In order to get your property listed on MLS, you need to “hire” a state-licensed real estate broker who is a member of the state’s Multiple Listing Service. Each state has one or more.
Traditionally, you needed to hire an agent on a full-service basis. With our service, you work with an actual Realtor® for a one-time flat fee to get your property listed on MLS. Here at instaMLS / Hillman Real Estate, we run a designated Realtor® office. We don’t just list your property and forget about you. We help you along the way but you will respond to inquiries (we will send you them) and do the showings. We even tell you how to go about showing your property. While it may seem easy to open your door, there’s more to it if you want the prospective buyers to feel comfortable.
An Entry Only Listing is a type of limited service real estate listing. Most commonly referred to as a flat fee MLS listing.
The initial listing term is 12 months unless otherwise noted. We know what you are thinking? Why 12 months when you believe it will sell in much less time? The short answer is that 12 months is more beneficial for you and it makes the listing contract a lot easier for all parties involved (us and you). Renewals are a pain and “running time” goes a lot quicker than you would think. Since we allow sellers to cancel anytime without penalty, it’s a lot better to have the luxury of not looking at the calendar. You may believe that your property will go under agreement right away, but this is real estate and you never know what can happen after a written offer is made. In theory, you could have your property under agreement on the first-day it hits the market, but the overall process has a lot of steps and all these steps accumulate calendar days really fast. To put things into perspective. Think about this… You get an offer, the inspection (7-8 days post offer) goes without a hitch, but you later find out your buyer isn’t able to get financing (30-45 days later) and the deal you had initially thought was simple and straightforward goes south for whatever reason. When this happens you have to find another buyer and the days-weeks-months start to add up and pass quickly. If a deal crumbles it’s back the square one. Everything starts over. Ouch.
While it’s true that this service is not for everyone, it does work for most who price their home within the market value range. Our service will not work if the property is overpriced. No service will. We only recommend this service to those who don’t mind responding to inquiries, scheduling showings and being present for showings. If you’re the type of person who has the time to interact with people and wants to save thousands of dollars then this service is for you.
This is a fairly common question; one that is misconceived. In order for your property to show as zero (0) days on market, the address needs to be off of MLS for 60 days. However, since MLS retains all listing data for previously listed properties, the total days on market will show under the ‘property history’ feature. With this being said, waiting 60 days to reset the DOM meter makes little sense. Any reasonably intelligent and ethical buyer’s agent will do a historical search on MLS on behalf of their buyer client. If your property is relisted on MLS before the 60-day mark, it will still show up on MLS as ‘new’ for a few days. This is what counts when marketing real estate to consumers doing home searches. If the buyer is serious, more often than not, before making an offer, they will look into the history of the property.
*The number of Days on Market is subject to change.
If a buyer comes to your property, without the representation of an Agent or Realtor, you will not be obligated to pay a commission on the sale. Just be sure to ask each buyer if they are working with an agent. We will provide you with sign-in sheets so you can keep track of who is represented and who is not. We will not be asking for a commission.
The rules governing the use of for-sale signs are fairly straightforward. You may not plant a sign that says For Sale By Owner, FSBO or By Owner. Technically once a home is activated on MLS your home is no longer classified as a For Sale By Owner. Your listing is marketed under our real estate brokerage name – Hillman RE. Furthermore, if a consumer viewed your home via MLS or partner site, then drove by your property to check out the exterior and neighborhood, a For Sale By Owner sign would most likely confuse them. Likewise, if an agent scheduled a showing and saw a For Sale By Owner sign when pulling up to your property it could throw them off. Since perception is extremely important when marketing real estate we have customizable signage for sale. All signs are high quality double sided corrugated plastic. Just add your phone number and plant it curbside. Each sign comes with a galvanized steel ‘H’ lawn stake, and a jumbo blue marker.
Absolutely not. We have a great reputation. If an agent has a buyer who is interested they will schedule a showing without delay. Most agents don’t even know your listing is a limited-service type of listing. Our flat fee listing service is great for buyer’s agents as we are adding inventory to the local marketplace that might not be available otherwise. Without our flat fee listings, the marketplace would surely have fewer properties for sale. We also educate our sellers so they know what they are doing. This makes the job of an agent easier.
Regardless of how many For Sale By Owner (FSBO) sites your home is listed on it will never reach the number of buyers that a local Multiple Listing Service will. Regardless of what all the “popular” For Sale By Owner sites say on their testimonial pages – it will never happen. It doesn’t matter which popular FSBO site you pick you’re wasting your money. Did you know that over 80% of the homes listed in the United States sell via the Multiple Listing Service? That’s a lot of real estate. When selling real estate exposure is everything. See our partner sites. The great thing about our flat fee MLS service is that we are only looking for a flat fee – nothing more. Some real estate agencies will lure you in by advertising discount listing services, but they are often looking for more than a flat fee. Sometimes they will say that they will put your home on the Multiple Listing Service for a flat upfront fee, but the fine print says that if and when a buyer is found you will pay a small commission at closing.
