MLS For the Little Guy
July 27th, 2006 by Grant in: Real Estate
If you want to sell your house, you’ve got two options: Get a realtor to do your legwork, or leg it out yourself and sell it “by owner”.
One of the advantages to using a realtor is that your home gets listed in the MLS database, the widely accepted one stop shop for home listings. The disadvantage? You’re going to cut 6% off the top of your homes contract price.
The disadvantage of selling your home by owner? You can forget about a MLS listing.
BUT! This could change as lawmakers in Maine are trying to create an independent database for those wanting to sell their homes on their own.
“The goal is to help the little guy save money and make the marketplace more efficient” -Adam Mack, developer
While there are “for sale by owner” sites all across the internet, a single database with all owner listed properties is still missing from the picture.
Another big step for the real estate industry, and yet another example of disintermediation brought to you by the internet.
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July 29th, 2006 at 7:05 am
Grant, I think there is a couple of sites where non-realtor listings can be posted, perhaps a service provided by Google. If I am wrong, then you have a new business to consider launching, which of course I will strongly support.
I think there is enough developing discussion around the protectionism of the real estate industry that home sellers can really start to press on terms of the relationship. If not a lower commission, then a time guarantee at a price, that if not met, means the commission is lowered, or a bonus paid on getting more than the listing price. I would strongly suggest to anyone reading your great blog to be more demanding with any real estate agent. As in: “let’s negotiate the terms of our business relationship and if you won’t then I won’t work with you, your choice!”. Where else in economic life do we blindly get terms dictated to us.
July 29th, 2006 at 10:39 am
David, that’s a great point. What makes the MLS system different than these non-realtor websites is that it is THE one stop shop for real estate listings. It’s a nation-wide database that everyone knows about.
The problem with the non-realtor sites is that your house is only listed on one (or more should you chose to spend the additional $ and list it on multiple sites).
So unless a buyer searches each and every site out there, you’re really limited in market exposure.
I definitely agree that real estate agents will have to give a little just to maintain their business, let alone grow it. One of the criteria for disintermediation, correct?
-Grant
August 1st, 2006 at 12:55 pm
This type of thing has been a long time coming. I don’t like working with agents, but I really like being able to get my listings out there in a national database.
For this to work, though, the MLS database for the little guy has to prove to be the one-stop-shop for FSBO listings.
August 1st, 2006 at 12:56 pm
I hope other states catch on to this idea
SL
August 20th, 2006 at 11:09 pm
I hope it starts with Maine…
(HTTP://victimordeal.blogspot.com)