Keith Gordon

Flat Fee MLS video's about listing by ower MLS with ADDvantage®

Learn more about why listing in the MLS by-owner with ADDvantage® is growing in popularity with Floridians by the day. Between the buyers market, short sales and REO/ bank owed properties, home owners are trapped and need every possible break in fees to be competitive when selling.

Listing flat fee in the MLS with ADDvantage® saves at least 50% in commissions. This market is price driven.
ADDvantage® is the top choice in Florida to list flat fee in the MLS because we offer the best service (8:00am-8:00pm 7 days a week) and each seller has their own seller control panel to change price, commissions, increase marketing using Street Smart ADDvantage® Realtor Eblast…all seamless, 100% on-line and all electronic.

Realtors often use ADDvantage® when needing MLS coverage outside their primary MLS area, as do home owners, investors, builders and REO. We are Internet professionals and are members of the following Florida MLS Realtor Associations:

Contact us:

727-942-2929

1-877-232-9695

website: wwww.getmoreoffers.com

Are your considering a short sale for your Florida home? Short sales are free at ADDvantage Real Estate Services.

The way “fees” work with us doing a short sale is we list the property as a “full-service ‘short sale’ 6% listing” which calls for the lender pays our fee or commission. Under no circumstances will you (the seller) pay a commission. As well, the lender may not pay us 6% but rather they will negotiate our fee to 5%. We split the 5% between the buyer’s agent and us as the listing agent.

There are many things to consider when doing a short sale in Florida.

Your credit will take a hit for at least four years but better than a foreclosure.

The lender may request that you pay a percentage of the short sale deficit be means of a “note.” These days they seem to ask everyone, poor and not so poor, for a note. The more assets you have the more they will likely want a note. Of course, your retort is to the lender is “hardship.” If you must give a note to the lender, make it as small as possible.

If the home is a primary residence, the IRS will forgive the shortfall deficiency and allow you to 100% expunge the loss as the lender will 1099 you for the loss. Seems weird but the IRS looks at the short sale “short-fall” as money barrowed and not paid back. Therefore it is viewed as “earned income” and taxable.

If the residence is not primary, the IRS expects to get their share of the 1099 gain/loss.

Many so called “short sale” specialists use techniques that I do not believe are in the best interest of the seller. I do not take “any” offer to “get the ball rolling” at the lender. I want an offer that has the following:

1) I want a buyer that will be patient. Ideally, a cash buyer, but that is unlikely. I would prefer my buyer to be investor, but again unlikely. If the buyer is an end user, then I would hope they have 120 days to hang in there. Short sales take anywhere from 65 to 130 days depending on the lender, how many lenders are involved and the loss mitiagator assigned to the file.
2) I need a “buyer’s agent” that understands short sales because if they don’t, their buyer doesn’t either and that will hurt the deal.
3) I want an offer that matches what the lender will accept. I don’t want the lender to counter our offer. I want them to accept it! Seems easy enough and often it is. The listing broker should do what’s called a BPO (Broker’s Price Opinion) which is an estimate of value that, if listed at that price, would bring multiple offers in a short period of time.
4) I want a cooperative seller. The seller must be proactive with the short sale process. It is extremely important for the seller to be available and helpful. At times, the lender will request additional information and addendums.

Getting a short sale “sold” is rather easy for us as we are largest and best flat fee MLS listing broker in Florida. We have excellent customer service, very good Internet marketing and we are members of 28 Florida Realtor Associations.

Don’t be concerned that my office is in Holiday, Florida because I represent sellers throughout Florida as all my work is done by email and phone.

Call me any time and I would be glad to answer any questions that you may have. 727 942-2929.

Or, go to shortsale.getmoreoffers.com to list your home free and 100% online!

Are you thinking of a short sale on your Florida home?

You can get started today by listing your property in the MLS on my short sale Florida website called shortsale.getmoreoffers.com.

There you will able to list your Florida short sale home 100% online. I will call you and discuss how to price your home or feel free to call me at 1-877-232-9695 or 727-942-2929. It costs you nothing to list and the lender pays all brokerage commissions, not the seller.

