Frequently Asked Questions

The MLS (known as the Multiple Listing Service) is the central database for all Florida properties listed for sale by real estate brokers and agents. Just about every property listed by a real estate broker and agent ends up in this database. It does not matter which brokerage lists the property, that property will end up in this one centralized MLS Database.

This database is called the Mid-Florida Regional MLS (MFRMLS). Fortunately, this is the largest MLS listing system in the state of Florida, which includes all Orange, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Manatee, and Sarasota Counties. Your property will be exposed to thousands of agents throughout all these geographical areas!

Florida cities within MFRMLS Database include Orlando, Tampa, St. Pete, Clearwater, Palm Harbor, Holiday, Trinity, New Port Richey, Bradenton, St. Pete Beach, Maderia Beach, Redington Beach, Sarasota, Holmes Beach and Venice. When you list your home in the MLS, we (the listing brokerage) will offer a commission to all REALTORS® working with buyers right now. The typical commission most Buyers Agents expect is 3% of the sales price. (Called a co-broke commission).

Yes, We offer two programs which are designed to save Sellers a lot of money at closing, without sacrificing any real estate listing agent services! We deliver the same services as the 6% Realtors, but we charge much less.

Both plans save you money, so it really depends which plan better matches your needs.

1) The Prime Plan : 1.5% Listing Agent Commission
2) The Choice Plan : 1% Listing Agent Commission

PRIME PLAN:
The prime plan is most similar plan compared to a “6% Traditional Listing” most sellers are accustomed to. We deliver full-service from the start of the listing through closing. We charge a 1.5% Listing Agent commission, along with the typical 3% buyers agent commission paid to the agent who brings a buyer, so the total cost to the seller at closing is 4.5%. That is a large savings compared to a 6% commission most other real estate agents charge. The 6% agents usually keep 3% of the commission for the Listing Agent commission, and offer 3% to the Buyers agent that brings a buyer. We only charge 1.5% Listing Agent Commission, and offer the same 3% buyers agent paid to the agent who brings a buyer. Sellers will typically save THOUSANDS at closing compared to paying 6%! There are no other fees unless you opt for optional marketing services (See our Services page for more info), and there is no requirement to make another purchase as a buyer after your home sells. It’s the same great full-service you expect from 6% Real Estate agents from start to finish, but you only pay 4.5% total commission at closing.

* With PRIME plan, our minimum Listing Agent side of the commission due is $4,500

CHOICE PLAN:
The CHOICE PLAN delivers the highest level of savings to Sellers, and is a great plan for Sellers who also plan to buy again locally. In return for the deeply discounted listing commission rate of 1% Listing Agent commission, Sellers agree to buy their next property with us acting as their Buyer’s agent too! By doing so, we have the ability to make up the discounted commission when we represent you on your next purchase as your Buyer’s Agent, at no cost to you!

As your Seller Listing Agent, we still deliver full service sellers expect when hiring a traditional real estate agent, however the Total Commission due at closing is only 4% of the sales price, not 6% like other brokerages charge. When we take a listing, 3% is still offered to any agent that brings the buyer. We only charge 1% Listing Agent side commission at closing however, so the total commission due from a seller at closing is (1% + 3% = 4%). The discounted Listing Agent commission of 1% will guarantee to save sellers 33.3% commission at closing compared to a 6% listing other brokerages charge.

Here is the BEST part of all, if you find a buyer on your own through your own personal networking, etc. we won’t charge a Buyer’s Agent commission fee (typically 3% of the sales price) and you still only pay us the 1% sales price listing commission, thus saving 83.3% of the commission you would normally pay to a “traditional 6%” real estate agent. Depending on the selling price of your home, that easily can save you tens of thousands of dollars. NO other traditional listing brokerage allows you those type of savings. WE do!

In order to deliver severely deep discounts to Sellers with The Choice Plan:
1) Sellers agree to work with us as their Buyer’s Agent for the next property purchase, which is to take place within 60 days of the home sale. There is no cost to you to work with us as your Buyer’s Agent, but this allows us to make up the commission with your next purchase (paid by the Brokerage or the builder for the next property you buy). It’s a win-win!
2) There are special marketing upgrades you may like to choose, but these are optional. See our Services page for more info.

* With CHOICE plan, our minimum Listing Agent side of the commission due is $3,000

Our mission is to save our clients as much money as we can without sacrificing any level of service, and in return they tell their friends about their savings and we grow! However, we DO need to turn a profit, and we found a great way to do that without it costing our client any money of their own.

