Flat Fee MLS Miami

Over the past 5 years, our company has answered every call “live” from 8:00am-8:00pm… 7 days a week. Every Miami Realtor® that has called ADDvantage® seeking showing instructions has reached a human. They were given the exact showing instructions in the seller’s account. If locked boxed, they were given the code, of course, after they gave us their license number, email address, company name, show time and contact number. If owner occupied, then we pass along what ever the seller has informed us to do.　

When Realtors® are searching the MLS, the listing broker company name will appear. If this name triggers a positive experience for that Realtor®, they will not pass over the listing, even if that listing is limited service or flat fee.　

But, if that Realtor® recognizes a company that they associate with poor service because that flat fee or full-service Realtor® has not answered their phone, many Realtors® will not even bother to make a call to schedule a showing.　

Our commitment to excellence has earned ADDvantage® of Miami a reputation that can be your asset. When Realtors® see our name as the listing broker they remember ADDvantage® as the company that is always available. Our reputation makes listing your Miami property with us a true value. The reputation of the flat fee MLS service dictates how many Realtor® showings you will receive.　

Many by owners MLS sellers think getting listed in SE Florida MLS is all the one needs to get sold! But, if you knew the whole story you might think differently. Most flat fee MLS listing services in Florida don’t answer their phone reliably. They often have a recorded message that says, “Realtors, look in the MLS for seller’s phone number.” This is a horrible approach to the number ONE SALES FORCE, the Realtors®. This type of service results in a bad reputation with full-service buyer’s agents. If they see a listing from a company that has dis-serviced them, they may move on to another listing.　

Realtors® don’t love flat fee MLS brokers because they see us as competition for listings. Flat rate MLS sellers do not pay a listing commission which saves the by owner at least 50%. We know Realtors® already have a chip of their shoulder and have made them our allies. 

At ADDvantage®, we have done just that that 5 years in a row. We have answered every Realtor®call for showing instructions “live” from 8:00am-8:00pm 7 days a week.　

ADDvantage is also a “concierge” flat fee MLS service as many of our flat fee MLS plans blend in with other full-service listings. We offer more than just “traditional” self-represented flat fee MLS listings at ADDvantage®.　

ADDvantage® offers 2 hybrid-flat-fee-MLS listing plans where we represent the seller. One plan is called ADDvantage Plus™ and the other ADDvantage Success™. The only difference between these two flat rate plans is with “Plus,” the seller “works” all unrepresented buyer leads from Realtor.com and other sources in an effort to sell without paying any commission. With ADDvantage Success™, our local Miami agents work all “unrepresented buyers” to help you sell the home. With either plan, the seller only pays one commission which is typically 3%. Just one agent will be earning that commission. This saves the seller 50% and removes the hassle of working with buyers and writing the sales contract.　

These two hybrid plans, ADDvantage Plus™ and ADDvantage Success™, are also imputed into the MLS as an “Exclusive Right of Sale Listings” not “Exclusive Agency.” All full-service listing are designated in the MLS as “Exclusive Right of Sale Listings” and flat fee listings are “Exclusive Agency.”　

ADDvantage Plus™ and ADDvantage Success™ listings improve our overall image in the real estate community. With these plans we take all calls, schedule all showings and negotiate all offers right through closing. The seller benefits and we add more value to our already good reputation as a flat fee MLS concierge company.　

List your Miami home with the company that has earned the trust of Miami Realtors®, ADDvantage®.

The reason South Florida home owners consider using flat fee MLS to sell their property is they want to save 50% in real estate commissions, or possibly pay none, while still getting great service and Internet marketing.

But, there is a trust issue with most Miami home owners when dealing with Realtors®.

I am Keith Gordon, broker for flat fee MLS listing service ADDvantage®. I have been a member of the Coral Gables Board of Realtors® since 1996. I have been offering Florida residents honest real estate brokerage dealings for 25 years. You can trust my discount MLS brokerage firm ADDvantage® with your flat fee MLS listing as I have been licensed since 1984 in Florida and have never had a compliant!

Trust is always an issue when money is involved. Many Miami homeowners have limited faith or trust in Realtors®. This is one reasons by owners choose to list in the MLS without a traditional broker.

I find many of our clients even doubt our sincerity until they have listed and dealt personally with our staff and have experienced our easy to use yet sophisticated MLS listing software as well as witnessed our timely and professional MLS edits and overall customer support. Our company offers more service that 99% of all full-service Miami real estate firms!

