What Parameters to Look for in a Flat Fee MLS Broker in Alabama?
Of the multiple listing service Alabama homeowners can access, to complete a successful FSBO sale, it’s ideal to know what you’re looking for before you make the decision. Although there may be multiple flat fee MLS available, there are only a handful of feature-rich, cost-effective options for sellers to use. Therefore, to ensure you’re selecting the best flat fee MLS Alabama has to offer, you should carefully examine the following parameters.
Customer Service
Although most Alabama flat fee MLS brokers operate online, to sell your home successfully, you should pay close attention to whether an Alabama flat fee MLS provides sufficient customer service. Many homeowners only discover that the flat fee service they’ve chosen lacks customer service when they encounter a problem, and by then, it’s too late. To avoid this becoming the case when you list your home on a flat fee MLS, ask yourself the following questions:
- Do they have a telephone number for their customer support?
- Are they available after hours?
- Do they offer live chat support?
Of the available flat fee MLS in Alabama, only Houzeo offers excellent customer service, evident in their numerous five-star reviews. They also have live chat support and telephonic support six days a week.
Convenient Features
Another parameter – one that’s easy to glean – are the features on offer. Ideally, you want a flat fee broker that makes a private sale more convenient to navigate. The most important features should be available regardless of the plan. These features include the ability to process paperwork online – which minimizes the cost and time of mailing paperwork. Additionally, the flat fee MLS listing service you select should give you control during the negotiation and allow you to determine the buyer’s agent commission.
Closing Costs
Some of the multiple listing service Alabama sellers use have hidden closing costs that make it difficult to determine how much – if any – saving you’re making. The best flat fee MLS Alabama homeowners use will display all the closing costs upfront.
Of the many flat fee MLS available, FSBO.com and Houzeo are the most transparent with closing costs. Houzeo is the better option, offering the most value-added features that reduce the cost of closing. Houzeo also has a Closing Cost Calculator which can help you determine the approximate closing costs while selling your home.
Syndication
To determine whether you’re using the best flat fee MLS Alabama sellers can access, you should pay very close attention to syndication. For example, the multi-listing service Huntsville, Alabama agents use would not be the same as those in Montgomery. For this reason, you should review the MLS your flat fee listing service syndicates to and cross-reference that with the ones buyer agents in your area use.
Before you settle on a flat fee MLS to list your home with, ensure the one you choose performs in all of these parameters.
Since each of these parameters support a successful FSBO sale, if your flat fee MLS service lacks one aspect, it could jeopardize the sale, making the process more challenging and expensive.