Flat Fee MLS Listing Videos

Listing flat fee in the MLS saves 3% but that's just the beginning of the benefits of listing with ADDvantage.

Our superior website features allow you to have more control over your listing so changing price, commission, Realtor bonuses, pictures, and more are just clicks away…Add accessories, view who has viewed your listing, create brochures, schedule calendar events such as openhouses--All conveniently located in your seller control panel.

Keith has been a Florida real estate broker since 1984 and has never had a single customer complaint. He was also one of the first brokers to introduce flat fee listing methods over 10 years ago.

We list homes in almost every city in Florida and are direct members of 25 Florida MLS Realtor Associations including the Florida Keys, Miami, Palm Beach, Ocala, Orlando, Jacksonville, Tampa Bay, Naples, Sarasota, Ft, Myers, Marco, Gainesville, Tallahassee and so many more.

Over 80% of all home searches start online. ADDvantage will list your home on MSN, Yahoo, Realtor.com, of course your local MLS, Craigslist, Homes.com and hundreds more websites through our RSS feeds.

Converting these searches to showings is our specialty as we enjoy the best reputation in Florida with fellow Realtors. Realtors trust us because we have answered every call from them “live” between 8:00am and 8:00pm 7 days a week for over 5 years now and continue to do so!

To ensure you don't miss an opportunity to show your home, every call is carefully transcribed into our unique "Buyer Leads" form in your account. This info is emailed to you in real time and a copy is stored in your account for easy retrieval.

Realtor feedback is also important, so we send each Realtor an email the day after each showing, requesting feedback. Their responses will also be emailed to you immediately!

Our approach to servicing our clients is not business as usual. Rather, we recognize real estate is a sales business and when the phone rings, this call could be your sale.

Our clients' testimonials speak for themselves and even seem redundant after a while because they all say the same thing…“ADDvantage is always available, delivers what it promises and exceeds expectations!”

MLS ADDvantage® is $349 for a 9 month listing in your local MLS. You offer buyer's agents a commission and that is all you pay. Whatever commission you choose to offer will be displayed in the MLS listing that only In this type of listing, you are self-represented, which means you would negotiate all offers on your own. In the MLS, your phone number and name would appear under the Realtor remarks section. This listing type is generally classified as “limited service.” Realtors will be calling you for showing instructions and sometimes they will call us since our contact information is included in all MLS listings by rule. When Realtors calls us, we give your “exact showing instructions” that you have outlined in your account. If these instructions include a lox box combo, we will only give that combo to licensed Realtors with your “prior” permission. If owner occupied, then we will instruct the Realtor to call you directly. In every case, all calls are transcribed into an email and sent to you in real time. All buyer leads that we receive will be forwarded to you by email and belong to you.

When Realtors call ADDvantage, we do require their email addresses as our system will send a “feedback” request by email the day after each showing.

The Internet marketing is the same with all of our flat fee programs. Your listing will be seen by buyers on 100's of real estate websites such as Realtor.com, Homes.com, Yahoo Classifieds, Craigslist, MLS sites and many more.

If a Realtor sells your home, you would owe whatever commission you have stated in your listing agreement. Typically flat fee sellers offer 3% but this is entirely up to you to determine.

Street Smart ADDvantage® is our “Realtor e-blast program” which costs $599. The concept is based upon offering a greater than average buyer's commission attract more showings. You must offer a 4% or higher buyer's agent commission to have your property included in the e-blast. The Eblast is sent to the Realtors who work within 35 miles of your property twice per month.

Street Smart ADDvantage® Realtor® E-Blast is the most widely read Realtor to Realtor email in the industry because its focus is commission money!

Everything else with regard to marketing is exactly the same as the $349 program.

ADDvantage Success™ is our hybrid flat fee-full-service listing. The cost is $699 up front and a transaction fee of $0 at closing …If one of our agents happens to sell your home, we waive the $0 at close fee.

ADDvantage Success™ is truly a great value because you'll have all the benefits of full-service, but with the low cost of flat fee.

ADDvantage Success™ includes contract to close representation by Keith Gordon, a broker with 27 years of experience. His skilled negotiation techniques will often get you more for your property and keep you out of trouble when traversing complicated contracts, addendums and inspection reports with the goal of a timely closing. He will also screen the buyers to make sure they don't tie your property up with a prospect that can't close the deal.

