FAQs

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The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is a local database tool that advertises properties for sale to licensed real estate brokers in exchange for compensation if they produce the buyer. The MLS is the primary source of information for home listings because they contain real-time information on virtually every home listed for sale in a given area, except FSBO (For Sale By Owner) homes. As the primary source of information about homes currently for sale and the prices at which other, comparable homes have been sold, the MLS is an extraordinarily important resource for sellers, buyers and brokers.

Once listed on your local MLS, your property may feed (depending on area) to hundreds of national real estate websites, such as Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia, Yahoo and more. The exposure you receive on the MLS is substantial. Thousands of real estate brokers through your local MLS and millions of potential buyers through the internet can see your property listing. Home sellers benefit from exposure of their listings to a wide audience of potential buyers, increasing the probability of selling their homes quickly and at an optimal price for those sellers.

None of this is possible if a seller just posts a “For Sale By Owner” sign on his or her front lawn in anticipation of selling it just to people that pass by the sign.

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Yes. Midwest Real Estate Data LLC (MRED LLC) is the largest and most widely used database in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs.

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No, only a licensed REALTOR^® who is a member of NAR (National Association of Realtors) and the local MLS board can list on the MLS. There is no other way.

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Yes. Seller retains the right to sell the property. If Seller accepts an offer from a buyer without a real estate agent, Seller does not pay any commission. A listing on the MLS, allows the Seller to boost their “FSBO – For Sale By Owner” marketing plan for around the same price of a newspaper ad. Using the flat fee method, the seller is able to market their property to approximately tens of thousands of real estate professionals.

The property will also get tons of exposure on many other MLS syndicated websites like Realtor.com, Trulia and Zillow and many more!  These sites will expose a property listing to thousands of potential buyers. Nowadays almost all buyers start their search online so having your listing on all of these websites is very important.

This program is great for FSBO sellers who want more exposure for their property, but don’t want to pay a traditional brokers commission.

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Traditionally, when an owner sells his or her property, he or she first contacts a real estate broker (called the listing broker). That broker lists the property on the MLS and works on selling the property. The broker works for free until the property closes, at which time the broker is finally paid via a hefty commission on the sale price – normally 5%-6% – and that commission is then split with the buyer’s real estate broker – usually 2% – 3% of the commission. If a buyer purchases the property without a broker, the listing broker keeps the entire 5%-6% commission.

Unfortunately, this payment structure works in the listing brokers sole benefit. The quicker he/she can sell the property, the quicker the turnover is and the highest return on their time. Whether they get it sold in 1 day or 1 year the commission is the same regardless of the time he or she spends actually selling the property. For example, if a broker were able to sell a $500,000 property that was listed on the MLS for two days, he or she would have earned around $30,000 in commission, to be split with a buyer’s broker. Is that a reasonable payment structure for two days of “work”?

Also in this structure, the listing broker will always be working to persuade you the seller to reduce your listing price or accept an offer even though it may be lower than your asking price just so that they can make a sale and collect their commission. At ListHomeFlatFee.com, we don’t make a penny more if the home is sold in 1 day or 100 days. We will never ask you to lower your asking price or persuade you to take an offer because we don’t work for a commission.

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For an upfront, one-time low flat fee, the seller can cut the total commission paid at closing in half! Instead of paying the traditional 5-6% commission for a transaction, the seller ONLY pays the buyers agent’s portion of the commission at closing (typically 2-3%) if the buyer is represented by a buyer’s agent. This payment structure will save you thousands in real estate commissions.

The seller also reserves the right to additionally advertise the property “For Sale By Owner” or FSBO. If a buyer is found using those advertising efforts (and not represented by a buyer’s agent), then NO commission is paid at closing. 

The MLS we use is the EXACT same MLS that a property would be listed on for sale with a traditional broker. The primary reason for using our Flat Fee Program is to gain access to the MLS for a property listing. Since a seller cannot get a property listed on the MLS without a listing broker, we offer the option to do so using our Flat Fee Program.

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Please see our explainer video HERE to better visually understand the process. Upon you choosing the listing package, making payment, and submitting the required forms back to us, the property is listed on the MLS database. Once listed on the MLS, you will be responsible for showings, additional marketing, open houses, etc. If a broker brings you a buyer and you accept an offer you will need to pay them a commission at closing.

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Yes, we will order the installation (and removal) of a 6’ wooden signpost and 30”x18” metal sign in the front lawn of your property by a professional sign installation company within a few business days. (Installing a sign outside certain properties may not be possible including high-rise buildings due to restrictions by Homeowner Associations, Condo Associations, local ordinances, etc.). Unlike some of our competitors that provide a small, cheap corrugated lawn sign and charge for this – we do not charge for the sign, installation, and removal. Each sign is printed with our toll-free number and a unique 3-digit extension, all calls are automatically forwarded to you.

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In most instances, your listing will be live on our website and the MLS within 48 hours of our acceptance of a listing agreement and our receipt of all related listing documents and photographs of the property.

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Please click here for our Photo Submission Guidelines.

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Yes, you may add additional photos or make changes to your MLS listing. Upon receipt of an email (support@ListHomeFlatFee.com) from the seller requesting the change, changes will be made within 48 hours. A confirmation email will be sent to the email address on file notifying the seller that the requested change has occurred. All changes need to be in writing no exceptions. Any changes requested that are not in writing will be disregarded. Voicemail messages and/or phone conversations requesting changes will be disregarded.

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We do NOT charge an additional fee to make price and description changes. All changes are included in the listing fee. We also do NOT charge an additional fee to change commission.

