THE MYTHS YOU MIGHT HEAR

THE FACTS YOU MUST KNOW

Your home won't sell.

The RESULTS speak for themselves, and we have published multiple detailed studies of our customers' results.  Our customers have over a billion dollars of sales in Washington, and they have saved more than thirty million dollars in commissions.  Our largest source for new customers is past customers and referrals.  Many of these customers are fanatical in their support of our business and in their defense of their freedom of choice in how to market their property.  Read the Results.

You won't get the exposure you need.

We provide more exposure than some full service companies.  Our customers are exposed to thousands of member agents in multiple listing services, as well as on every public local and national website that publishes your local MLS listings.  Did you know that some real estate companies don't allow their customers' homes to be shown on Realtor.com?

Agents won't show those homes.

More than 75% of the buyers of our customers' homes are represented by agents, totaling more than $700 million.  Some agents have tried to convince sellers of boycotts in order to scare them out of exercising their right to choose how to sell their house.  Our customers' results show the true story, as does this list of more than 500 brokerages that have sold our customers' properties. 

They don't provide legal advice.

True!  Under Washington law and REALTOR® ethics, the unauthorized practice of law by real estate brokerages is prohibited.  We adhere to those rules and recommend that sellers retain a real estate attorney to provide legal advice. 

They're the No Service Company.

Our customers expect and receive a higher level of service than many people receive from "full service" companies.  Why?  Because they have taken ownership of their homeselling experience.

We send and receive thousands of emails, and we make changes to the MLS databases free of charge and always within one business day.

We do not sell homes, work with buyers or sell mortgages.  Our Agreement is very specific about the services we provide, with no hidden fees or agendas.

Our customers are our best salespeople.  Contact information for our Active customers is displayed on our website.  Ask them about their experience with MLS4owners.com, or read any of the hundreds of unsolicited letters our past customers have written.

Buyer agents have to do more work.

What more work do they have to do?  We have asked this question since our first day in business, and have yet to get a good answer.  In fact, by removing a middleman and placing interested parties together directly, our system is more effficient.  Some agents complain that they become agents for both buyer and seller when the listing brokerage is not a party to the transaction, but the NWMLS issued Legal Bulletin 169 in 2004 to explain how this is not the case.  First, the NWMLS stated that limited service listings are lawful in Washington under the Agency Reform Act (RCW Chapter 18.86) and the rules and regulations created by the Department of Licensing.  Second, the NWMLS stated "the selling licensee does not have any more duties to the seller in a limited service listing than in other listings where the seller is fully represented."

A Buyer's Agent's relationship is with his or her client, and the agent should not be providing advice to sellers.  Remember - a real estate agent is not permitted to provide legal advice.  In Cultum v. Heritage House Realtors, the Washington Supreme Court held that agents will be held to the standard of care of an attorney if they complete real estate purchase and sale forms, and an agent who errs in completing those forms is liable for all damages proximately caused by her negligence.  Further, RCW 18.86 requires real estate licensees to advise the seller to seek expert advice on matters relating to the transaction that are beyond the agent's expertise.  In sum, buyers agents should not be attempting to provide real estate advice to sellers or to provide legal advice to any party.

Your home will sell for 16% more if you hire a full service REALTOR®

There are lies, damn lies, and statistics.    The National Association of REALTORS®, of which we are a member, is using advertising that claims that in 2005 the average home sold with the help of a REALTOR® sells for 16% more than the average home sold by an owner.  It is also true that the average home sold with the help of MLS4owners.com sold for 13% MORE the average home sold by other brokerages (In 2005, according to data entered by members into the NWMLS database, on average our customers sold for $348,977 and the average of other brokerages was $309,304).

The NAR claim and our claim both compare apples and oranges.   Our customers' properties sell for more than other brokers' properties because they are worth more.  Homes sold with the help a REALTOR® sell for more than FSBO homes because they are worth more.  People who own more expensive homes tend to choose our service, just as people with more expensive homes are more likely to put their property in an MLS rather than going it alone.  This is just simple demographics.

So watch out for statistical claims.  If your home is priced right for its condition and location, and given the MLS4owners.com exposure that meets or exceeds full service exposure, it will sell.

In a slow market, more than ever you need to be represented.

We would say the opposite.  In a slow market, more than ever you need to save unnecessary expenses while maximizing your exposure.  As an October 2008 seller reported to us:

"Because we saved 3% in agent fees it allowed us to list the home slightly below market value (I listed for $10,000 less than comparable homes in the area). This brought buyers looking for deals.  We got two offers with in a week and closed the next month. What a great tool to help sell a property quickly in this terrible market!" 

In the slowest market in most people's memories, our customers closed over $100 million in sales in 2008, and the median time on market for those sales was 68 days.