Keith will be your “price coach” to help you fine-tune your price and get the offers coming in. That's when his experience working with other agents delivers the best price, oftentimes even full-price. Sounds crazy right, a full-price offer in buyer's market but this is possible if done strategically. In a buyer's market, leaving room to negotiate often cuts down showings and may not be your best strategy. Keith says he is having more success by pricing “exactly where you would accept an offer” and then leaving the negotiations to him. His work doesn't stop there…After each showing, Keith personally calls each Realtor for feedback to ensure you know what the Realtors, and their buyers, are thinking about your home.

There are many more benefits to ADDvantage Success™….You get Street Smart ADDvantage® Realtor® E-Blast marketing if your listing qualifies, the Realtor.com showcase upgraded ad, an “exclusive right of sale” listing in the MLS, which means the Realtors will see yours just like all other full-service listings instead of a "limited service listing." With ADDvantage Success™, we take all calls and schedule all appointments for you from 8:00am to 8:00pm, every day of the week-so you don't have to worry about missing any leads. Your 12 month/cancel anytime listing also comes with our Agent Activate free showing service!

Listing your property is easy…just click “list my property” under the program that you want and follow the 5 easy steps. The process is 100% electronic--no forms to fill out and nothing to fax.

We allow unlimited price and commission changes. All other changes to your listing such as pictures and property description can be changed as well every 30 days for free. Additional changes are $20 per round.

You do not have to finish your listing the same day that you start it. You can take as long as you wish. Our system doesn't count changes until you are listed in the MLS. The system will give you an option to start your listing on any date in the future. If all steps of the process are complete and your listing is set for today's date, it will usually go in the same day.

Once our MLS administrator has you listed in your local MLS, our system will send what we call “email verification.” This email tells you that you are “in the MLS!” The purpose of email verification is to allow you an opportunity to verify the accuracy of the property data. If any errors should be found, simply report them in the “error box” provided. If your listing is accurate, then type your name in the “I accept my listing as accurate” box.

There's not much that you can do wrong working with ADDvantage as our system will remind you of most critical events by email. Here are the important items. In your seller control panel you will find the “Important Seller forms” section. Promptly print the “4 page seller's disclosure”, fill out, initial each page, sign the last page and either fax back to us or scan this into your “client documents.” Realtors will always ask for this disclosure about your property before making an offer so it is of critical importance.

The other critical responsibility you have is keeping your status up to date. There are 3 statuses…Active, Pending and Closed. In your control panel, you will see a link to “change status.” You must keep ADDvantage informed of any changes in your status by reporting them timely (within 24 hours) in your control panel.

The only possible confusion about status is “pending contract.” This means all parties have signed the contract and associated addendums. If you fail to report status to ADDvantage, the appropriate MLS board may fine ADDvantage $500 so please be prompt with your status changes.

With our $349 traditional flat fee program, MLS ADDvantage®, your phone number is published in the MLS under Realtor remarks. Most Realtors pay attention to these remarks and will call you directly to schedule appointments. The Realtors that don't see these comments or can not reach you will call ADDvantage for showing instructions as our number is listed as the broker of record by rule of the MLS. For those calls that come our way, we take great care we each caller and record the Realtor's name, company name, phone, email and requested show time. This email is sent to you in real time 7 days a week between 8:00am-8:00pm and stored in your seller control panel under “leads.” Additionally, our system automatically sends each Realtor a “feedback email” the day following the showing requesting feedback. Realtor.com leads always come to the listing broker by email or phone call. This is because by rule of Realtor.com, no seller information in allowed in the ad. These leads will be forwarded to you in the same manner.

Our ADDvantage Success™ hybrid flat fee-service is completely different with regard to how we handle showing appointments with Realtors. This is a full-service listing from the Realtors' perspective and they only see our number in the MLS. We take all calls and schedule all showing appointments for you by calling you and confirming each appointment.

Q: Why list with ADDvantage over some of these other flat fee MLS companies that are possibly cheaper flat fee MLS services?

