FAQ’s

Our Flat Rate Full Service plans allow you to receive the same services you would normally receive from any other agent for a fraction of the cost.

Your normal agent would charge you 6% of the homes purchase price to sell your home. The agent then can take that 6% and market your home anyway they would like. With that being said, agents know that the best place to market and advertise your home is on the MLS (agent listing database). But in order to put your home on the MLS the agent needs to offer a commission split to other agents so if they bring a buyer they can get paid as well. The typical commission split offered on the MLS is half of the 6% that the listing agent is getting. This means that the listing agent gets 3% and the buyer agent will get 3%. If the listing agent finds a buyer on their own though, that isn’t working with an agent, the listing agent will still take that full 6%.

This is not how Flat Rate Homes works. Instead of a 6% commission as explained above, you simply choose a flat rate plan that best fits your needs and then you set the buyer side commission to whatever you want us to offer on the MLS. You are truly in total control. Because of this our average client only pays 2.5% to sell their home rather than the typical 6% that most agents charge.

In short, with Flat Rate Homes you’re not only getting the same services that any other full time real estate agent would provide, you’re also getting better tools, service, and support all while saving thousands in the process.

Our typical client has one goal in mind. “Sell my home and save as much money as possible”. If this is you, then yes our services are perfect for you.

With our services, you get the maximum advertising exposure to both Realtors and independent buyers but don’t have to pay us a heavy commission in the process. Our clients include the “every day” homeowner, real estate investors, builders, banks and basically anyone who wants to have the power and resources of a full-service agent all while still maintaining the flexibility, control, and savings that come from if they were to sell it themselves.

In short, our clients sell their properties faster, easier, and save thousands in broker fees and commissions during the process.

Unlike “do it yourself” “List on the mls for flat fee” or other “flat fee” type companies such as Homie, Flat Rate Homes doesn’t require any upfront fees.  With Flat Rate Homes you also get an actual full-service agent that will handle everything and be there for you throughout the entire process day night and even on the weekends.

With “flat fee, post to the MLS only type listings” or “do it yourself” type companies, it’s a much different story. In fact, most of these companies are not even licensed brokerages. Most of these companies are lead generation companies that sell and/or refer your information to local agents who’s only goal is to upsell you into a regular listing contract. Because of this they are flawed in many ways and will most likely cost you more in the end so be aware and read everything before you use them.

First of all, there are many “for sale by owner” and/or “do it yourself” (DIY) type companies out there like forsalebyowner.com , zillow etc. The problem with most, if not all of these type of companies claim they can put your home on the mls for a flat fee but since most are not licensed brokerages they sell and/or refer your information to an agent who can. The problem with this is, the agent who gets your information only wants to upsell you into a full service listing contract, and if you don’t, you can pretty much kiss any help from that agent goodbye. To further explain, with most, if not all referral and/or lead generation companies, agents can register with and/or pay these companies to get your “MLS listing” in hopes they can upsell you into a “full service” contract. One of the biggest problems with this is, when you say no and don’t want to upgrade they in-turn treat you like garbage and don’t provide anymore service and/or support to you at all. Furthermore, because they don’t care what happens to you or your home, from that point on they also don’t provide any service & support to buyer agent’s either. This means that if a buyer’s agent has an interested client and they submit an offer, the buyer’s agent usually does the work for both the buyer and the seller. I know that this doesn’t seem all that bad but there are many things that you need to be aware of. When this happens, it forces the buyer’s agent into a fiduciary and/or legal situation that could easily end up in a lawsuit, legal battle, the loss of their license and possibly even prison. Because of this, more and more buyer agents are avoiding these types of listings like the plague. This in turn could and will cost you valuable time and even more money in the end. Especially if you get sued with the agent.

Secondly, most, if not all “MLS only listing” companies require a 3% min (of the purchase price) be offered to the buyer’s agent. With us, we give YOU total control over the percentage that is offered. Meaning, you can set it as low (.01%) or as high as you want. In short, this could save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars. For example, if you sold your $350,000 dollar home and were required to pay a 3% commission, you’re going to pay $10,500. But if you only paid a 2.5% commission (which is what most of our sellers end up paying) you would only pay $8,750. THAT’S A SAVINGS OF $1,750

In short, because we are a true FULL SERVICE real estate brokerage, that has, and continues to build a solid reputation for service and support to both client’s and buyer agent’s, we have not only set ourselves totally apart from these flat fee “MLS listing” type companies, we have also, and will continue to, set a new standard of excellence for all real estate brokerages in general.

