In Marblehead Massachusetts, there are currently 135 single-family resale and new homes listed for sale.
With a median sales price at $427,500, based on 71 home sales between August and October of 2012, the number of home sales increased 9.2% compared to last year.
All current indicators signal the Marblehead MA real estate market improving, as buyers are ready to make home purchases again. For homeowners who have been on the fence about listing and selling their property, 2013 may be the year, and a flat fee MLS real estate model, which is gaining popularity in Massachusetts, can save a seller thousands of dollars in real estate agent commission.
Listing Homes For Sale by Owner in Marblehead MA
As we wrap up 2012 and begin anew in 2013, interest rates remain at record lows and buyers want to take advantage of these rates before they increase. The improving job market coupled with low rates are encouraging buyers to enter into the real estate market and sellers are ready, though still cautious, perhaps stung by the costly roller coaster ride the real estate market has provided since 2007.
Let’s take, for example, a home in Marblehead MA that sold near the end of 2012. A popular Cape Cod style home located in an excellent neighborhood was listed and sold for its asking price at $570,000 in less than one month. Assuming the commission to the real estate firm was six percent (6%), the fees associated with the real estate commissions for this home, all of which are paid by the seller, would total $34,200. This sum is taken directly out of the seller’s equity. Therefore, the commission for the seller’s agent (sometimes called a listing broker) would be approximately $17,100 with the other half going to the buyer’s agent – the total real estate commission is typically set by the seller’s agent when a home is listed for sale, with the total often being split amongst the two brokers in the transaction.
A six percent commission is not only costly, but perhaps unnecessary as well. Why? Over 80 percent of the homes sold today are sold via the Internet, and to get online exposure as a Marblehead MA homeseller, your property simply needs to be in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). The MLS is the database that all real estate brokers and agents use to enter their listings, and from that single source, the listing data is syndicated to hundreds of websites across the Internet. You still need a licensed real estate agent to list your property on the MLS, however, sellers are now leveraging entry only listings for a flat fee. An entry only listing gets a property onto the MLS, via a licensed broker, for a one-time flat fee.
Marblehead Flat Fee MLS Savings
Let’s say you were the owner of the above property that recently sold. Your listing agent, in less than one month, would have made approximately $17,000, and you would have paid an additional $17,000 to the agent that represented the buyer of your home. If you used a flat fee MLS listing service, you would get to keep that first $17,000, and if the buyer of your property did not have a real estate agent, the entire amount of $34,200 would be added to your profits.
How do Massachusetts Flat Fee MLS Listings Work?
The Internet has been a huge game changer in the real estate industry over the past several years. When selling your home, it is mandatory that your property is exposed to your target buyers. With over 80 percent of buyers looking for homes over the Internet today, it is imperative that your home is included in the MLS (and the many websites to which the MLS syndicates), which is the de-facto source from which people look for homes. The MLS is a database where agents find properties for their clients. Once your home is available on the MLS, it is also included on other popular real estate sites, such as Realtor.com and Homes.com among other high traffic websites that allows everyone to search the MLS listings. While anyone can browse the MLS listings on these popular websites, only a professional real estate agency or company can place a listing on the MLS.
At Entry Only New England, a flat fee service, your Marblehead Massachusetts property would be listed on the MLS along with your photos by paying a low, one time fee. Your home will look like every other home on the MLS, where owners were charged oftentimes up to 6% in total real estate commissions, and buyers and agents will work with you directly to schedule showings and submit offers. The primary job of a flat fee real estate service is to maintain your online listing and make the necessary changes should you require any updates. Entry Only New England does all of this entirely online, with no printing, scanning, faxing, or mailing of forms – many Entry Only New England clients complete the listing of their home for sale or rent in less than 20 minutes.
Today, homeowners have choices when they decide to put their home on the market for sale. Most sellers don’t want to give up a substantial percentage of their profit in real estate commissions to list their home for sale. Particularly when there are options that can provide sellers with thousands of dollars left in their pockets.
Currently, there are six sellers in Marblehead who have listed their home for sale using this flat fee entry only MLS listing model. By avoiding traditional methods, where a real estate agent sells a property, more and more homeowners understand that the Internet sells a home. To compensate a real estate agent by as much as two to three percent of the final selling price is a fee that many homesellers are not willing to pay in today’s ever changing real estate market.
With home sales increasing in Marblehead today, entry only MLS listings give your property the exposure it needs while saving you thousands of dollars in real estate commissions.
