How Do I List My Home on the MLS?
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by Homepie | Published Jan 29, 2021 | 9 Minutes
If you are looking to sell your home, you’re not alone. Countless California homeowners are taking advantage of the current seller’s market and maximizing profits.
You’ve probably heard that listing your home on the MLS is key.
That’s because it’s imperative to getting the marketing exposure needed to sell for the highest price in the shortest amount of time.
What is the MLS?
MLS stands for Multiple Listing Service. It’s a database for licensed agents and brokers to list homes and properties that they are trying to sell.
Here’s the advantage. Once an agent or broker lists a property on the MLS, it is automatically uploaded to hundreds of real estate websites such as Realtor.com, Zillow, and Redfin.
Do I Need the MLS to Sell My Home?
You don’t need to list your home on the MLS in order to sell it. It is possible to create a For Sale by Owner listing on Zillow and hope a prospective buyer sees it.
However, you won’t have the same level of exposure as you would by listing on the MLS. That’s because most real estate sites pull their listings from this database and won’t allow you to create your own listing.
While many people use sites like Zillow, there are hundreds of thousands of potential buyers browsing listings on other sites such as Realtor.com and Redfin. Some buyers prefer to just use Zillow, some prefer other platforms.
If you only market to Zillow, then in theory you are only marketing to one third of buyers.
By utilizing the MLS, you put your home in front of people on all of these sites by simply creating one listing.
Can I list Without an Agent?
You may be wondering if you can list your home on the MLS without a real estate agent. The short answer is no – technically, only licensed agents and brokers have access to the database. The good news is that you can still get on the MLS and skip paying a listing agent commission.
Most people only know of two options when it comes to selling your house:
- Hire a real estate agent. Instead of taking advantage of the resources that help you sell your own home, you could hire an agent to list your home on the MLS. For that convenience, you’ll have to part with around 6% of the sale price to cover commission fees.
- For Sale By Owner. Put a sign in your front yard from Home Depot and rely on word of mouth and limited exposure online to sell your home. While this works and saves you money, it could take a while to sell your home. But it works if you’re not in a hurry.
There is, however, a third option to consider if you want to sell by owner:
- For Sale By Owner with Flat Fee MLS. Flat Fee MLS gives you full market exposure to prospective buyers and allows you to skip the listing agent commission fees and keep more of the profits.
This has the best of both worlds: maximum exposure and huge savings. With this approach, you pay a real estate broker to list your home on the MLS only, not represent you.
How Flat Fee MLS Works
In order to list your home on the MLS, you will have to pay a nominal fee (typically $100-300) to a broker to list your home since the database is only accessible by licensed agents and brokers. They essentially act as your access point to the MLS database.
This also means that since an agent technically listed your home for you (but doing nothing other than simply listing your home in the MLS database), your home will not be listed as For Sale by Owner.
But of course, this is a mere technicality. You are the one doing all the work; you’re still selling it yourself. It’s just that when your listing gets syndicated to sites like Zillow, it will display the broker information, not “For Sale by Owner.”
There’s actually a benefit to this. Since your home will not be labeled “For Sale by Owner,” you’re no longer a target for agents.
You see, if you list on Zillow without an agent, Zillow will sell your contact information as a lead to numerous agents who tend to be relentless when it comes to phone soliciting.
This means the calls you receive are going to be from interested buyers rather than agents trying to get your listing.
Set Your Commission
In addition to the listing fee, there’s one other cost involved: You’ll need to consider what commission you are willing to give to the buyer’s agent.
To list on the MLS, a commission amount is required. The standard rate is 2-3% of the sale price. Homepie requires a minimum of 2% to the buyer’s agent.
While it’s sensible to save money, offering even a 1-2% commission would make it less likely for them to show your home and more likely to show another home up the street offering the full 3%. Agents are not supposed to steer their buyers away from an available property, however, this happens all the time.
The Best Way to List Your Home on the MLS
Homepie.com is the best place to sell your home yourself and gives the option of listing your home on the MLS for only $99*.
Not only it is simple to list your home, but you have one place to manage your home sale.
There are other cheap sites offering flat fee MLS but they typically have hidden fees. You are very much on your own with everything, unless you pay a considerable amount. Some agents also have sites promoting flat fee MLS, only to try to entice sellers to sign up for full service representation.
*Certain restrictions and minimums apply. Ask for details. $99 Flat fee MLS offer only available to customers who purchase Professional Photography and full-size For Sale sign.
With homepie.com, you don’t have to worry about us trying to entice you into full-service representation.
Most Flat Fee MLS services out there won’t allow you to set a custom commission pricing. Homepie.com provides you with total control and offers all the tools you need to successfully sell your home yourself.
Here are some additional great benefits.
Instant Messaging With Prospective Buyers
Once a prospective buyer shows interest in your home, you have the ability to instant message them in real time and answer any of their questions. This is something extremely helpful and you can’t do it on popular sites like Zillow.
This feature also comes in handy when negotiating terms and coming to an agreement. It also can be used to screen potential buyers and agents soliciting their services.
Negotiation & Purchase Agreement
Homepie.com offers negotiation tools that make the negotiation process simple by eliminating the back and forth between parties that happens when they are represented by an agent.
When a buyer makes an offer, they will be walked through a series of questions about things such as whether they want to do a home inspection, have the property appraised, ask for a home warranty, and more. The system walks you through the offer and negotiation process exactly like an agent would, and gives you tips along the way.
After the buyer submits the offer, you, the seller, will then receive the offer and have the ability to accept, decline, or counter the offer each and every term. You are walked through the counter-offer process the same way the buyer was when they made the offer.
Once the offer is accepted, an instant Purchase Agreement will be generated with the agreed upon terms that both parties can sign electronically.
Once all parties sign, this becomes your bona-fide legal purchase contract that you’ll use for the escrow.
Paperwork Management & Optional Transaction Coordinator
Homepie also offers professional service providers that can assist both buyers and sellers all the way through the closing process.
For as low as $599, you have the option to hire a transaction coordinator who can take care of all of the legal disclosures, other paperwork needed, and will help with coordinating all contractual time-frames.
You’ll receive help with paperwork management and having dedicated transaction support will help ensure everything in escrow goes smoothly.
Tip: The transaction coordinators fee is probably the best money you’ll spend in your sale. They are one of the biggest secrets to what an agent does and agents use them on every single deal. Agents put on a pretty smile, secure your purchase contract, then pass everything off the transaction to the coordinator to handle the rest. They handle none of the mountain of work that needs to be done to complete the sale.
How to List Your Home on the MLS with Homepie
Are you ready to list your home on the MLS? Just follow these 5 easy steps on Homepie.com.
- Follow this link and enter your street address.
- Enter all the information details about your home and provide a short description.
- Enter the listing price.
- Upload photos (or select “hire a local photographer”).
- Choose the MLS option and enter the commission amount for the buyer agent.
It’s that easy. After your listing gets approved (typically within 24 hours) your home will be promoted on multiple real estate websites, and you can manage and update your listing in the dashboard.