There are three areas that I find Florida by owners have issues with:

1) Buyer leads are a hot topic with flat fee MLS home sellers. At ADDvantage®, our policy that has been effective, flawless and honest since we started ADDvantage® in 2005. Every buyer lead received by us from all sources such as Realtor.com, Homes.com and others websites are handled in real time from 8:00am-8:00pm 7 days a week. Between these hours, all emails and calls are answered by our staff and forwarded to our Miami flat fee MLS sellers by phone and/or email. Our relentless attention to all details has earned us the reputation in South Florida as the most trusted flat fee MLS service. All buyer leads are stored in the sellers control panel under “buyer leads” for easy retrieval.

2) The next point of trust is how Realtor.com and IDX feeds work. Most Miami by owners DO understand that no seller contact information is allowed to be published in Realtor.com. By rule, ONLY the listing broker’s number and name may appear. All Realtor® websites throughout Florida such as Remax.com get their MLS listing data from a feed called IDX. The IDX feed is generated from Realtor.com which means all websites that display MLS listings contain the listing brokers contact information, not the sellers. Therefore, sellers must implicitly trust their flat fee MLS broker to not mishandle buyer leads.

3) Offers from Realtors® are the next hot topic of trust. By owners do not want their offers going through the flat fee broker. They perceive the offer as theirs and would prefer that the flat fee broker never sees the offer or even being slightly involved in that part of the selling process. At ADDvantage®, we are facilitators of deals and would never impede the sale. We forward all offers in real time to the seller and call notifying them of the offer. We have never mishandled an offer in 5 years. Most offers do come through ADDvantage® because Realtors® often prefer the “listing broker” to forward their offer to the “self-represented” seller. Despite the fact that it is stated directly in the MLS to call seller for all showings which includes the seller’s phone number, it has been Realtor® protocol for 80 years to only deal with the listing broker. This also assists ADDvantage® with assuring the seller listing status is updated from “active” to “contract pending” in a timely manor…An MLS board requirement.

Trust remains an issue when someone is listing flat fee MLS or dealing with a “Realtor.” Miami by owners want to avoid paying any commission, if possible, or at worst case pay just 50% of the cost of a traditional listing. At ADDvantage®, we have earned our reputation as Miami, Florida’s hardest working and most trusted flat fee MLS broker because we have delivered more offers, more buyers leads and Realtor® feedback on all showings. We do this 7 days a week from 8:00am-8:00pm for 5 years in a row.

Call us anytime 1-877-232-9695 or check out our latest creative and effective flat fee MLS listing plan called ADDvantage Success.

 <a href=”http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&amp;add=http://www.flatfeemlsmiami.com”><img src=”http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/btn-fave2.png” alt=”Add to Technorati Favorites” /></a>

ADDvantage, a Miami flat fee MLS listing Service, introduces our newest flat rate innovation called ADDvantage Success™.

This unique listing plan has all the right features so you have the best opportunity to sell your Miami property without sacrificing full-service.

ADDvantage Success™ gives you every feature and marketing idea ADDvantage® has to offer at one low price affordable price of $499.

And, if one our of agents sells your home, we will refund the $499 upfront fee.

No matter who brings the offer, you will receive contract guidance and advice from one of Florida’s most experienced residential real estate brokers.

ADDvantage Success™ saves you 50% off a full-service listing because you only offer a commission to the buyer’s agent.

ADDvantage Success™ guarantees Miami home sellers the most comprehensive and powerful Internet marketing available.

Your home will be listed on important websites such as Homes.com Realtor.com, MSN Craigslist, Vast, Yahoo, Zillow, AOL Oodle, RSS feeds, IDX feeds and many more features to help u sell faster.

ADDvantage Success™ is now our most comprehensive flat fee MLS Miami listing plan that mimics a full service listing at half the costs.