In Florida, there are 10 to 15 different choices to list flat fee in the MLS…Seller's have an advantage listing with ADDvantage because we are the only flat fee MLS company in Florida that cares so much about our clients that we have been answering the phone 12 hours a day, from 8:00am-8:00pm Saturday and Sunday, we have done so for six years and we have a great reputation with Realtors because of this.

Q: Well, you work a lot!

It's been a long time on the phone for us. But, the results have been lost no leads, no lost calls, no lost Realtor showings, no lost appointments…Every opportunity to sell one of our homes we have given that seller an opportunity to do so.

Q: You have listings in every city in Florida; does this mean you cover all Realtor Associations in Florida?

Not everyone. There is one association, over on the east coast of Florida that we do not over. But other than Indian River County, we cover every MLS there is from the Florida Keys, Naples, Marco Island, Marco Island, of course Mid Florida Regional MLS which covers all Central Florida, Tampa Bay down to Ft. Myers, Ocala, Space Coast, Tallahassee, The Pan Handle…We have them all covered.

Q: That means you have been speaking with hundreds of Realtors a month.

You pretty much have your ear to the ground in Florida real estate. Give me a little of your thoughts on the best pricing strategy?

Pricing in Florida in today's buyers market is a challenge and the challenge is getting your house priced chose enough to where the market is as to draw showings and offers. If you are not priced close enough to the market they'll show a different house, they won't show yours. My advice to sellers in Florida is to explore where the market is. I help a lot of sellers myself with our ADDvantage Success™ plan because that is what I do. I engage them, do a CMA for them…I will find out where the market is or close to it. As soon as I find out where market value is we'll get a lot more showings, start getting more offers and you'll draw out the best offer but, if your price your home with $20,000 or $30,000 of room to negotiate, the Realtors and buyers will pass over your listing and you'll languish on the market until you get to the point of saying ‘what's wrong’. And that's then you'll realize that you are priced too far from the market.

Q: And that is where you guys built your reputation. Explain a little about your reputation and how that reputation is an asset to you sellers.

Well, I think the biggest part of our reputation is how we treat those people that call us. Everybody that calls ADDvantage gets our concierge service regardless of whether they are buyers, sellers, or Realtors. When you do the 8:00am to 8:00pm phone service the way we do, with no hold queues except ‘please hold for a brief moment’ as we take each call live and give each seller, buyer, caller the exact information they are looking for including property details and then we email that exact conversation to each seller by email in real time and that email is stored inside their ‘client control’ panel so you can retrieve it anytime that you want. So that service is what has built our reputation with the Realtors and sellers. Of course sellers appreciate this as well. But, Realtors especially appreciate our level of service because as you know, often Realtors will not pick up their phone or possibly not return a call for days on end. But with ADDvantage, you call us, we are on the phone with you. That is huge. When Realtors see the name ADDvantage and if they have ever dealt with us they know the service level they receive when calling us.

Q: And, it seems the information is easy to access as well?

We have spent so much money on our seller control panel. From the beginning we had this technology because we assumed we were going to have the business. We were prepared for the business and as time went on we have developed literally the best flat fee MLS listing software in the business. Nobody has software like ADDvantage. When a seller lists with us, they can change price, commission, rotate pictures in their brochure, they can view their listing in Realtor.com, Homes.com to see what it looks like, or they can send a message. We actually send each seller what's called email verification so they can see a copy of their exact listing to verify its accuracy. If it is correct, they would type their name into a box that says ‘I accept’ or they can ‘reject’ the listing as inaccurate and type in the corrections into another box.

Everything with do at ADDvantage is sent to the seller in real time.

Every email that we send it stored for easy reference in their account.

The client seller can upload surveys, their seller's disclosure (which Realtors will request before making an offer) so we can forward this important document to the Realtors when they call us or they can follow a link that we have already sent to them when they requested a showing that will take them right to the listing on our website where they can download all documents that are marked ‘public’. We are 100% electronic and everything at ADDvantage happens seamlessly.

Q: ADDvantage offers a traditional flat fee plan for $349 and a hybrid flat fee plan called ADDvantage Success™ for $699 upfront and $0 at close. Me being new at this, how would I know which plan is best for me?

