FAQs

1. Is it really important to list my house on MLS?
Close to 90% of homes sold in Canada are listed on the MLS, so YES!

2. Will my Listing Agent end up selling my house?
There is less than a 5% chance that the agent you list with will enter into a Dual Agency arrangement and find the buyer for your house.

3. What percent of Buyers use Realtors?
85% of all Home Buyers use a Realtor; and all Realtors use the MLS database to search properties to find the best match for a Home Buyer’s criteria.

4. Will I sell my home for more money using a real estate professional than using a FSBO alternative?
While there is no guarantee, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) for which I am a member, provides statistics suggesting that homes listed on the MLS average a net 7% higher than other alternatives.

5. Can’t I list my home on the MLS without a Realtor?
The MLS is a corporation owned and controlled by Realtors. To add listings or to use the MLS to find homes you must be a licensed Broker/Agent and a member of the local association of Realtors. MLS Members cooperate by showing the homes listed by other members, and as a result they receive a commission for bringing the Buyer to the Seller.

6. Will my listing be as appealing as other traditional, higher priced commission listings?
For your listing to be attractive to a Buyer’s Agent it is strongly recommended that the Buyer’s Agent commission be 3% on the 1st $100,000 and 1.5% on the balance.

7. What’s the real difference between a Flat Fee MLS listing and a Traditional Full Service MLS listing?
Flat Fee listings generally offer “a-la-carte” styles of service that shifts some of the responsibility for selling the property from the listing agent to the property owner. The Share Team is the first Flat Fee Realtor in the Okanagan to also offer a full service option (Program 3) for a set Flat Fee. All of our programs are designed to reduce the cost of selling real estate for the seller. Flat Fee listings are generally paid up front (Program 1 & 2) whereas Full Service listings (Program 3) are paid at closing.

8. Will a Flat Fee listing give me a competitive advantage?
Yes, if you take advantage of some of the savings and price your home more aggressively than the competition, it is possible that you will attract more buyers, similar to what some of our recent clients have done.

9. What is the benefit of syndication onto other home selling sites?
Roughly 90% of Home Buyers begin their home search on the internet. We have a variety of different personal websites (some on the 1st page of Google for important local searches) that you’re listing will appear on, and we also syndicate your listing onto sites like Zillow, Househunter, Craigslist, Yahoo, Trulia, House Hippo, Home Gain, Homefinder, Ebay, etc.

10. How do we determine our Listing Price?
We will provide you with an extensive market analysis (CMA) for your home, taking into account comparative homes that have recently sold and others that are currently listed. We will use this data to arrive at a price that is agreeable for both you and us at which to list your home.

11. Do you do Open Houses & print media marketing?
Realtors often use costly print advertising and Open Houses as a marketing tool. Open Houses are a proven means of acquiring a Buyer for a different property. However with the explosion of the Internet, most Home Buyers attach themselves to a Realtor long before ever physically viewing any home. In the past The Share Team has spent 1000′s of dollars on print advertising via billboards, Home & Land magazine, newspapers, telephone books, and as a result of that experience we now direct the majority of our marketing effort where 90% of Home Buyers start their search: The Internet.

12. If I find my own buyer, do I still pay a selling commission?
This is why Flat Fees are so fantastic for Sellers! If you do the work and find the Buyer while enrolled in Program 1 or 2, you don’t pay any Selling Commission to a Buyers Agent, like the recommended 3% on the 1st $100,000 and 1.5% on the balance. Depending on your selling price this can range from several thousand to many thousands of dollars. Under a Flat Fee arrangement there is nothing to lose and a whole lot to gain.

13. How experienced is The Share Team?
We have been involved in 100’s of real estate transactions so we’re certainly a very experienced team of Realtors.
For several years The Share Team operated a successful satellite office for the Century 21 franchise in North Glenmore, Kelowna. Several of our team members are not only just Canadian qualified Realtors but also USA, and we’re members of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).
We have worked extensively in the real estate business in Whistler, Palm Springs, Kelowna, Lake Country, Vernon and Phoenix, winning many awards along the way, including the 2009 Service Excellence Award from The Lake Country Chamber of Commerce.

14. Is it possible to upgrade from my original Program choice?
Certainly- you can upgrade to a higher service Program option at any time and any of our available upgraded programs will still save you money over the older traditional style realtor commission structures.

15. Which of the three programs is right for me?
Program 1 provides you with the service of listing your property on the MLS, promoting your listing on multiple Share Team sites, syndicating your listing onto an array of popular home sites, forwarding you with a copy of the Title of Property and providing you with a Free Market Evaluation all for One Low Flat Fee of $695.
Program 2 provides you with more services for a similar One Low Flat Fee of $995.
Program 3 is simply a Full Service option that encompasses all the normal full service responsibilities that traditional expensive Realtors provide, but at a fraction of the cost for One Flat Fee of $4,995 (paid upon closing of the sale)

16. How do I begin the process?
Simply contact us via phone or email and we’ll schedule a time to come by and view your property, discuss pricing, take pictures and measurements, place a sign and do some documentation. By operating an efficient business model, we’re able to pass along the opportunity to save you a lot of money. When we come out to your home for that initial visit to get you listed on the MLS, all we ask is that you make a choice at that time as to whether or not you want to sign up with us.
Give us a chance to save you some money – you’ll be thankful you did!