"Listing Your FSBO Home on the MLS:
Is It Right For You?"

For the past few years, many FSBO sellers have been able to list their ‘for sale by owner’ homes on the MLS without signing up with a realtor.

This is done through a service called “flat rate” or “flat fee” realty, such as the service provided at NuWaysMLS. Using this service, the seller generally pays a flat advance fee – although it could be a low commission at point of sale (or sometimes a combination of both) - in exchange for getting their home listed on the MLS and Realtor.com.  Fees for this service range anywhere from $99/month to $299 dollars and up.

Some flat rate realty providers also offer additional a la carte services on a fee-for-service basis for sellers wanting additional assistance in things like negotiating prices or terms, arranging for financing, inspections or closing.

So, what are the pros and cons of using a flat fee service and getting your home on the MLS?

Here are the benefits…

• You get your home listed on the MLS – duh :-)   But what is the benefit of doing that?  There are two, actually, and they are pretty darn good ones.
   
  • One is that your home is also listed on Realtor.com, which is run by The National Association of Realtors. 
    
    As more than three-quarters of home buyers start their search for a new home on the Internet, and most of them are not looking for ‘for sale by owner’ homes, you increase your chances of getting seen by them by being listed on Realtor.com.
    
    By the way, your Realtor.com listing has a “printable brochure” option which can come in very handy.
    
    
  • The other benefit is that realtors representing buyers will find your home on the MLS and, if the home is right, show it to their clients, increasing your exposure.
    
    Obviously you want as many people to be aware of your home, whether by their own efforts or through the efforts of their realtor.

Here are some things you need to seriously consider, however:

• By agreeing to listing your home on the MLS, you are also agreeing to pay a commission if the home sells and a buyer’s agent is involved…a definite possibility, since you are listed on the MLS.  Therefore, as a FSBO seller, that means you might only save half the commission of not using a realtor, not the whole thing, in addition to paying for the MLS listing.
  
  
• There is no such thing as a national MLS.  Most people don’t realize this.  But “the MLS” is actually a whole lot of little MLS’s run out of local areas and all with their own local rules. 
  
  What does this mean to you?  It means you actually may not be able to list your FSBO property on the MLS because the local rules won’t allow it. 
  
  And, as Realtor.com gets all its listings from the thousands of Multiple Listing Services around the country and puts that property information in their website, if you can’t get listed on your local MLS, you won’t get listed on Realtor.com either. 
  
  
• Your name, address and phone number are not shown in Realtor.com – the only contact information available will be that of the real estate professional who actually placed your listing on the MLS (as arranged for by the flat fee service – your flat fee pays for this).