That is the question of the hour. Most being when they see our site say ‘oh boy’ because there are so many options and most people don't fully understand flat fee MLS listings because it is complicated. It is rather simple though because there are only 2 big choices. Either you do the $349 flat fee MLS plan where you are ‘self-represented’, you'll be getting calls from Realtors because they will see your contact information in the MLS under ‘Realtor remarks’ and you'll be negotiating directly with a Realtor…so that is a traditional flat fee listing which I our most popular program…More people sign up for that than our hybrid flat fee plan ADDvantage Success™ because ADDvantage Success™ is more expensive. But, should they be sign up for the MLS ADDvantage® $349 v ADDvantage Success™? Well, you can‘t tell people what to do…The point behind flat fee being out there now is because about 14 or 15 years ago the Department of Justice sued on behalf of the people to open the MLS to the public. So we are one of new companies that has embraced this and make it possible for sellers in list by themselves in the MLS and represent themselves. The other program, ADDvantage Success™ is $699 upfront and $0 at close, assuming you close your house. The difference is I represent you with ADDvantage Success™. If an offer comes in, our system sends you a copy of the contract by email, we follow that up with a call, and then we discuss your counter strategy. Then, I interview the buyer's agent about their offer, their buyer, even where they think their buyer might go with an offer. I gather all this information before I speak with you so you have the necessary information to make sound decision on how best to counter back. ADDvantage Success™ is a lot more than that, it is a full-service listing. It is not a limited service listing. In the MLS, Realtors can see the difference between a flat fee listing and one that is not…ADDvantage Success™ is exactly the same as all full-service listings. It is an Exclusive Right of Sale listing. As well, with Success you get the Realtor.com ‘showcase’ upgrade, Street Smart ADDvantage® Realtor® E-Blast, if you offer a 4% buyer's agent commission and a longer listing period of 12 months v. 9 with MLS ADDvantage® and you can cancel any of our flat fee plans by simply going to your account and printing the form and faxing it back to us. This is the only form that is necessary to sign and fax back. All other listing changes are done electronically by going to your control panel and clicking the appropriate need. So ADDvantage Success™ in a nut-shell is full-service. We take all calls, schedule all showings…it is quite a value…And, if one of our agents happens to sell your home, we waive the $0 closing fee because we have earned your offered buyers agent commission of 3%, 2% or 4% depending on what you have selected as the commission rate you are willing to pay. And, you can sell the home yourself and pay no commission. All our plans have this feature.

Q: You have been in the business a long time, since 1999 at least…Do think Realtors, buyer's agents, take advantage of self-represented sellers?

That's the question of the hour every day. I would prefer all my clients allow me to represent them and us the ADDvantage Success™ plan. And the reason is Realtors know way more than most sellers…most Realtors do…And most sellers are not as apt at contracts as the Realtor and it happens all the time where the Realtor representing the buyer will check the box that seller will pay for the survey, which they do not customarily do, or they will request closing costs from the seller and earn a commission on the extra contract add-on…There are all types of stories out there…The seller that represents themselves will often act to quickly because there is no intermediate pause because the seller is dealing directly with the Realtor and is excited about selling…They are often too quick to ink the deal…In contrast, when I represent the seller, I have the opportunity to interview the buyer's agent and get valuable feedback that we can use to counter them. Because I have been a broker for 27 years, I do command respect from the other Realtors…I might even have an advantage over them. The bottom line is money. If you choose to upgrade to ADDvantage Success™, will the additional cost be returned to you be my professional skills as a negotiator? I believe without any doubt, yes! I would say I would get you $3,000 more than if you represent yourself. As well, I make sure that the buyer is qualified.

Just because a Realtor represents a ‘pre-qualification’ letter doesn't mean that buyer is going to close the deal. I call the lender and verify the letter. If I have doubts about that letter, I will request the buyer's agent produce what is called a buyer-ready letter that ensures the buyer has passed through underwriting and the load is only contingent of appraisal and inspections. If you engage a buyer that is not qualified, they can tie your property up for 30-45 days which is valuable time lost. ADDvantage Success™ is professional…we take all calls and the Realtor never engages you…It keeps them (the Realtors) from engaging you which I believe is the best way to sell flat fee MLS.

Q: So if I do upgrade to Success, can I still sell my home myself without paying a commission?

