How to Sell Your Home In A Down Market

Get a higher sales price and a faster sale.

Most home sellers and buyers aren’t aware that the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) has a secret data field which contains important information that is only visible to real estate agents. This hidden data field is where the commission rate and special comments about a property are published.

“Soooo what”, you say? This unknown field is precisely where professional home builders discreetly advertise huge incentives to agents whose clients buy their homes. For example, a Las Vegas builder, American West, recently offered local real estate agents a $15,000 bonus to sell homes in its Glen Eagles development, provided they come in with a full-price offer within 30 days. Home buyers would not be able to see this incentive in the MLS but would be highly encouraged by their buyer agent to purchase a home from this particular builder. A competing nearby builder, without an incentive, might not get a mention by your real estate agent.

Home sellers can use this same technique to sell their home and it requires using the secret MLS data field. We encourage you to talk with your agent to see what type of incentive works best in your location. Here are some incentives to consider:

1. Offer a cash bonus (e.g. $2,000) to the agent who brings a buyer with a full price offer on or before a specific date. Lower the incentive for negotiated offers and those that take longer.
2. Agree to pay a 6.5% - 7% commission with 3.5% - 4% going to the buyer broker and 3% going to the listing broker.
3. Don’t want to pay a higher commission? We don’t blame you. Ask your listing broker to change the commission split from 50/50 to 60/40 in the favor of the buyer broker. Add a twist and make the higher payout contingent on a full price offer and date requirement. If the time or price is not met, then your listing broker receives their full 3% split. Your listing agent may not object to this approach as it may speed up the time required to sell.
4. Alternatively, you could offer the home buyer an incentive like giving them a plasma TV at closing. But this could backfire on you and potentially result in a lower negotiated contract price. Note: this incentive would be published in a data field viewable by the public.
   

The downside of paying an incentive is obvious - it will cost you more money. But a full price offer in a down market is hard to come by, and full price with an incentive may be better than the alternative.