Selling by Owner 101

What is the difference between America’s Choice and List2Move.com?

Actually there is a huge difference!  Take a look …..

Now let’s look at their website claims under a microscope!

First thing we noticed on their “Sell Your Home” page was the warning…

“Do not fall prey to flat fee MLS listers who charge hundreds of dollars without providing a fraction of the America’s Choice Internet exposure.”

Exposure? The truth is that even the worst flat fee lister can get you more exposure than America’s Choice because they are syndicated to hundreds if not thousands of websites that are a lot bigger than America’s Choice.  America’s Choice encourages you to compare for yourself and they even recommend a couple of sites to use, so we did.

First thing we noticed was that Nothnagle.com gets (which any “flat fee MLS lister” can get you on) about 700% more exposure then America’s Choice gets.  Homesteadnet.com (again,  which any “flat fee MLS lister” can get you on) gets about 400% more exposure.  So now add the exposure from hundreds and hundreds of additional websites and you get the picture.  Bottom line: Don’t let them pull the wool over your eyes.

“Nor will the flat fee MLS listers get your home sold for 1%. Their programs will at best, result in a 3% commission sale; but more likely, will result in a lost buyer.”

At Best result in a 3% commission sale? They obviously haven’t looked at List2Move.com’s Four Year Study (2006-2009) data which shows that 41% of homesellers over four years paid no commissions (total savings 6%) at all.  What they are really doing here is upselling their discount brokerage, not savings!  Flat Fee MLS is still the best bet if you are trying to save money, but America’s Choice doesn’t practice flat fee mls.

“Many flat fee listers say they work the MLS listings, but do they? Are they agents who spend their nights and weekends selling homes? Or are they a person sitting behind a desk 9-5 Monday through Friday? Our full time agents at 2.5% Real Estate Direct turn MLS inquiries into buyers at 1%.”

TIME-OUT AMERICA’S CHOICE! Flat Fee is about the owners doing the work to save the commissions!  Flat fee MLS listers do not work the listings.  We put them on the MLS and consult with the owners on strategy.  The savings to the owners is substantial.  Flat Fee homeowners or For Sale By Owners do same work your agents at 2.5% Real Estate Direct push on your sellers.  The only difference is your sellers are paying your agents to do this!  At List2Move.com our systems turn MLS inquiries into buyers at ZERO dollars!  Our rate is 41% of the time from 2006-2009.  What is your rate at 1%?  We would love to know.

“Our combination program is the only true combination of a successful flat fee real estate company with a successful real estate agency. You get the best of both worlds without sacrificing the real benefits of each. You can choose whether to combine with the realtor world at anytime – and you are not forced to offer 3% or more.”

Combination program? Seriously?  Any broker with a website can offer this “combo program.”  We could charge $495 just like you do and throw someone on our website and call ourselves a non MLS flat fee real estate company.  If we were crafty we could lock them in on our non-MLS flat fee listing agreement, so when the client finally realizes they need MLS exposure to sell, they can’t go anywhere but our discounted real estate agency. We wonder about the ethics of the combination of business models in real estate and therefore we don’t practice it.

“Our professionals from both companies know how to get your home sold: for no commission with America’s Choice alone or for 1% if you choose to partner with 2.5% Real Estate Direct. We have sold over $20,000,000 in 2009 at either no commission or 1%. In April of 2009 we sold a house on County Road in Clarence for $699,000 at 1%. In April of 2010 we sold a home on Nature Cove in Williamsville for over $650,000 at 1%. We sell in every village, town and city in Western New York and at every price level. There is a world of difference between us and others.”

Two properties at 1% Congratulations but List2Move.com sold 41% of 109 properties at zero percent and that is still a lot better!  Truth is -that most real estate agents don’t find the buyer for their listing.  Statistically it is less than 5%.  That statement above about 20 Million at “no commission or 1%” can’t be verified, so as far as we are concerned, it is pie in the sky.  Our listings at List2Move.com all have an MLS number and any real estate agent can verify the numbers.  If America’s Choice or 2.5% Direct really could substantiate these numbers, we would think they would post them, property by property.

America’s Choice Business Model in a nutshell.

1. Bring you in for $495 with America’s Choice’s outdated website.
   • You could gain the same amount of exposure using a sign from Home Depot and Craigs list.  (12% of buyers in NY found the home they purchased from a yard sign!  So why pay $495 for one?)
   • …….. and when you don’t sell
2. Convert you over to a discount broker which locks you in to a traditional (Exclusive Right to Sell) listing contract.
   • So when you find the buyer, you still owe them the 1% of your selling price.

Bottom line is that America’s Choice makes a lot of claims…but these claims aren’t backed up with any data what so ever!

June 23, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO – “Traditional pricing for real estate services is bound to crumble, and flat-fee brokers will likely deliver the deathblow” –Steven D. Levitt, co-author of “Freakonomics”