withdrawn status for their MLS listing during the fall and winter seasons is a choice they have, and if used, Temporarily Withdrawn status can assist in maximizing the effectiveness of a flat fee MLS listing for FSBOs selling their own home.