Listing a property on the MLS notifies all brokers and agents in your area that your property is for sale. The MLS is a database of homes for sale in a particular area. It is usually operated by a local Realtor’s Association and Realtors pay dues to have access to it. It is the traditional way agents find homes for their buyers and advertise homes for their sellers.

There are no hidden fees to get your home listed. You may decide to order additional products or services including extra photos, a 2nd MLS listing, a lockbox, signs, and contract review.

The MLS listing is normally for 6 months, and you may cancel it at any time unless the property has a pending sale. You may renew for another 6 months for a discounted fee. Occasionally longer listings may be available.

Every MLS requires that you sign a listing agreement with a real estate agent/broker before the MLS will accept your listing. We have a national network of trusted Realtors and Brokers willing to accept listings for a flat fee.

All necessary listing forms and disclosures will be emailed, faxed, or mailed to you by the local Broker after you have placed your order with us. The agent will assist you with any questions you may have about filling out the paperwork.

Yes. If an agent sees your listing and brings a buyer, you must pay the buyer’s agent a commission if the offer is accepted. In your MLS listing, you state the commission you are offering to the buyer’s Realtor. Common commission amounts vary from state to state and even town to town. We recommend offering ½ of what the full service Realtors in your town are asking. Remember that your property will be competing with many others for the attention of the Realtors and their buyers. Generally, nationwide commissions hover around 2-3% (or 4-6% full service).

No. If you find the buyer on your own and the buyer does not have a Realtor, you will not have to pay any commission.
Your SaleByOwnerRealty.com webpage is one of the tools you can use to capture private buyers. Interested buyers can email you or call you directly from your webpage information.

The MLS proper will display both the agent’s contact information and in most states, your phone number as well. Potential buyers who call the agent will be directed to you to set up showings and discuss property details. No public MLS sites like MLSLI.com, CincyMLS.com, or Realtor.com allow sellers phone numbers. The agent will direct those potential buyers to you.

Once you sign up online you can expect to hear from the listing agent within 2-7 business hours. The agent will email you the forms you need to fill out.

Once your forms are completed and emailed or faxed back to the agent along with a photo of your home, you will be in the MLS within 24 to 48 hours (excluding weekends).

Once you are listed in the MLS it will take Realtor.com 2-5 business days to upload your listing to their site. This is an automatic upload and this step cannot be expedited.

To expedite your listing, be sure all your information on your order- especially your phone numbers & email address - is correct and current. Be sure to check messages on all phones and check your email, including your spam folders.

If you are in a special rush or have serious time constraints please be sure to call and let us know so we can help expedite your order.

We guarantee you a listing on your local MLS and Realtor.com providing you enormous local, national and international exposure to interested buyers. In addition, as an extra bonus, your property will naturally appear on MSN and AOL which are linked to Realtor.com. Although we can’t guarantee it, your listing will probably also appear on other local agents’ websites that offer MLS search. Finally, you will be on SaleByOwnerRealty.com where you can write a description of any length, upload up to 10 property photos, and add links to any other personal property websites you may have created.

The basic MLS package guarantees you 1 photo on the MLS and 1 photo in Realtor.com.

You can provide your own digital photos by emailing them to your listing agent as .jpg files, ideally 640x480 pixels. If necessary, hard copy photos can be mailed to us for scanning, or you may mail us a disk.

Virtual Tours, including a 15 photo slide show, are a great option. A professional photographer will shoot your property and the tours can be attached to Realtor.com, SaleByOwnerRealty.com and often to the MLS.

We don’t recommend using a regular For Sale By Owner sign, as this will tend to put off Realtors who had wanted to show your property. The SaleByOwnerRealty.com sign is a better option as it comes with a sticker announcing “MLS listed, Brokers welcome” and has a place for your phone number.

For Sale By Owner signs cannot be used once listed in the MLS in AL, AR, GA, IN, KY, NH, NM, NY, OK, OH, OR, UT, and VT. A broker sign with space for your number is usually available.

No, but Realtors do depend on quick access. Realtors show many homes within a short period of time so easy access to your property may make a difference. We strongly recommend using a lockbox but more importantly making your home easy to show by being accessible. Lockboxes are available ala carte on our website and are included in our Premier package.

No. Every MLS has its own multiple-choice templates which are very detailed and thorough. Some fields may be auto-populated by the tax records and in most cases you cannot customize. You will always be able to provide a written description of about 250-300 characters, subject to filtering for HUD regulation violations.

Changes to the listing are handled by contacting your local agent/broker via email, fax or phone.

Most of our agents will provide additional services including contract review, negotiating and close of sale.

These services are usually subject to additional fees. Basic questions can be directed to our office and we will either answer them or direct you to someone who can.

Yes, it's true on both accounts. According to the National Association of Realtors, approximately 80% of all U.S. homes are sold through Realtors using the MLS and homes listed on the MLS average net proceeds of 7% higher than homes sold for sale by owner.

The MLS will give you maximum exposure and this is the key to a successful transaction. There is no other effective way to sell your property and be successful.