Flat Fee MLS Listing Videos

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 1-877-232-9695 or email me.

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.

Hi everybody, Gary St Armand, just wanted to tell you about my experience with GetMoreOffers.com and Keith Gordon and the guys over there in that office. Originally the thought I had was to basically sell the property myself, list it on the MLS and handle things myself, but I quickly realized it wasn't going to work out as I had thought you know, it was probably better to have a professional handle my short sale. I tried to work with someone else; it didn't work out. Before I knew it the costs were getting pretty high, so I listed it with Keith and the guys.

From the moment I started working with these guys I noticed there was a completely different way of doing business, they were very professional, they had a system in place. Everybody worked their function to perfection, very cool people; very nice people; very hard working. There was not a time that I wanted to get in touch with Keith that I couldn't get in touch with Keith.

I had a very difficult short sale and the bank was very hard to work with. I had a number of offers and the bank was not playing ball. I had two banks to work with. When one was willing to play ball the other one wasn't willing to play ball. Keith and the guys there never despaired. When I despaired, I got just sick and tired of the whole thing. Those guys never gave up.

If you have a short sale to do or if you have Real Estate business to do in the area, my house was in Wesley Chapel, I would definitely not hesitate with working with these guys. They are really nice people, but not only are they nice, they are very professional. Like I said, they have a system in place and it works to perfection. They will never, ever give up or surrender. So, those are the kinds of people you want working for you and with you. And that's why I overwhelmingly and whole-heartedly recommend these guys. Don't hesitate. My name is Gary St. Armand, if you want, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me. My email address is gary_st_armand@yahoo.com. Good luck with your short sale. These guys won't let you down.

Q: ADDvantage offers a traditional flat fee plan for $249 and a hybrid flat fee plan called Professional ADDvantage™ for $499 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 $249 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 Professional ADDvantage™ because Professional ADDvantage™ is more expensive. But, should they be sign up for the MLS ADDvantage® $249 v Professional ADDvantage™? 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, Professional ADDvantage™ is $499 upfront and $0 at close, assuming you close your house. The difference is I represent you with Professional ADDvantage™. 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. Professional ADDvantage™ 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…Professional ADDvantage™ 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 Professional ADDvantage™ 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 Professional ADDvantage™ 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 Professional ADDvantage™, 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. Professional ADDvantage™ 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.