The next step is to set a listing price which I call the BPO. Once we have done this, we start marketing your property to find a suitable buyer and Realtor. We are seeking a knowledgeable patient buyer and a Realtor (buyer’s agent) that is willing to hold their buyer in the deal for as long as 120 days.

Setting a random sales price without extensive listing price analysis is not advised. The industry uses the term BPO which stands for Broker’s Price Opinion. It is a price that a broker/agent believes will result in a sale within a short period of time. The goal when setting a short sale list price is to determine what the lender will take. If you bring an offer to them that is too low, then the lender will either reject the offer or counter it. As the listing broker of a short sale, I do not want a counter or a rejection. I want the offer high enough to go through the first time. While there are no guarantees that an accurate BPO analysis will result in an acceptable offer, it is the most important aspect of getting a short sale accomplished in the least amount of time.

A definition of a Short Sale is the sale of real property where the market price of the property is less than all mortgages and liens held against that property. To facilitate a sale in Florida the lender and the seller engage in a “short sale” where the lender takes control over which “offer” they will be accept and they dictate the terms of the sale.

The IRS treats short sale deficiencies differently depending on whether the short sale is a homestead/primary residence or an investment property. You should speak with a lawyer, CPA or tax specialist before deciding that a short sale is your best alternative as opposed to other remedies such as a loan modification.

Credit scores will suffer but less than a foreclosure. Right now, mortgage underwriting practices are believed to be such that if you short sale a home in Florida, you may not be able to get another “competitive” mortgage for up to four years. These underwriting rules may relax over the next two years as the credit markets regain footing and world markets forget the fear that currently restricts the flow of credit.

To initiate a short sale, first call your mortgage holder and request a short sale package. Ask if they have any MLS “listing” incubation time requirements. Then get your property listed in the MLS (if it isn’t already listed). Some lenders in Florida may require a 3 month MLS incubation period to prove that no sale might occur at a price that doesn’t result in a short sale.


Once you get an offer, it is contingent on your lender approval. The lender dictates commissions paid to agents and terms of the contract.

The lender and buyer of the property pay all fees necessary to close the deal, not the seller.

The lender may request the seller to kick in money at closing or possibly sign a note for a portion of the loan deficiency. This depends largely on the credit of the seller, total assets, liabilities and liquid cash.

Short sale “listing agreements” have language to protect the seller. ”The seller’s obligation to perform on this contract is subject to the approval of the lien holders on the property. The seller may cancel this listing agreement prior to the ending date of the listing period without advance notice to the broker and without payment of a commission or any other consideration, if the seller tenders Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure.”

Call any time and I would be glad to speak with you at 1-877-232-9695 or 727-942-2929. Or visit my Florida short sale website at shortsale.getmoreoffers.com.

Or, if your looking to sell without using a short sale but need to save commissions, consider our flat fee MLS Florida listing services at getmoreoffers.com. We are members of 27 Florida MLS Realtor Associations from Miami, To Jacksonville, Pan Handle, Tallahassee, Gainesville, Tampa, Orlando, Ocala, Space Coast, Palm Beach, Naples, Sarasota, Bradenton, New Port Richey, Marco Island, Amelia Island, Key West, Marathon, Ft. Lauderdale, Weston, Ft. Myers and more.

Real Estate is selling well in Florida but it's the $150,000 and less homes that taking the lions share of sales. In particular, bank owned and short sales.

Florida home sellers are not competing with these properties as Realtors® control 86% of buyers and they are not chasing short sales.

ADDvantage® is selling 26% of its flat fee MLS listings in 117 days the past 6 months.

If you plan on listing your home in the MLS this spring, consider ADDvantage® when it is time to sell. We offer a "true" and "straight-forward" flat fee MLS listing service based in Tampa Bay.

We are recognized in Florida as the best value in flat fee MLS because we offer more service than everyone.

In particular, our phone support surpasses every real estate brokerage firm in Florida, discount or full-service.

Phone support is critical to convert calls into showing. We are known for our 8:00am-8:00pm 7 days live phone support.

This means you save money with ADDvantage® because we charge just a flat fee to list (no hidden anything) and we never miss a call. Full-service Realtors®, while very important to our industry, do not offer the level of service that comes standard with an ADDvantage® flat fee MLS listing.