Absolutely…with any of our flat fee plans, the seller can sell ‘buy-owner’ and pay no commission. Seller can hold open houses and market themselves as well.

Q: Because you are physically located in the Tampa Bay area, does this inhibit your effectiveness when representing sellers in different cities?

No…I review all documents by email or fax….I review the HUD settlement before closing for accuracy. Because sellers are paid cash at closing, once I approve the HUD and the sellers net is established, the closing only occurs at that price. So there are no surprises. Even the inspection report comes with pictures. I have deep knowledge about construction so I am apt at dealing with inspection related issues.

Because I represent sellers in every city in Florida, I know what local customs are with regard to title policy. For example, in Naples, sellers do not pay for the ‘owners policy’ while in many other parts of Florida they do! Back to the inspection report…I earn my keep here because building inspectors do nit-pick homes because that is what they are paid to do. I battle the report but won't blow a deal over being too hard on the buyer's demands. And, I have built many homes in my past and have extensive knowledge about roofs, windows, slabs, cracks, leaks and other issues that often appear on an inspection report. I can carry on a conversation with an architect, building department, building inspector and the trades people. So phone, fax, emails…Agents representing buyers never even ask me where I am…They are concerned about one thing…closing the deal.

Q: Does ADDvantage have a good reputation in Florida?

We possibly have the best reputation in Florida of any Real Estate company, full-service or flat fee. It is because of how we have handled the people that have called ADDvantage. We are endlessly honest, we are transparent as a company, Realtors respect us, we don't back down because we are a discount real estate company and we are not shy about the deals we give sellers…as a result, we have an excellent reputation.

Q: I am going to go to a touchy subject that every ones going through right now, short sales. Do you do short sales for people and if so, do you do them all over Florida or do you just do them locally in Tampa?

It is an unfortunate situation. They way I look at it, we have 5 to 7 years of heavy short sale activity because any one that has refinanced their home between 2002 to 2007 or bought a home between 2003-2006 is or maybe underwater with the market value as compared with what they owe.

So they only way they are going to get out of their situation and move is to do a short sale or possibly go through a foreclosure. So I do short sales all over Florida from Jacksonville, Tampa Bay, Miami…I have become a short sale expert and we now specialize in short sales at ADDvantage.

Q: For those who don't know what a short sale is, can you explain what a short sale is?

A short sale is a situation where the home owner has a market value less then what's owed. Say for example, the home is worth $125,000 but you owe $200,000. In order to sell, you would have two choices. One, sell and bring $75,000 ‘the short fall’ to closing and fund your own ‘short sale’ or do what many home are doing in Florida and that's to ‘short sale’ the home where the lender agrees to write down or write off the $75,000 as a loss and close the home. When the seller chooses the short sale route, they will take a 4 year credit hit that will likely prevent that seller from buying another home for at least 4 years but far better than a foreclosure that will affect your credit for 7 to 10 years.

Q: Will the lender come after the seller for the short fall?

The way the banks have been and currently continue to do so is to ‘write off the short fall’ and not pursue a deficiency judgment against the seller. Unlike a foreclosure which results in a judgment, a short sale does not result in a judgment. The way the lenders view short sales is the seller is helping liquidate a bad asset on their books, speeds up the process and it less expensive than foreclosing the property. But, the downside is the lender may ask or request that you give them a note for a fraction of what's owed.

Q: Do all lenders request a note in exchange for the short sale?

Yes and no. Lenders do not care whether you have a job, are under-employed or make a million a year…The trend lately has been for them to attempt to recapture part of their loss through a note. They may ask for $500 to $10,000 or possibly more. You would always battle them when the request a note and claim the same thing as you did when you initiated the short sale in the first place which was ‘hardship’. Part of your response would be my assets are diminished, my retirement account in shirking, my income is uncertain and lower than at any point in the past 5 years, kids in college, credit card debt etc…You would make them an offer of say $1000 @ 3% for 20 years and work it from there.

Q: How do you establish a price to list a short sale in the MLS?

A short sale is initially listed at a price that is ‘not going to draw calls’ because a short sale must be listed for a minimum of 3 months before the lender will consider a short sale because you must show effect to sell the property at a price that will not result in a short sale. Once we have the property listed for 2 months, I would perform what's called a BPO (Brokers Price Opinion). This is a mini-appraisal with the goal of setting a price that will result in a fast sale…say 30 days…and draw possibly multiple offers.