As part of our List For Less listing agreement, in return for us offering a the most heavily discounted commission at closing (The Choice Plan – 1% listing agent commission), we do require a “Buyers Brokerage agreement” with you on your next property purchase. This simply means you agree to buy your next residence through us as your “Buyer’s Agent”. Basically, we will represent you as our buyer client, and will work to get you the best terms on your next purchase just as a Buyer’s Agent should do. There is never a cost to you for our Buyer’s Agent services. As your “buyers agent”, our commission will be paid by the listing brokerage for the new property you choose to purchase. This is a real smart way for you to save money when you sell, and for us to recoup the commission we discounted to you on your listing sale. It’s a win-win for both of us! We discount your listing commission, and we make it up on the next sale (from the Seller’s brokerage) when we represent you as a Buyer!

Don’t Want To Buy another property after you sell but still want commission savings? Check out the Prime Plan!

With the Prime Plan, there is no requirement to buy another property with us as your Buyers agent.

You have nothing to lose and THOUSANDS …or even TENS OF THOUSANDS to save! …Pretty clever, huh?

NO! You are not representing yourself. We represent you 100%, just like any full-service Realtor® would do.

It depends which plan you choose at the time of listing. For the “1.5% Prime Plan Listing”, it is not required to use us as a Buyers agent on your next sale. However, for the most deeply discounted “1% Choice Plan Listing”, as part of our List For Less listing agreement we do require a “Buyers Brokerage agreement” with you on your next property purchase.

This simply means that you agree to buy your next residence through us as your “Buyer’s Agent”. We will represent you as our buyer client, and will work to get you the best terms on your next purchase just as a Buyer’s Agent should do. There is never a cost to you for our Buyer’s Agent services. As your “buyers agent”, our commission will be paid by the listing brokerage for the new property you choose to purchase. This is a real smart way for you to save money when you sell, and for us to recoup the commission we discounted to you on your listing sale. We discount your listing commission, and we make it up on the next sale (from the Seller’s brokerage) when we represent you as a Buyer!

Yes, you can choose the 1.5% Listing Agent (“Prime Plan”) which does not require another purchase with us. As an additional service, we will also help you arrange for a “Buyers Agent” in your destination city if you like. We can do the research for you to find an agent in your destination city that we feel is top caliber.

Yes! Our Prime Plan will save you 33.3% in commission expenses compared to a traditional 6% Real Estate agent, and there is no requirement to buy another home with us.

Yes. In order for any Realtor® to be allowed to enter your listing in the MLS, a seller must sign a listing contract which outlines a basic listing agreement and commission terms. Our listings are typically 6 months.

For the Sellers choosing our CHOICE PLAN, at the time of listing we will also complete the Buyer’s Brokerage Agreement for your next home purchase. The Buyer’s Brokerage Agreement basically just states you will allow us to represent you as your Buyer’s Agent on your next home or property purchase (at no cost to you). Keep in mind though that our Buyer Brokerage Agreement only applies if we successfully sell your home. If we don’t, our Buyers Brokerage Agreement does not apply. You have no risk, and are guaranteed to save $1000’s in sales commission fees at closing when we sell your home.

PRIME PLAN sellers are not required to sign a Buyer’s Broker Agreement.

We only offer Full-Service listings. A Full-Service (or “traditional”) listing refers to a listing where the real estate brokerage takes the listing and does all work upfront, and handles everything from the time of listing to closing, and receives a commission at closing

In contrast, a “Flat-Rate” listing usually refers to discount brokerages that take a fee upfront only, and do the initial paperwork to get your listing in the MLS, and typically do not provide all the services from the listing to closing. Often times, the Seller is on their own after the listing is placed in the MLS, or the Seller is charged a fee for every single additional service performed. This is more of a “For Sale By Owner” approach.

We belive in delivering all the services a Seller expects from a typical 6% Realtor, but we do it for much less!

Typically, within 1-3 days.

No, your listing will be a typical listing, except we pride ourselves on great photography, so we believe our listings really shine compared to a large percentage of Realtors® taking listing photos with their Iphones! …Yuck!

Our listing period is 6 months.

We really do not recommend that. The longer a home sits on the market, the higher the probability that you will either not receive an offer, or an offer will be a low-ball offer due to the amount of time that the property has been sitting on the market. Buyers will assume that if the property has sat on the market for a long time, something must be wrong with it, or the seller must be anxious. Either way, it is usually reflected in the offer price. You are better off taking the home off the market, and resubmitting it.

It depends on the listing plan the Seller chooses.