Read what our Florida clients have to say about us...From Miami to Jacksonville and from Naples to Orlando, we are ready to help market your home in the MLS and hundreds more real estate sites.

Visit our site at getmoreoffers.com. We cover every Florida MLS and we offer 4 innovative and effective flat rate MLS plans.

1-877-232-9695

We cover the following Florida MLS Boards:

Amelia Island and Nassau County MLS/ Nassau County

Bay County MLS (Panama City MLS)

Citrus MLS / Dixie, Gilchrist, Levy Counties

Daytona Beach MLS / East Volusia County

Emerald Coast MLS(ECAR) / Okaloosa, Walton Counties

Englewood MLS / Sarasota County

Flagler MLS / Flagler County

Ft. Myers MLS/ Lee County

Ft. Lauderdale/Broward County

Gainesville MLS / Alachua County

Greater Tampa Bay (GTAR)/ Hillsborough County

Hernando / Hernando County

Manatee MLS / Manatee County

Marathon and Lower Keys-Florida Keys MLS / Monroe County

Martin MLS / Martin County, St. Lucie County

Melbourne-Brevard MLS / Brevard County

Mid-Florida Regional MLS/ Lake, Seminole, Orange, Osceola, West Volusia, Polk, (Hillsborough)

North-East Florida MLS /Duval, Clay, Putnam, St. Johns County

Ocala-Marion MLS / Marion County

PARMLS-Pensacola MLS / Escambia County

Pasco-Pinellas MLS (Pasco & Pinellas Counties)

Punta Gorda Port Charlotte North Port MLS / Charlotte County

Regional MLS/ Palm Beach County

Sarasota MLS /Sarasota County

SE FL Regional MLS / Miami-Dade & Broward County

St. Augustine & St. Johns MLS / St. Augustine & St. Johns County

Sunshine MLS of Naples / Collier County

Tallahassee MLS/ Leon County

Venice MLS / Sarasota County

These days it seems most buy owners are considering using a flat fee MLS listing to save ½ the commission, but are there are other benefits as well.

Tampa based flat fee MLS service ADDvantage®, which I am the broker, reported its six month sales results on January 30, 2009 which revealed that 26% of its by owner MLS listed sellers in Florida sold with ADDvantage® after being listed an average of 117 days.

The other interesting fact was that 23% of the "solds" in Florida were done so by the seller going directly to a buyer and paying zero commission.

The other 77% of the "solds" occured through a Realtor® and the seller paid the buyer's agent commission averaging 2.85%.

Since 2002, the discount MLS listing industry, or flat fee MLS as it is also called, has grown 600% from a 2% market share to a 14% market share.

In the right hands, a by owner MLS seller can benefit greatly using flat rate MLS v. full service.

The 3 biggest benefits to a Florida by owner are:

•1) Better Internet marketing, as a flat fee company often has existing RSS feeds going to most real estate websites such as MSN, Yahoo, google, AOL, Trulia, Vast, Homes.com and of course, Realtor.com. A full-service Realtor typically has no time, nor the expertise to keep up with the technology to expand their Internet reach.

•2) Flat fee MLS means the seller can still sell by owner and pay no commission or sell through an agent and pay just the buyer's agent a commission.

•3) With proper phone support and if you list through an ethical discount MLS broker, all buyer leads belong to the seller. This equates to possible huge savings and a faster sell time. ADDvantage® offers 8:00am-8:00pm 7 day a week "live" phone support for flat fee MLS sellers in Tampa, Miami, Jacksonville and other Florida cities . Because of this extraordinary phone support that we offer as standard service, we schedule more showings for our flat fee MLS listed sellers during the week and over the weekends.

While 26% "sold" might seem like a low success rate for flat fee MLS in Florida, I believe this number is higher than most, if not all real estate companies in Florida...Full-service and discount. There is no company that converts as many calls into showings as ADDvantage® and our Internet reach, Street Smart ADDvantage eblast and effective branding gives by owners in Florida better odds of selling if they list through ADDvantage®.

Call us anytime 1-877-232-9695 or visit our flat fee MLS listing plans.