Once we have found the most suitable buyer, at our BPO price, we would present that offer to the lender along with the short sale package. At that point, they do their own independent BPO, in most cases two of them, to determine whether our offer is in line with their estimate of value (BPO). If so, we have hurdled step one of the short sale process.

Q: So how long does this short sale process take?

The fastest one that I have done took about 70 days because we had a good buyer and a proactive seller. Having a pro-active seller helps because this adds pressure to the lender to react. In contrast, I have a short sale that has taken over 6 months because we have lost 3 buyers due the lenders slowness. Two buyers found jobs in different states and now we are on our 4^th buyer and hopefully we close this one shortly.

The seller in this case has been excellent. You need the right factors working for you in a short sale.

Q: Do sellers pay any of the costs such as closing fees and commissions when doing a short sale?

No. The seller either shows up at closing or the closing package is mailed to them…The lender pays all costs including brokerage fees, traditional seller closing fees such as documentary stamps on deed and owners title policy.

Q: Where can sellers list their properties with you if they want to do a short sale?

The can go to shortsale.getmoreoffers.com and list there 100% on-line and 100% electronic. It's free as well. Questions, call me at 727-942-2929 or email me at keith@getmoreoffers.com.

Once listed on our site, we'll put your property in the appropriate Florida MLS and we get the process going…We'll price it where you'll breakeven after closing costs. This way, you won't be bothered by showings until we adjust the price to attract the offer that we will eventually want to present to the lender.

Q: What information does a seller need to do a short sale?

Each lender varies on what they will require. A sample of what a short sale package looks like can be found on shortsale.getmoreoffers.com. Typically, they will want a hardship letter describing your unique situation and why holding this property has and will continue to create undo ‘hardship’ on you and your family. As well, 5 recent pay stubs, a financial statement, last year's tax return, and other related information.

Q: I am going to go to a touchy subject that every ones going through right now, short sales. Do you do short sales for people and if so, do you do them all over Florida or do you just do them locally in Tampa?

It is an unfortunate situation. They way I look at it, we have 5 to 7 years of heavy short sale activity because any one that has refinanced their home between 2002 to 2007 or bought a home between 2003-2006 is or maybe underwater with the market value as compared with what they owe.

So they only way they are going to get out of their situation and move is to do a short sale or possibly go through a foreclosure. So I do short sales all over Florida from Jacksonville, Tampa Bay, Miami…I have become a short sale expert and we now specialize in short sales at ADDvantage.

Q: For those who don't know what a short sale is, can you explain what a short sale is?

A short sale is a situation where the home owner has a market value less then what's owed. Say for example, the home is worth $125,000 but you owe $200,000. In order to sell, you would have two choices. One, sell and bring $75,000 ‘the short fall’ to closing and fund your own ‘short sale’ or do what many home are doing in Florida and that's to ‘short sale’ the home where the lender agrees to write down or write off the $75,000 as a loss and close the home. When the seller chooses the short sale route, they will take a 4 year credit hit that will likely prevent that seller from buying another home for at least 4 years but far better than a foreclosure that will affect your credit for 7 to 10 years.

Q: Will the lender come after the seller for the short fall?

The way the banks have been and currently continue to do so is to ‘write off the short fall’ and not pursue a deficiency judgment against the seller. Unlike a foreclosure which results in a judgment, a short sale does not result in a judgment. The way the lenders view short sales is the seller is helping liquidate a bad asset on their books, speeds up the process and it less expensive than foreclosing the property. But, the downside is the lender may ask or request that you give them a note for a fraction of what's owed.

Q: Do all lenders request a note in exchange for the short sale?

Yes and no. Lenders do not care whether you have a job, are under-employed or make a million a year…The trend lately has been for them to attempt to recapture part of their loss through a note. They may ask for $500 to $10,000 or possibly more. You would always battle them when the request a note and claim the same thing as you did when you initiated the short sale in the first place which was ‘hardship’. Part of your response would be my assets are diminished, my retirement account in shirking, my income is uncertain and lower than at any point in the past 5 years, kids in college, credit card debt etc…You would make them an offer of say $1000 @ 3% for 20 years and work it from there.