Prime Plan – There is no upfront fee, and we collect a 1.5% Listing Agent Side commission at closing. (Plus whatever commission you offer the buyers agent that brings the buyer)

Choice Plan – There is a no upfront fee. Unless you opt for any a 1% listing commission to us, plus whatever Buyer’s Agent commission you decided to offer in the MLS at the time of listing to the Realtor® that brings your buyer!

If you opted for the “1% Choice Listing Agent Plan” at the time of the listing, you will only owe 1% of the sales price as a listing commission, and ZERO Buyer’s Agent commission! That means you will have saved 83.3% of the typical commission charged by a 6% real estate brokerage. Calculate that out on our commission savings calculator to see how much you would save!

If you opted for the “1.5% Prime Listing Agent Plan” at the time of listing, we will handle all the processing work for both the Buyer and Seller, but since you are not purchasing another home from us as your Buyers Agent, we are unable to pass along additional commission discounts on top of the 1.5% listing agent side discount already applied.

“Co-broke” means the portion of the total commission charged to a seller that will be offered to a Buyer’s Agent for bringing the buyer that ultimately buys the home and successfully closes on it. Per MLS rules, in order to place a home in the MLS, a seller MUST offer a co-broke commission to a Buyer’s Agent that brings the buyer that buys the home. (With our commission plans, the savings sellers enjoy are on the LISTING agent portion of the total commission due).

You do! Keep in mind though that the average Buyer’s Agent commission is 3% of the sales price. In order to attract more Realtors® to show your property, we strongly recommend to offer a customary 3% commission to any Buyer’s Agent.

You determine the amount of commission you are willing to pay a Buyer’s Agent for bringing the buyer prior to the property being listed. At the time of closing, this amount will be deducted from your sales proceeds and paid to the Buyer’s Agent brokerage.

Our MLS actually covers a large portion of the state (Mid Florida Region MLS), so although we are located in Sarasota Fl., we can enter a listing for any address within the Central Florida region. If your property is within the Mid Florida Region MLS, we may be able to handle it. We have had listings as far away as Orlando already. Call us and we can discuss your situation!

Yes, We will list a rental for $500, however, with rentals, our fee will only cover the actual listing. We do not market rentals with open houses, etc. Additionally, Owners will need to prepare the lease with an attorney. Our rental listing services only include getting the listing in the MLS.

Yes, however you will be required to pay $500 for the rental listing. These are two different listing types and require twice the paperwork and processing.

Yes. The MLS consists of all brokerages listings, and this is the central database all Buyer’s Agents use to find property matches for their buyer’s needs. It does not matter which company lists the property. What matters most to Buyer’s Agents is that you are offering a competitive Buyer’s Agent commission.

We help you with all the paperwork, and we will enter the MLS listing!

No. They are completely different. Realtor.com is a public website primarily visited by buyers browsing properties for sale. Agents primarily use the MLS database to email properties to their clients directly. The MLS is the official database agents use to find properties. By entering a listing in the MLS, it will automatically be entered into Realtor.com, along with MANY other websites such as Zillow, Trulia, all the national brokerage websites and more!

Absolutely! Your listings will appear all over the internet on thousands of websites. That is the beauty of an MLS listing. Thousands of real estate websites pull the data and display on their own websites. Trulia, Zillow, and many others will display your property!

In many cases, it is within minutes to an hour of the listing being entered into the MLS, however we can not speak for every website out there. They update based on their own programming

Yes, anytime!

We do require a 6 month listing agreement in most cases. There is a lot of upfront work to be done, with little to no payment until your property closes. We may cancel a listing early if marketing expenses are reimbursed by the Seller.

You will receive a text or email showing appointment request notification whenever there is an agent showing request for yourproperty. You can approve the showing appointments by email by clicking the “Approve” button, or you can request a different time! It’s super easy!

We will receive your offers directly, and will contact you to guide the sale all the way to closing. We are with you every step of the way.

We usually take 25-50 professional quality photos if possible.

No way! We will arrange agent provided photography at the time of the listing. You may opt for professional photography and drone aerial photography for an additional charge.

Yes, we offer photo tours, or even a video tour. A video tour is an optional marketing upgrade we can discuss at the time of your listing.

Yes, we will study your neighborhood and local market thoroughly, and will provide you a Comparative Market Analysis for your neighborhood to assist you in pricing your home for sale.

The listing will automatically expire. Listings can be extended for no charge if it is requested at least 48 hours prior to the expiration date of the original listing.

Bright Realty is the Broker of Record. The brokerage is located in Sarasota, FL. We are a small team operating within the larger brokerage of Bright Realty. No other agents in Bright Realty are affiliated with SarasotaListForLess.com.