Highlights of ADDvantage Success™

• 9 month MLS listing in the SE Florida Regional MLS - Miami’s MLS. There are no strings attached…You can cancel anytime.
• Agent Assure…We guarantee you’ll never miss a showing. Agent Assure® is our concierge showing service. We schedule all showings for so you only communicate with ADDvantage®….Not Realtors! We are here 7 days a week…Even Saturday and Sunday. Your exact customized showing instructions will be given to Realtors® and all appointments will be confirmed with you and an email sent for your records. ($199 value, free with ADDvantage Success™)
• Feedback… Most sellers in Miami like feedback from showings. Our system sends an email to all Realtors that show your home requesting feedback. ($99 value, free with ADDvantage Success™)
• Agent Activate…Local expertise. Our local agents have an advantage when it comes to selling your home. They know your home and you. They will act quickly and effectively to sell your home. If one of our agents is successful selling your property, we will REFUND your $499 at closing. Agent Activate® engages our best Miami agents or local affiliate to work buyer leads that requests a showing. Whether you live in Coral Gables, South Beach, South Miami, North Beach, Golden Beach, Doral, Weston, Sunny Isles, Homestead, Hibiscus or Star Island, we are ready and knowledgeable. You pay only the offered buyer’s agent commission which is typically set at 3%. As well, it’s 100% contract-to-close representation. Our agents work at half price of a full-service listing saving you 50%. We will pre-qualify buyers, show your property, write the offer, assist with financing, work with your title company or real estate lawyer and complete the closing. Having an agent negotiate with you often results in a higher sales price, a faster sale and less hassle.
• Broker Assist… Advice 7 days a week. If an offer comes from outside buyer’s agent, ADDvantage’s® broker will consult, advise, review the contract, check for missing disclosures and assist in the closing. There will be a transaction fee of $395 at closing if this occurs. A $799 value)
• Street Smart ADDvanatge®…Powerful and Effective Realtor eblast. Since 2005, ADDvantage® has been promoting properties by email that offer a 4% or greater commission. Twice a month, most local Miami Realtors® that live or work within 35 miles of your property will receive the eblast. Street Smart ADDvantage® is now the best read Realtor-to-Realtor email in Florida. (A $599 value, free with ADDvantage Success™).
• Exclusive Right of Sale Listing in MLS, not an Exclusive Agency. At times, “by owner” listings are passed over because Realtors® perceive them as too much work. While there is a slight chance of this occurring, the cost saving of listing flat fee in the MLS far outweigh any possible lost showings. But, why loose a showing when there is a solution? List the property in the Miami MLS as an Exclusive Right of Sale Listing and not an Exclusive Agency (which is how all flat fee listing are inputted into the MLS). Because you will be represented by ADDvantage®, we input ADDvantage Success™ listings into the MLS as Exclusive Right of Sale listings. It is more professional, looks exactly like a full-service listing (because it is) and ensures more showings!.
• Realtor.com Showcase…25 Pictures on Realtor.com. Realtor.com is the world’s most important real estate website. ($49 value, free with ADDvantage Success™)

Call us any time, 305-393-8138 or 1-877-232-9695

The real estate market in Miami is coming around in February as our phone stayed busy all week with Realtor® calls for showings and buyer requests for information.

This is good news considering January and early February were extremely slow.

Miami homeowners can get more exposure and more showings by doing a few important things:

1) Phone support and Realtor® showings: List in the MLS with a Realtor® or flat fee MLS listing service that will never miss any phone calls for showings. While this may seem like a simple task, it is truly one of the most overlooked areas of customer service….Especially if you list flat fee MLS. At ADDvantage®, we guarantee that your listing will receive our legendary 8:00am-8:00pm 7 day a week “live” phone support. We never miss Realtor® calls for showings. If you can’t show, you can’t sell!

2) Internet marketing: Make sure when you list your property in Miami that the listing agent is sending your listing to all websites…Trulia, World Properties, Realtor.com, Homes.com, Vast, Graigslist, etc. This is critical as over 85% of all buyers find what they want online.

3) Save money if you can. Listing with ADDvantage® will save you 50% of what a full-service Realtor® would charge because we do not charge our sellers a listing commission. We have 3 flat rate MLS listing plans that offer power Internet marketing, 100% seller control and innovative marketing such as Street Smart ADDvantage® Realtor eblast.

Springtime is the right to list in the MLS and ADDvantage® offers Miamians the best of discount MLS services….Great Internet marketing, 8:00am-8:00pm support and no listing commission.

1-877-232-9695.

Since 2000, I have been listing homes “flat fee” in the SE Florida MLS for hundreds of Miamians.

Times have changed in Miami and the climate for selling is not what is used to be. Like the days a Csonka, Kick and Morris, the hot real estate market is taking a breather…But, there are still deals going on and Realtors® (buyer’s agents) are working harder than ever to convert sales.

What Miami sellers need to be successful selling in today real estate market is the best of everything.