Q: How do you establish a price to list a short sale in the MLS?

A short sale is initially listed at a price that is ‘not going to draw calls’ because a short sale must be listed for a minimum of 3 months before the lender will consider a short sale because you must show effect to sell the property at a price that will not result in a short sale. Once we have the property listed for 2 months, I would perform what's called a BPO (Brokers Price Opinion). This is a mini-appraisal with the goal of setting a price that will result in a fast sale…say 30 days…and draw possibly multiple offers.

Once we have found the most suitable buyer, at our BPO price, we would present that offer to the lender along with the short sale package. At that point, they do their own independent BPO, in most cases two of them, to determine whether our offer is in line with their estimate of value (BPO). If so, we have hurdled step one of the short sale process.

Q: So how long does this short sale process take?

The fastest one that I have done took about 70 days because we had a good buyer and a proactive seller. Having a pro-active seller helps because this adds pressure to the lender to react. In contrast, I have a short sale that has taken over 6 months because we have lost 3 buyers due the lenders slowness. Two buyers found jobs in different states and now we are on our 4^th buyer and hopefully we close this one shortly.

The seller in this case has been excellent. You need the right factors working for you in a short sale.

Q: Do sellers pay any of the costs such as closing fees and commissions when doing a short sale?

No. The seller either shows up at closing or the closing package is mailed to them…The lender pays all costs including brokerage fees, traditional seller closing fees such as documentary stamps on deed and owners title policy.

Q: Where can sellers list their properties with you if they want to do a short sale?

The can go to shortsale.getmoreoffers.com and list there 100% on-line and 100% electronic. It's free as well. Questions, call me at 727-942-2929 or email me at keith@getmoreoffers.com.

Once listed on our site, we'll put your property in the appropriate Florida MLS and we get the process going…We'll price it where you'll breakeven after closing costs. This way, you won't be bothered by showings until we adjust the price to attract the offer that we will eventually want to present to the lender.

Q: What information does a seller need to do a short sale?

Each lender varies on what they will require. A sample of what a short sale package looks like can be found on shortsale.getmoreoffers.com. Typically, they will want a hardship letter describing your unique situation and why holding this property has and will continue to create undo ‘hardship’ on you and your family. As well, 5 recent pay stubs, a financial statement, last year's tax return, and other related information.

Q: ADDvantage offers a traditional flat fee plan for $349 and a hybrid flat fee plan called ADDvantage Success™ for $699 upfront and $0 at close. Me being new at this, how would I know which plan is best for me?

That is the question of the hour. Most being when they see our site say ‘oh boy’ because there are so many options and most people don't fully understand flat fee MLS listings because it is complicated. It is rather simple though because there are only 2 big choices. Either you do the $349 flat fee MLS plan where you are ‘self-represented’, you'll be getting calls from Realtors because they will see your contact information in the MLS under ‘Realtor remarks’ and you'll be negotiating directly with a Realtor…so that is a traditional flat fee listing which I our most popular program…More people sign up for that than our hybrid flat fee plan ADDvantage Success™ because ADDvantage Success™ is more expensive. But, should they be sign up for the MLS ADDvantage® $349 v ADDvantage Success™? Well, you can‘t tell people what to do…The point behind flat fee being out there now is because about 14 or 15 years ago the Department of Justice sued on behalf of the people to open the MLS to the public. So we are one of new companies that has embraced this and make it possible for sellers in list by themselves in the MLS and represent themselves. The other program, ADDvantage Success™ is $699 upfront and $0 at close, assuming you close your house. The difference is I represent you with ADDvantage Success™. If an offer comes in, our system sends you a copy of the contract by email, we follow that up with a call, and then we discuss your counter strategy. Then, I interview the buyer's agent about their offer, their buyer, even where they think their buyer might go with an offer. I gather all this information before I speak with you so you have the necessary information to make sound decision on how best to counter back. ADDvantage Success™ is a lot more than that, it is a full-service listing. It is not a limited service listing. In the MLS, Realtors can see the difference between a flat fee listing and one that is not…ADDvantage Success™ is exactly the same as all full-service listings. It is an Exclusive Right of Sale listing. As well, with Success you get the Realtor.com ‘showcase’ upgrade, Street Smart ADDvantage® Realtor® E-Blast, if you offer a 4% buyer's agent commission and a longer listing period of 12 months v. 9 with MLS ADDvantage® and you can cancel any of our flat fee plans by simply going to your account and printing the form and faxing it back to us. This is the only form that is necessary to sign and fax back. All other listing changes are done electronically by going to your control panel and clicking the appropriate need. So ADDvantage Success™ in a nut-shell is full-service. We take all calls, schedule all showings…it is quite a value…And, if one of our agents happens to sell your home, we waive the $0 closing fee because we have earned your offered buyers agent commission of 3%, 2% or 4% depending on what you have selected as the commission rate you are willing to pay. And, you can sell the home yourself and pay no commission. All our plans have this feature.