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Upon receipt of an email (support@ListHomeFlatFee.com) from the seller requesting the change, we will confirm receipt, so the seller knows the request has been received. The seller is never left wondering. All changes are made within 48 hours. All changes need to be in writing no exceptions. We will email a revised MLS listing sheet in PDF format of any textual changes after they’ve been made. Changes may take some time to update on third-party websites, which we have no control over. Any changes requested that are not in writing will be disregarded. Voicemail messages and/or phone conversations requesting changes will be disregarded.

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In most areas, your MLS listing will automatically feed through to Realtor.com and the other public third-party sites within 1-3 business days after being active on the MLS. Realtor.com pulls limited information from the MLS and sometimes takes a few days to pull the photos. ListHomeFlatFee.com has no control over how long it takes to feed through to those sites.  Also, certain property types will not feed through to all of the sites. 

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Yes. In the event you want to cancel your listing prior to the expiration of the Listing Agreement, you may do so with no early termination fee by giving written notice to us via email or fax. The upfront listing fee is not refundable or prorated. Please note – Once the listing documents have been submitted back to ListHomeFlatFee.com, we are unable to offer refunds.

The listing can only be canceled when there is no contract pending on the property. Once the request for termination is validated by us, such termination shall be effective within 48 hours.

To cancel the listing you MUST submit in writing by email or by using the Change Request Form sent to us by email (support@ListHomeFlatFee.com) or by fax 847-563-4219.

The listing may still show for a period of time on third-party websites even though we canceled in on the MLS. We have no control over this since we do not own these third-party websites.

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We will send you a confirmation email once we review the order. If we require any other information from you, we will contact you by email or phone.

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You will state the pre-determined percent commission you are willing to offer to the buyer’s broker at closing that brings a qualified buyer on the required forms that you will be submitting to us.  This commission will be on your MLS listing for all buyer’s agents to see. This amount should be competitive with other listings in the area if the Seller wants to compete with other listings for agent’s attention. The commission offered is typically 2%-3% of the selling price and you only pay when you sell your property.

If you happen to find your own buyer, then no commissions will need to be paid.

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No, once your property is active in the MLS you will not retain control of your listing on Zillow or any other sites that pull their data from the MLS. This is out of our control as this is an automatic feed from the MLS. Once you are listed in the MLS you are technically no longer a FSBO so your Zillow listing will go from For Sale By Owner to For Sale (with a listing agent).

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No, your listing looks just like all other listings on the MLS. You are listed the exact same way as all other listings. How much money you pay us to list your property is not posted on the MLS and agents are not concerned with how much you paid us, they are only concerned with how much money they will make. As long as a seller is offering a similar commission, a real estate broker will show the listing. It is also illegal for a property to be boycotted by a broker and a broker can have its license revoked if this occurs. Real estate brokers must always act in the best interests of their client. The refusal to show a property based on the commission a seller is offering is not acting in the best interests of its clients. Furthermore, if a real estate broker decides to boycott a property, he/she can possibly be engaging in price-fixing and group boycotting which violates U.S. Anti-trust laws involving both civil and criminal penalties leading to a possible 3 year jail term and heavy fines.

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The answer is simple. Because most people do not know this money saving option even exists. Or, they incorrectly assume that selling a property without paying a “traditional” listing agent commission is more complicated than it really is. Some people believe that this service is too good to be true or are misled by the traditional real estate agents claiming a 5-6% listing agreement is the only way to go. The more research you do, you will see this is the best way to sell a property and retain as much money in your pocket at closing. We encourage you to give us a try. If you are not completely satisfied with our services, you can cancel the listing agreement at any time without incurring any cancellation fees. 

This program is for any seller that knows how to answer their own phone, open the front door, and wants to retain their equity!

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The buyer’s broker, both parties’ attorneys, and the title company do most of the paperwork, but we are here to assist.

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You only pay the flat fee at time of listing and you owe us no money at closing.

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It is posted on the MLS for brokers to see.

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Our toll-free phone number will appear on the sign along with a unique 3 digit extension assigned to you, when a potential buyer or its broker calls, they will be prompted to enter the 3 digit extension which will automatically transfer the call to your phone. 

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All offers submitted by brokers must be faxed or emailed to our office. Upon receipt of an offer, we will email the offer to the Seller as a PDF attachment. We will assist the Seller during the entire negotiation process and be available to answer questions.

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Should buyers or their agents email us, we forward the email to you to reply directly to that party. Our phone system also directs them to your number. Our toll-free phone number will appear on the sign along with a unique 3 digit extension assigned to you, when a potential buyer or its broker calls, they will be prompted to enter the 3 digit extension which will automatically transfer the call to your phone. 

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No. Unlike many of our competitors, we never put your personal phone number, email or even your name on the MLS. During the listing process, we will issue a 3-digit extension off our toll-free number that potential buyers and their agents will use to contact you about your property. Once they dial that number it will forward to your personal mobile phone or land line for you to answer the call. Your phone number will not be made public.

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No. Seller shall not enter into any sales contract that requires the listing broker to hold earnest money. Seller must make arrangements with an attorney or a third party to hold earnest money or possibly the Buyer’s agent’s office can hold it.

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Seller should seek professional advice for legal, tax, inspection, survey, title and all other pertinent matters in regard to a real estate transaction.

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We will provide:

1. Accept delivery of and present to the client offers and counteroffers to buy or lease the client’s property.
2. Assist the client in developing, communicating, negotiating, and presenting offers, counteroffers, and notices that relate to the offers and counteroffers until a purchase agreement or lease is signed and all contingencies are satisfied or waived; and
3. Answer the client’s questions relating to the offers, counteroffers, notices, and contingencies.