| If it goes on the MLS, by that move alone, you are stating that you will pay at minimum, the agent of the individual that purchases your home.
The MLS is owned by the Realtor Association of the region that you plan to list your home via the MLS, and the owner of the flat-fee service must be a licensed Realtor in order to get your listing onto the MLS.
What the flat-fee Realtor is doing, is waving the LISTING portion of the commision and accepting the flat-fee instead. That doesn't mean that you are automatically out of paying for any commission.
Now, if a buyer comes to you directly without an agent, then you play the flat fee and nothing more. This is very possible because there are many individuals shopping for homes without a Realtor via the internet, which is where the listing also will appear.
If a buyer is working with a Realtor, they will typically have a buyer-agency agreement in place, and very few buyers will pay that agent's commission out of pocket, just to buy someone's home. There is simply too many on the market.
If you don't want to pay ANY commission, I would suggest listing it through a local newspaper, because if you list in the MLS, chances are you buyer will come to you with a Realtor in tow.
PS: Most flat-fee Realtors have in their contract, that you will agree to pay a buyer-agent commission if your listing hits the MLS, or they won't take the listing at all.  |