Like fishing, you need the right bait, the right boat, the right day and most of all, the right captain.

When listing in the MLS, choose wisely when it comes to the sale of your home. Get the right company to promote your South Beach Condo, or your Coral Gables estate.

ADDvantage® leads all Florida flat fee MLS services in the most important category of all…Service. Sure we market everywhere possible on the Internet such as MSN, yahoo, Zillow, Realtor.com, Homes.com, Vast, getmoreoffers.com and 100’s more. But, when these prospects email or call ADDvantage®, you are 100% guaranteed to get that lead (or offer) in real time…8:00am-8:00pm 7 days a week.

We are accountable to you. Unlike other Realtors® are may not return a calls to another Realtor® for days on end when seeking showing instructions, ADDvantage® will be there to give your “exact” showing instructions 7 days a week. We send an email and call (with ADDvantage Plus™ service) to make sure you don’t miss a showing.

Get that bait in the water and start fishing for your buyer. We will help…7 days a week.

List your Miami home flat fee MLS with the most reliable discount MLS broker in Florida…ADDvantage®.

1-877-232-9695 or 727-942-2929.

The Miami real estate market, like the rest of Florida, remains in flux caught between “where’s the money to lend” and “what’s the best way to get sold.”

Money (mortgages) is available for buyers using FHA and VA loans at 3% or less down. Conventional financing remains 25% down.

Buyers in Miami today are either the “professional” and the “wealthy.” The professional buyer needs a home now, say within 30 days. The wealthy buyer is more difficult to work with because they are typically looking for a below market deal.

The price range of $800,000-$1,500,000 remains active but many Miami properties are above $1,500,000.

What can you do to sell in this market? ADDvantage® is a Florida based flat fee MLS listing service with specialized marketing plans ranging in cost from $349-$799 that can help market and sell your Miami property. We reach everyone…Local Miami Realtors, Realtor.com, hundreds more important sites, International sites and we have own our Realtor-to-Realtor eblast system called Street Smart ADDvantage®.

We are fighting hard to sell more Miami homes and over the past 6 months we have sold 26% of our flat fee MLS listings with an average “days on market” of 117.

While this 26% “sold” figure might not seem impressive, I did speak with quite a few of my Miami homeowner “friends” and they, as a group, thought on average they had at best a 10% chance of selling in today’s difficult climate.

Your experience with ADDvantage® will be professional from start to finish. We are the only Florida real estate company that answers every call “live” between 8:00am and 8:00pm 7 days a week. We lose no calls, miss no leads, and never miss an opportunity to schedule a showing.

Besides offering the best service, we have the most intuitive MLS listing software and creative flat fee MLS listing plans available.

ADDvantage Plus™ and Street Smart ADDvantage® excel in getting your property more showings and a faster sale.

Call us anytime and we would be glad to answer any questions about our service. 1-877-232-9695 or 305-393-8138.

Florida’s real estate market is definitely showing new signs of life in November. We have successfully negotiated 5 ADDvantage Plus contracts last week. I am hopeful that the low interest rate environment and actions by the “bailout” shores up short sale and REO activity.

Looking forward, the best advice I can give Miami by owner MLS sellers is to price your home competitively and disregard the active short or the closed short sales. Realtors in Miami, Orlando and Tampa are focusing on properties they can close for their buyers and avoiding the lure of short sales. The bottom line for Realtors is you can’t make a living off short sales only.

At ADDvantage, we offer flat fee MLS listings in all Florida counties, including Greater Miami-Dade. I have been a flat fee MLS listing broker in Miami since 2000. In 2005, we started offering our unique brand of flat fee MLS in Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville and many other Florida cities.

Our flat rate MLS plans cost a bit more than our competition but we offer more service and a very articulate flat fee MLS listing agreement which spells our all the important details that sellers need to know about.

I often visit our competition’s websites to see what’s new. Some flat fee offers are genuine but many are not. Without writing a thesis about what to look out for when listing in the MLS flat fee in Miami, there are 3 key points that you need to be aware of.

First would be the right to cancel a listing and escape the listing agreement unscathed. Easier said then done in many cases. Sellers need these words in their listing agreement…”unconditional withdrawal.” This means the listing broker will cancel and remove the MLS listing immediately thus enabling another broker to re-list the property. No other words will suffice…not “remove”, not “cancel”, not “conditional withdrawal” etc.