The MLS (Multiple Listing Service) is a central online database of all the properties offered for sale by real estate agencies. The MLS database is exclusive to licensed real estate agents and is used to list detailed information regarding properties being sold. Over 85% of homes for sale are listed with an agent and are on the MLS. Because of this, Buyers Agents know that the MLS is the place to search for their buyer. They are constantly searching and using the MLS to help find the perfect home for their buyer.

In short, the MLS is by far the best and most effective marketing tool when selling a home and is where the vast majority of home sales start from.

You, like most people, probably already realize that the fastest and most effective way to sell your home is by listing it with a Real Estate agent. But Why?

Well, simply put, it’s because the agent can list your home on the MLS.

As a “For Sale by Owner”, your home’s exposure to potential buyers can be somewhat limited. For most, it’s putting a yard sign up, relying on word of mouth, and hoping that potential buyers drive by. But with the MLS, you literally have thousands of local Real estate agents searching the MLS on a daily basis to find homes for their already contracted buyers. Furthermore, buyer’s agents are motivated to use the MLS more than any other search medium because of the contractual commissions that are already set for them within the MLS. Because of this, the MLS is truly the most effective way to sell your home.

The problem is, that for most, if not all “for sale by owners”, they don’t want to, and/or can’t pay a huge 6% commission. Well, rather than paying 100’s of dollars for newspaper ads, flyers, classified type websites etc., save your time and money and list with us. There are no upfront fees. You save thousands. You can retain total control. You can cancel anytime. You get the needed exposure of the MLS. You get even more exposure with our vast marketing networks, links, and postings to 100’s of other websites. And, best of all, you get a full-service agent that will handle everything for you throughout the entire process. It really is risk free. 

It is by far the most effective way to sell your home! Over 85% of homes sold had an agent and were listed on the MLS. The MLS is the most effective marketing tool due to the large network of Realtors that use the MLS to find potential homes for their buyers. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports that homes listed on the MLS and by Realtors also result in a higher net price to sellers compared to “For Sale by Owner” home sale transactions.

With the many advancements in technology, real estate agents now have the tools to do in one hour, what would have taken days to do 20 to 30 years ago. The problem is, although it now takes the average agent far less time and effort to sell a home than even 10 years ago, the cost, fees and/or commissions for real estate agent services have remained the same if not gone up. Well we at Flat Rate Homes, think that’s wrong and therefore have taken a new approach.

Through harnessing the power of today’s technology, we have created advanced web tools and systems that allow us to even more effectively and efficiently provide services to our clients. Because of this, we are not only able to provide better service, support, and pricing to our clients, we’re also able to provide service options that are above and beyond those offered from traditional real estate firms and at a lot lower prices.

Your property will not only be listed on the MLS but will also be listed on 100’s of prominent real estate and social media websites such as Realtor.com, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Trulia, Zillow, Homes.com, homefinder.com, realtytrac, craigslist, and many more, thus providing both state and national exposure for your home.

Most importantly, above and beyond the 100’s of websites your home is published to, Through syndication feed we are networked with or through one of our other marketing channel, independent websites may also independently post your listing to their own website. Thus your listing can potentially be posted to thousands of other newspaper, magazine, and many other classified type websites as well. And since hundreds of people move to other states daily, this exposure can be a vital component in selling your home quickly and for the best price.

With that being said, please keep in mind that even though the MLS, we, and the 3^rd party syndication providers try to make these independent sites adhere to strict policies, we have no control over these independent websites and cannot change or edit their content.

No.

The fees outlined in the plan you’ve selected, and what you’ve selected as a buyer’s side commission are the only fees you will pay us. If there are any exceptions to this, they are noted in our Exclusive Agency Agreement.

If you choose to include any upgrades to a Flat Rate Plan such as photo services, custom signage etc, those upgrade fees will need to paid at the specified times defined within each plan (up-front / At Closing). With all upgrades, these services are optional and are not included in the listing price.

Yes.

The MLS requires us to put in a contract term and so when you sign up for our services your contract term is automatically set to 12 months and will automatically be renewed until the time your home is either sold or until you cancel. But, please know that although the term is automatically set for 12 months you can cancel at anytime and are not locked into the full 12 months. Please refer to our “Terms of Use” and/or the “Exclusive Agency Agreement” for full cancellation details.

If your home has been active on the MLS for 90 days  and has not gone under contract, or has not received an offer we will waive the $1950 closing fee associated with our standard listing plan when the home is sold. (Home must be located within Davis County, Salt Lake County, or Utah County) More details and a full description of our 3 Month Guarantee can be found on our “Terms of Use” and/or the “Exclusive Agency Agreement” for the selected plan.

