It’s a good time to be a property owner in Watertown, Massachusetts. It’s a good time to consider how to FSBO Watertown. Today there are over 40 condominiums for sale in Watertown, a suburb of Boston just six miles northwest of the capital city. This is a popular and vibrant area to call home in Middlesex County and buyers every day are searching the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) to find new homes for sale in Watertown.
Because of its strategic location covering zip codes 02471, 02472, and 02477, it’s no surprise that Watertown home prices increased 19.5% last year, which is another encouraging sign that the real estate market is improving in Massachusetts. With buyers ready to take advantage of the record low interest rates, sellers are feeling more confident that this may be a good time to put their condo on the market for sale.
Watertown MA Flat Fee FSBO MLS
Of the 40+ condos for sale currently in Watertown, 2 are listed via a flat fee MLS listing model. Selling a condo using a one-time flat fee approach is growing in popularity across Massachusetts and is considered a viable alternative to hiring a traditional real estate agent, especially for those determined to save thousands of dollars on real estate agent commissions.
Condos in Watertown follow a wide spectrum of prices. In the past three months, the average condo price was $354,140 with the least expensive selling for $175,000 and the highest listed at $1,249,000. Certainly, there is something in Watertown for nearly everyone at all price points. Flat fee MLS listings are becoming a popular way for those interested in For Sale by Owners (FSBO) to sell their property without paying the average MA real estate commission that most traditional real estate brokerages charge to list a home.
How to FSBO Watertown MA
Using the average condo price in Watertown today, ($354,000) sellers are paying over $21,000 in real estate agent commissions with using a traditional real estate brokerage. For Sale by Owners have the ability to save at least $10,000 by using a flat fee MLS service when getting their home in the MLS. And if a buyer is not represented by their own agent? The seller keeps the entire commission. Adding this amount to the final profits is just one example of the considerable amount of money a seller can save by getting their property listed for sale in the MLS and pursuing a FSBO.
Massachusetts Flat Fee MLS Listing Service
Why is this service gaining in popularity? Because many homeowners no longer want to pay the middle man. By leveraging a flat fee MLS listing service, FSBOs can expose their property on the MLS, just like any other standard listing, thus showcasing a property to thousands of motivated buyers and their agents.
To list property for sale on the MLS, you must be a licensed real estate agent. When a FSBO wants their home on the MLS, the most cost effective option is to leverage a flat fee MLS listing service that will charge a one-time flat fee, allow the FSBO to post the maximum number of photos allowed by the MLS, and make updates to that listing over the life of the listing contract at no additional fee. When listing on the MLS with a flat fee MLS listing service, the FSBO takes over the typical duties of a listing agent, conducting showings, holding open houses, negotiating offers. For this, the FSBO seller will eliminate the commission paid to the listing agent – in Massachusetts, this is a sizeable amount, often thousands of dollars.
Currently two property owners are listing their condos with an entry only MLS listing in Watertown. What’s also attractive to home sellers are properties listed using this flat fee approach look no different on the MLS than those listed by traditional brokerages (charging a full commission).
While the majority of condos listed in Watertown are sold via traditional real estate brokerage firms, it’s not hard to see why flat fee MLS listings are gaining in popularity, including the attention from real estate agencies. For sale by owners simply don’t want to pay a full commission out of their home equity. Since most homes are sold via the power of the Internet enabled MLS, sellers today opt for the flat fee service, where their property is exposed not only on the MLS, but also other high traffic real estate websites, such as Reator.com, Yahoo, AOL and Homes.com. And again, with over 80 percent of buyers looking online to find their next home, it only makes sense that properties receive as much online exposure as they can.
Sell by Owner Watertown Massachusetts
In Watertown, with its close proximity to Boston, condo prices are higher than many other cities in Massachusetts, therefore lots of money is to be made in typical real estate transaction. Looking at November 2012 monthly sales statistics in Watertown, as an example, 27 homes sold at an average price of $385,000, up 28 percent from the previous month and 8 percent from the previous year. For sellers, this is welcome news that properties are moving in Watertown. With the opportunity to save thousands of dollars on real estate agent commissions – explore how flat fee MLS listings work to get started today.