The next point is phone support. Most flat fee websites all say the same misleading rhetoric that “all calls go directly to the seller.” This is false. This past weekend, we fielded over 30 calls from buyers and Realtors through Florida seeking showing instructions. One example of how important live phone support truly is to the flat fee MLS seller was a call I took at 12:20pm Sunday from a unrepresented buyer in Miami requesting to see a $1,300,000 home. Our seller was home and meet with the buyer. This buyer called ADDvantage from an ad in Realtor.com and no seller contact information is allowed in Realtor.com by rule of the MLS. 2,900 Realtors in Florida have called ADDvantage over the past 12 months either ignoring the Realtor remarks section of the MLS that clearly states “call seller directly at 305-393-8138 for all showings and offers” or because they couldn’t reach the seller. When listing flat fee, phone support can make the difference between selling and not selling.

The last major point of listing with a reliable and ethical Miami flat fee service is buyer leads. That $1,300,000 buyer lead that I received on Sunday went right to our flat fee MLS seller in real time. Not all flat fee brokers hand-over buyer leads from Realtor.com, homes.com and other FSBO websites to their sellers. These leads are extremely valuable to the seller and possibly to the flat fee unscrupulous broker. A $1,300,000 sale would result in a $40,000 commission at 3%.

In our flat fee MLS listing agreement, we state these 3 key points very clearly. Most flat fee website don’t even show you a listing agreement until after you pay. That is about as crazy as signing a note without knowing the interest rate.

ADDvantage offers 4 flat fee MLS listing plans. My favorite MLS listing plan is ADDvantage Plus because it looks and acts like a full-service listing, $799 plus $500 at close. A “Plus” listing in the MLS comes with Street Smart ADDvantage Realtor eblast marketing, contract-to-close representation, we take all calls and schedule all appointments and all buyer leads belong to the seller. This is a perfect flat fee listing.

The public’s favorite flat fee listing at ADDvantage is MLS ADDvantage for $349. And Street Smart ADDvantage is the most effective Realtor-to-Realtor marketing in Florida…But, you must offer a 4% or > buyer’s agent commission.

Call us anytime and we will pick up the phone guaranteed …8:00am-8:00pm 7 days. 1-305-393-8138. Or, visit oour flat fee MLS Tampa blogging site.

(part 2)

Search the term “flat fee MLS Miami” and about 30 different flat fee MLS listing services come up. Some are genuine flat fee MLS services and others are flat fee traps. In particular, a $69 flat fee MLS listing is not really what it portends to be as there are conditions that can prevent you from canceling the MLS listing at will. Other services are “national” flat fee MLS websites and are not licensed in Florida. As well, there are websites that advertise flat fee MLS but do not give you buyer leads from Realtor.com and leads they receive from other FSBO websites such as homes.com…these flat fee MLS offers are not genuine because they take these leads for their agents. This is not flat fee MLS. At ADDvantage, 27% of our “sold” homes are sold “by owner” thus saving you all the costs of paying a commission. Of course, there are legitimate flat fee MLS listing services besides ADDvantage. But, none of these services compare to the high level service offered by an ADDvantage flat fee MLS listing.

Why would a Miami homeowner that wants to list flat fee in SE Florida Regional MLS pay an additional $150 to ADDvantage?

The answer is simply reliability. ADDvantage guarantees to you that between the hours of 8:00am-8:00pm, Monday through Sunday, any calls from Realtors or buyers about your property will be answered live and handled professionally.

Offering this level of service costs more and yields huge divides to you. My recent example of why this is so important came from a Realtor call that I received Friday evening at 6:45 pm. The Miami Realtor showed an ADDvantage flat fee listing earlier in the day and her buyer wanted to make an offer. The Realtors first question asked of me was “are you one of those flat fee companies”? I responded “yes, the seller in self-represented.” She then asked “where would I send an offer?” My reply was “you can send the offer to ADDvantage and we’ll forward it to the seller or you can send it directly to the seller, whichever you would prefer.” She hesitated for a moment and then I asked her “do you need a seller’s disclosure statement”? She said, “yes” and I replied, “I will see if we have one stored in the clients “user docs”…we sure do.” She asked for me to email it to her so she could make the offer.” And my reply was “it’s on the way!”

This simple act of answering the phone at 6:45 pm, having the seller’s disclosure already to send to a Realtor in need and being able to facilitate the offer is why ADDvantage is worth $349 for our basic 9 month flat fee MLS listing program. Our 8:00am-8:00pm 7 day a week live support benefits you in many more ways.