In short, when creating a listing you can choose how showings and inquiries are handled. When we receive inquiries and/or offers from agents, we will help answer any questions and take care of everything on your behalf. If a buyer or agent contacts us to setup a showing we will refer to the showing instructions you have setup within your account.

We are always here to help and want to make sure you have the best experience possible when using our service. You will also be assigned a local professional agent who is backed by a team that will have your back and help in every aspect throughout the entire process. You may also call (801) 441-7283 and/or email support@flatratehomes.com with any questions you may have in regards to your listing as well.

Yes. With our friendly user dashboard, you can maintain, update, pause, publish, and control every aspect of your listing and what shows on the MLS and all the other websites from one online account. Our user dashboard helps you in every aspect of the sale by providing you a central place to compile all of your properties pictures, information, marketing materials, and paperwork so you can more easily stay updated and remain in total control of the sale of your home from start to finish.

Please allow 24hrs from the time your listing is “published” and/or every time items are updated to be posted on the MLS.

YES, WE ARE YOUR AGENT and therefore will provide full service support, handle all the legal paperwork, interpreting and/or determining the merits of a purchase offer, conducting negotiations, completing the required disclosures, inspections and paperwork, compiling comparisons for appraisers, setting up title and escrow services, and everything needed to make the sale of your home go smoothly from beginning to end even showings.

Have a special circumstance and/or Feel like you need even more help? Give one of our Full Service Agents a call today to see how they can help (801) 441-7283

Once you have compiled all of your homes information, pictures etc., and have inputted this information into the online listing you can “publish” the listing to our website and the MLS, simply by clicking the “Publish” button. Once “published” please allow at least 24 hours for it to be up and active on the MLS.

Once you listing has been published, approved, and posted to the MLS, you will receive an email which will inform you that your listing is now live and it will also provide links in which you can view your live listing

You shouldn’t confuse Realtor.com with the MLS. They are two separate systems. Although a very popular online real estate website Realtor.com is operated by MOVE, Inc. and primarily get it’s from the hundreds of local MLS’s. Realtor.com subscribes to these MLS’s as a partner/vendor, download’s property information found on these MLS’s and then reposts the information on their website.

Realtor.com is not a “For Sale by Owner” website and since the information comes directly from the MLS system seller’s contact information is still not available or permitted to be posted. It is acceptable to list the seller as the property contact on the local Realtor MLS because, it is ONLY accessible to Realtors.

Also the MLS has an advantage over websites like Realtor.com because every single broker and agent participating in the MLS is incentivized with a contracted commission to sell your home, effectively putting every agent in the area to work for you. In short, the vast majority, if not all buyer’s agents will always search the MLS before checking alternate sources, so there’s simply no better way to gain instant and widespread exposure for your home.

We provide a FREE yet professional metal brokerage sign and frame with every Listing.

The MLS strictly prohibits the use of “for sale by owner” signs and/or signs that are not issued by the listing brokerage on any listed property. If you want to use a FOR SALE sign on your property, MLS rules require that you use one of our Flat Rate Homes yard signs.

If you’re wanting to upgrade your sign, buy an additional sign and/or are part of an HOA and are required to have a specific type of sign within your yard, we are always willing to help meet your specific needs.

Yes, you can list a commercial property on the MLS but due to the complex nature of this type of listing we have a Commercial Division that handles these listings. For more information regarding our Flat Rate Commercial Services please call us at 801-441-7283

The simple answer is NO. With that being said, if you want this to happen your assigned agent can work with you to try and work something out. Your information can be listing on the internal side of the MLS and can be displayed specifically for other agents to contact you directly to schedule showings. However on the “public” side and/or on other public websites that pull information from the MLS, the MLS strictly prohibits it and only allows the brokers and/or the listing agent’s information to be displayed. Some of these public websites in which information is pulled from the MLS include but are not limited to: Realtor.com, Zillow.com, Trulia, etc.

Since this is a requirement of the MLS there is nothing neither you, nor we can do regarding this, and these rules are strictly enforced. We apologize, but there is no exceptions to this rule.

Yes, our system allows you to manage and maintain multiple listing on a single account, but a Flat Rate Listing plan is required for each listing. These additional Listing plans can be purchased when publishing them to the MLS.

Yes of course! We are a Licensed Full Service Real Estate Brokerage currently serving all of Utah.

We currently serve all of Utah