Q: You have been in the business a long time, since 1999 at least…Do think Realtors, buyer's agents, take advantage of self-represented sellers?

That's the question of the hour every day. I would prefer all my clients allow me to represent them and us the ADDvantage Success™ plan. And the reason is Realtors know way more than most sellers…most Realtors do…And most sellers are not as apt at contracts as the Realtor and it happens all the time where the Realtor representing the buyer will check the box that seller will pay for the survey, which they do not customarily do, or they will request closing costs from the seller and earn a commission on the extra contract add-on…There are all types of stories out there…The seller that represents themselves will often act to quickly because there is no intermediate pause because the seller is dealing directly with the Realtor and is excited about selling…They are often too quick to ink the deal…In contrast, when I represent the seller, I have the opportunity to interview the buyer's agent and get valuable feedback that we can use to counter them. Because I have been a broker for 27 years, I do command respect from the other Realtors…I might even have an advantage over them. The bottom line is money. If you choose to upgrade to ADDvantage Success™, will the additional cost be returned to you be my professional skills as a negotiator? I believe without any doubt, yes! I would say I would get you $3,000 more than if you represent yourself. As well, I make sure that the buyer is qualified.

Just because a Realtor represents a ‘pre-qualification’ letter doesn't mean that buyer is going to close the deal. I call the lender and verify the letter. If I have doubts about that letter, I will request the buyer's agent produce what is called a buyer-ready letter that ensures the buyer has passed through underwriting and the load is only contingent of appraisal and inspections. If you engage a buyer that is not qualified, they can tie your property up for 30-45 days which is valuable time lost. ADDvantage Success™ is professional…we take all calls and the Realtor never engages you…It keeps them (the Realtors) from engaging you which I believe is the best way to sell flat fee MLS.

Q: So if I do upgrade to Success, can I still sell my home myself without paying a commission?

Absolutely…with any of our flat fee plans, the seller can sell ‘buy-owner’ and pay no commission. Seller can hold open houses and market themselves as well.

Q: Because you are physically located in the Tampa Bay area, does this inhibit your effectiveness when representing sellers in different cities?

No…I review all documents by email or fax….I review the HUD settlement before closing for accuracy. Because sellers are paid cash at closing, once I approve the HUD and the sellers net is established, the closing only occurs at that price. So there are no surprises. Even the inspection report comes with pictures. I have deep knowledge about construction so I am apt at dealing with inspection related issues.

Because I represent sellers in every city in Florida, I know what local customs are with regard to title policy. For example, in Naples, sellers do not pay for the ‘owners policy’ while in many other parts of Florida they do! Back to the inspection report…I earn my keep here because building inspectors do nit-pick homes because that is what they are paid to do. I battle the report but won't blow a deal over being too hard on the buyer's demands. And, I have built many homes in my past and have extensive knowledge about roofs, windows, slabs, cracks, leaks and other issues that often appear on an inspection report. I can carry on a conversation with an architect, building department, building inspector and the trades people. So phone, fax, emails…Agents representing buyers never even ask me where I am…They are concerned about one thing…closing the deal.

Q: Does ADDvantage have a good reputation in Florida?

We possibly have the best reputation in Florida of any Real Estate company, full-service or flat fee. It is because of how we have handled the people that have called ADDvantage. We are endlessly honest, we are transparent as a company, Realtors respect us, we don't back down because we are a discount real estate company and we are not shy about the deals we give sellers…as a result, we have an excellent reputation.