Annual National Association of REALTORS® report shows sellers are skipping the agent and opting for flat fee solutions, like ours!

According to a new report issued by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), more and more people are choosing to sell their homes on their own or with discounted agent services. The number of homes being sold with a Flat Fee MLS Listing rather than a traditional agent listing grew 30% in 2012. These homes represented 12% of all existing home sales (up from 10% in 2011). The report shows that growth in flat-fee listings is coming from both for sale by owner sellers who need more exposure for their homes as well as sellers who use agents but want to save on commissions. This is exactly the type of clients we have been helping over the years. Selling your home by owner is not a new concept but it seems that more people are adopting the practice. Companies like Hardy and Company are making it easy for home sellers to not only get listed on the local MLS but also display their homes across a variety of high profile websites such as Realtor.com®, Zillow®, and Yahoo! Homes. This online marketing ensures maximum exposure to the home buying audience which can reduce the amount of time it takes to sell. Most importantly, sellers can save a great deal of money. The usual listing commission stays in the seller’s pocket. Home buyers can also benefit from this trend. If a home seller is going to be saving the big commission, they may be willing to negotiate further on the home price. We feel that any trend that benefits both buyers and sellers can further spur growth in the future. Learn more about how we are contributing to this trend with our Flat Fee Listing Programs, and our Commission Rebate Program for Buyers, they are just two of the ways Hardy and Company helps our clients Keep More and Pay Less when buying and selling real estate.