I was an unsuccessful FSBO from June 2014 on, in the Boston area using a flat fee agent to MLS list us. His company provided a yard sign for $30 and the forms which you could get off the web I suspect.

Our sign and brochure box were stolen on Day 3.

I assumed for the low fee I would not get support from this agent, but he checked in with me several weeks later and I said I had a verbal offer that went south he said, "Why didn't you call me"? Um... I didn't know for the low fee we could discuss. If I sent this realtor an email at 10 pm, he replied by 11 pm. One phone call, our last, went on for over an hour. In September I went with the top producing agent in town. I think I have 5-8 emails that went unanswered and our house photo did not even make it into her office window.

We are going back to FSBO come April. Mine was a unique experience I am sure, but I encourage you to use google and find an agent that can both MLS list you and give you support. Our fee only agent will waive the $300 fee should we decide to go full service with him at any time.

I am sorry I could only give you my experience and not more pros and cons. I will watch for your posts - good luck!

Massachusetts New Hampshire Flat Fee Agent

My sister recently listed her home with a flat fee MLS service. She got showings immediately and sold within a week. This is in a midwestern city, a 20-year-old mid-market home with updated bathrooms, original kitchen, but was cleaned and staged nicely.

When we last sold a house no flat fee MLS was available in our area. We listed with a service that got us on realtor.com for $99, and self-listed on zillow, but didn't get the traffic that the MLS brought, so ended up listing with an agent.

Was just wondering what the OP experience was thus far.

Our story mirrors yours almost exactly. I just talked with a flat fee listing agent today. They offer the MLS listing, realtor and as sign for $290 and will give contract advise for $200 if we get an offer and will 'represent' us for 1% commission.

So far we hired a stager and professional photographer. We made our own website (which was super easy on godaddy) and have listed it with zillow. We got an outside appraisal to make sure we knew what we would appraise for and we listed $6K under the appraisal so we would be competitive. I also made my own FSBO sign and bought a professional looking way to hang it (looks just like all the realtor signs).

We have had one showing and have another one scheduled this weekend.

Oh - and our house lost 30K since 2007 :(

Loveumms- it's sounds like you are doing all the right things. Good luck on your sale! We have decided to hold off on the sale of our home for another year or two. In the meantime, we are making home renovations and saving for our build. I'd love a follow-up on your selling situation though! Isn't such a disheartening position to be in? UGH!

We sold a house many years ago with a flat fee company. We needed a fast sell so we kind of cheated the system. After paying the flat fee service about 800 bucks we offered a 5% buyer's commission. We ended up showing the house a lot, one Saturday had 6 showings, we sold for just a bit above asking price on an all cash deal. It took maybe 15-20 days to get it under contract.

Awesome! That's great news...I'm guessing that would be my strategy, as well!

If that's your thinking, why not just get a full service agent to do it for 5%?

Although, I feel sure that many will disagree. To me selling a house is about getting people in the door. When we did it, flat fees were new in the area and we really needed to sell fast. The bonus commission was meant as an incentive for the selling realtor, I am not sure if they would work today or not. I can tell you that we had a lot of people through the house, I was moving abroad and had already bought a smaller house for my stuff, so it did not bother me but I doubt I could have lived in the house we were selling. There was a time when someone running late had to be bumped as we had too many showings to get them in.

Bry911. I knew your point would be made. And like you said, a large commission bonus may have had an impact back in the days when all MLS listings were kept in a "book" and the agent would sort through the mess and pick listings to show to his/her client. It is not done this way today. Most of the time, the clients tell me what homes they have narrowed their list down to. Of course, I do a double check of the MLS to see if I know of something that they may have missed, or add a listing that is not yet "on the market". But even when I am doing that, I am looking for homes that match my clients criteria and lifestyle. I can honestly say that most of the time, I do not even know what the commission split is of the homes that I am showing... until I know that my client is ready to write an offer.

When I do have sellers ask me if they should include a buyer's agent bonus, I tell them to just take the same amount off of the asking price and be done with it.

I suspect that everything you said is correct. I am already working with a realtor when I get ready to sell my home. So did it once, it worked great but I worked my ass off doing it.

We have had a positive experience thus far. We paid the $300 to get the flat fee listing and have had 7 showings thus far. The buyers agents have all been very positive and don't mind not having a selling agent. Many of the forums that say not to use flat fee listing services are coming from realtors (who of course want clients to use a selling agent).

We did have several agents offer to list the home for a 5% commission but, we feel like saving the 2% will help us get the house sold faster (b/c we listed it slightly lower then what it appraised for to entice buyers). Who knows - home buying and selling is so variable and really you just need that one person to walk through the door and make an offer.

What we have learned though is the sellers agent does not do much except for price the home, market it and give advice about offers. They do lend their contacts but, it doesn't matter if your home is not what the buyers want. If you can get your house ready and photographed well, you are not a overly emotional about the value of your home (and can price it reasonably), can be available to show it whenever asked and are comfortable with negotiating, saving that 2-3% seems like a win. 6% is a lot of money depending on the price of your home and to use any little savings is a benefit.

Will let you know once we sell it how it went.

Mass, as I said on your thread, it's because you added 15K thinking your solar panels will entice people to pay more when they won't. People will pay the going rate for the market. And the going rate for your market is 15k less.

As for the person who bought high and lost money, I feel your pain. When we bought our first home in 1987, we paid $176,000 for it. We put about $20,000 in a new kitchen, new electrical, etc and in 1993, we sold it for $169,000. However, the advantage was we bought a house in a better neighborhood for $278,000. That same house in 1987 would have cost $330,000. So while we lost on our first home, we gained because we were able to buy a bigger home in a better neighborhood because the market had dropped. Hopefully you're in the same boat.