1) 2,950 Realtors or buyers have called ADDvantage over the past 12 months asking for assistance on making appointments, presenting offers or gathering additional information on our Florida flat fee MLS listings.

2) 1,050 of these Realtor or buyer calls came to ADDvantage after-hours.

3) Every call that comes to ADDvantage is immediately transcribed into an email and stored in your ADDvantage MLS account for later retrieval.

4) Every unrepresented buyer lead belongs to you, not ADDvantage.

5) We are the only flat fee MLS listing service in Miami or anywhere Florida that spends the necessary resources on customer related services such as: sending a “welcome letter” informing you of important details about listing in the MLS. Details such as filling out and returning the seller’s disclosure, where to track “buyer leads” in your account, where to track “website hits” and how to change your MLS listing status from “active” to “contract pending.” Our MLS administrators follow up with you to make sure we have the all-so-important seller’s disclosure stored in your account and ready to go when a Realtor needs it to present an offer. Our automatic email system will remind you if anything that is missing from your account.

This type of service and commitment to you is not possible at $159 or $199. Our service is not based on schemes and other ways to exploit a profit from the general public. Our service is about customer service, marketing internationally, making sure your listing is found on major FSBO websites and being a 12-hour-a-day facilitator to get your home sold.

But, then again, not all by owner sellers need this level of service provided by ADDvantage. Many flat fee MLS services offer flat fee as another way to make a few dollars doing something different than general real estate. At ADDvantage, we have invested many years building state-of-the-art MLS listing and management software. You benefit everyday from our advanced RSS feeds, our 100% paperless systems and our legendary 8:00am-8:00pm 7 days a week live support.

Call us anytime if you have questions about listing flat fee in the MLS with ADDvantage 1-877-232-9695 or visit our flat fee MLS listing site, getmoreoffers.com

Part 1 of 5 on the reasons why ADDvantage lists more homes in Florida than any other flat fee MLS listing company offering a similar service.

The reason why the ADDvantage brand of flat fee MLS is truly the most trusted name in discount MLS listings in Florida is because we don’t misrepresent the truth about what flat fee MLS is and what is not.

We offer a service based on what we know sellers need, rather than what other companies are doing.

Our phones are answered live, by a professional MLS administrator, 7 days a week from 8:00am-8:00pm. Many people scoff at this and say “I don’t need this because all calls come directly to me.” This is 100% untrue.

Even though an ADDvantage flat fee MLS listing costs $150 more than many flat fee services in Florida, we have twice as many flat fee MLS listing in Florida than our closest state or national competitor offering a similar service.

Miami homeowners prefer listing though ADDvantage because they know the difference between an ADDvantage flat fee MLS listing compared with other offers.

There remains one flat fee MLS listing service that guarantees by owners in Florida more Realtor showings, more buyer leads and an overall better selling experience…that’s ADDvantage.

An ADDvantage flat fee MLS listing costs $349. This $349 will be your best investment when it’s time to sell your home, condo, commercial, or vacant land in Miami, Weston, South Beach, North Beach, Coral Gables, South Miami, Plantation, Ft. Lauderdale, Hollywood, Hollywood Beach, Golden Beach, Homestead, Davie or other South Florida cities.

Flat fee MLS websites throughout Florida advertise on their websites that “all calls go directly to you” which is why so many people now believe this statement is true. Websites say this because they want you believe that phone support is not an integral part of listing flat fee in the MLS. They want you to believe this malarkey because they can’t offer reliable or “stated hours” of live phone support because it cost too much to have an MLS administrator be available 12 hours a day 7 days a week, like ADDvantage does.

If you charge just $159 for a MLS listing, there is only enough money to “input” the listing in the MLS, some phone support and changes to the listing…when they can get around to it. There are other important functions that make an ADDvantage MLS listing worth more to you such as the confidence to know that we never miss a Realtor call for a showing or an unrepresented buyer’s call for more information. This is what sells a home!

Our live phone support consistently gets more Miami homes “sold” we are able to assist “unrepresented buyers” and Realtors the instant they call us. Our guaranteed phone support results in more showings and a better overall experience.

As one of our Miami flat fee MLS clients said recently in a testimonial submitted to ADDvantage, “ADDvantage is like having a Realtor camped out at your front door.”

We have answered over 2,950 calls from Realtors or buyers in Florida over the past 12 months. This is further evidence of just how important reliable phone support truly is to a Miami flat fee MLS seller. 2,950 calls came to ADDvantage despite that fact that we publish the seller’s phone number in the MLS under the “Realtor remarks” section of the MLS for all Realtors to “call seller directly for all showings and offers 305-878-0121.” Still, many Realtors find their way to calling the flat fee MLS service. Their reasons vary as to why they call but here are a few example of what they say. The number one reason is, “Oh, I didn’t see their number.” But, there are many other explanations. Some Realtors could care less about what the MLS says and they call the listing broker because for the past 70 years, calling the listing agent has been protocol. And, if you don’t know, the listing broker (flat fee company) phone number must be in the MLS. There more examples…often, a Realtor is attempting to show a home and the seller is unavailable…in this case, we give the Realtor showing instructions for our seller, if the seller has stored a lock box combination in our system. Of course, they need to prove they are a Realtor with a valid license number.

See Part 2 blog for more reasons why ADDvantage lists more homes in Florida than any other flat fee MLS listing company offering a similar service.

Call us anytime, 1-877-232-9695

I am Keith Gordon, broker for Florida flat fee MLS service ADDvantage. I often blog about flat fee MLS because I have been a Florida flat rate MLS broker since 2000. I am an experienced Florida real estate broker and have been licensed since 1984. I started offering flat fee in the Greater Miami-Dade market working primarily with investors. Shortly thereafter, we had more For Sale By Owner sellers than investors. The flat fee proved to be a viable concept and in 2005 ADDvantage was founded.

Flat fee, flat rate, FSBO with MLS…everyone calls it a different name but the intent of the “seller” is to get listed on a local MLS, not pay a listing commission (3%), retain the right to sell By Owner, get advertised on the Internet to FSBO websites, pay a flat fee, have the right to cancel anytime and receive all buyer leads that happen to come to the flat fee broker.

Loosely defined, the above description is genuine Florida flat fee MLS.

Most, if not all, people I speak with during the day about listing flat fee with ADDvantage ask me the same question…”my number will be in the MLS and I get all calls, right?”

I am not really sure why everyone believes this but the answer is no. No calls go the seller from Realtor.com. The seller is 100% reliant on the flat fee broker to answer the phone, take in coming emails, record the lead (buyer) and send that Realtor.com lead to the flat fee seller. This is the reason why ADDvantage says on our website “Where All Buyer Leads are Yours and We Answer the Phone 8:00am to 8:00pm 7 days a week.”

Realtor.com rules are so strict that not even the words “SELLER”, “FSBO” or “OWNER” are allowed and certainly not a seller’s phone number. Realtor.com will remove or fine anyone violating this rule. They are protecting full-service agents.

When flat fee listed, the listing broker will insert language in the MLS under “Realtor Remarks” section that states “call seller directly for all showings and offers 305-999-0988.” Because it says this you would think that Realtors would call the seller and the flat fee broker is out of the loop. 100% not true.

Even with this obvious remark under showing instructions for all Realtors to see, just under 3,000 Realtor calls were handled by an ADDvantage MLS administratorover the past 12 months. 3,000 appointments to show homes listed “flat fee” through ADDvantage were booked through ADDvantage (not the seller) the past year.

Answering the phone at a flat fee company is a full-time responsibility that we take very seriously at ADDvantage. No Florida full-service or flat fee company does a better job because no company would spend the money needed to actually man-the-phone from 8:00am-8:00pm 7 days.

Our systems at ADDvantage are 100% electronicWe know every statistic about every account. For example, 26.47% of our flat fee sellers in Florida sell themselves saving all commissions. We know that it takes 115 on average to sell a Florida home flat fee listed through ADDvantage, see our Florida flat fee MLS sales statistics.

What is a genuine Florida flat fee MLS service? My definition of flat fee MLS is a service that is 100% transparent and shows its prospective flat fee clients a listing agreement before they pay. And, in that listing agreement, itemize the services that are being “sold” to the flat fee client for that “advance” flat fee payment. A genuine flat fee service will “unconditionally” withdraw a listing from the MLS upon request from seller so another broker can input the listing immediately. Of course, no cancellation fees, all buyer leads go to the flat fee seller, not the listing broker and finally, the hours of phone support are posted on the website and/or in the flat fee listing agreement.

Call us anytime and we would be glad to explain the differences between our Florida flat fee plans. 1-877-232-9695.