Traditionally, sellers have had two options to explore when selling their property: Seller’s could market on FSBO sites, limiting exposure and usually resulting in a longer time on the market, or sellers could list their property with a local real estate agency; paying upwards of 5-6% of the purchase price in commissions. Going against tradition, instaMLS.com gives those who are looking to sell a third option, making the other two options obsolete. With our MA & NH Flat Fee MLS listing service sellers now have the opportunity to market their home without having to pay outrageous listing fees. Our mission is to provide sellers with the necessary marketing and support that is essential to getting the property sold. Our service saves seller’s money and puts them in control. With our discount flat-fee MLS customer service is everything. We understand that the highest level of support is needed at all times 7 days a week.
As a seller, you should be aware that Flat Fee MLS services vary. Some in price and others in quality-of-service. Of course, everyone is looking for a good deal, which is why we offer such a low price. We understand that getting a great flat fee price matters, but we also understand that a low price is worthless without exceptional service. We are not your run-of-the-mill flat fee agency. We’re a referral-based flat fee MLS listing service. This means we do everything in our power to provide our sellers’ with the best possible selling experience so they will refer friends, family, and co-workers. Without our loyal referrers, we have nothing. We have gained a loyal following and industry recognition because we educate our flat fee sellers so they know how to get a deal done. We don’t just list and forget about our sellers. We constantly provide selling tips and advice at no extra charge.
Inquiries about your property are handled with speed because we understand the importance of a quick follow-up. If an agent is interested in showing your property they will see your contact information under the ‘special showing instructions’ field. Only agents can see this field. If a prospective buyer calls us we will provide your information to them. If they leave us a voicemail, we will forward you a copy of the voicemail in .mp3 format so you can listen and respond. If someone emails about your property, we will forward you the message immediately. We recommend our sellers check their email often since inquiries are sent out shortly after we receive them.
We do listing changes/edits/revisions 7 days a week. Once a listing is activated, we make changes as they come into our client center. We are quick to make listing revisions as needed. Usually within minutes from the time you press submit. Our internal systems are efficient.
The short answer is that we do same-day or scheduled activations.
When filling out our online listing agreement, you will have two activation options to pick from. You can have your MLS listing activated immediately or you can schedule the listing to be activated on a future date. If you want your property listed immediately, we do same-day activations 7 days a week at no extra charge. However, if you fill out our listing agreement after 4:30 pm, our system will not let you pick same-day activation. Your listing will be activated the next day. We do this for your benefit. If we activate the listing at the end of the day (after 4:30 pm, your listing will not get a full first day on the market. Your listing only says NEW for approximately 4 days so it’s best to not waste the first day. We have been doing this so long that we know what works best. We’ve got your back.
The initial listing term is 12 months unless otherwise noted. We know what you are thinking? Why 12 months when you believe it will sell in much less time? The short answer is that 12 months is more beneficial for you, the seller, and it makes the listing contract a lot easier for all parties involved (us and you). Renewals are a pain and “running time” goes a lot quicker than you would think. Since we allow sellers to cancel anytime without penalty, it’s a lot better to have the luxury of not looking at the calendar. You may believe that your property will go under agreement right away, but this is real estate and you never know what can happen after a written offer is made. In theory, you could have your property under agreement on the first day it hits the market, but the overall process has a lot of steps and all these steps accumulate calendar days really fast. To put things into perspective. Think about this… You get an offer, the inspection (7-8 days post-offer) goes without a hitch, but you later find out your buyer isn’t able to get financing (30-45 days later) and the deal you had initially thought was simple and straightforward goes south for whatever reason. When this happens you have to find another buyer and the days-weeks-months start to add up and pass quickly. If a deal crumbles it’s back the square one. Everything starts over. Ouch.
This is a fairly common question; one that is misconceived. In order for your property to show as zero (0) days on market, the address needs to be off of MLS for 60 days. However, since MLS retains all listing data for previously listed properties, the total days on market will show under the ‘property history’ feature. With this being said, waiting 60 days to reset the DOM meter makes little sense. Any reasonably intelligent and ethical buyer’s agent will do a historical search on MLS on behalf of their buyer client. If your property is relisted on MLS before the 60-day mark, it will still show up on MLS as ‘new’ for a few days. This is what counts when marketing real estate to consumers doing home searches. If the buyer is serious, more often than not, before making an offer, they will look into the history of the property.
If a buyer comes to your property, without the representation of a Agent or Realtor, you will not be obligated to pay a commission on the sale. Just be sure to ask each buyer if they are working with an agent. We will provide you with sign-in sheets so you can keep track of who is represented and who is not. We will not be asking for a commission.
There are many reasons why listing through a flat fee listing service makes sense, especially when using a reliable and trustworthy brokerage like Hillman Real Estate. Although listing for a flat fee on MLS is not for everyone, it can easily outweigh the traditional methods if you are looking to save money. When marketing real estate having a well-known brokerage brand marketing your property is critical. When selling you should go with a service that can guarantee amazing service, extreme exposure, and fanatical customer service. But all this doesn’t matter unless the service doesn’t make it dead simple for prospective buyers to submit offers. We are the only real estate company in Massachusetts that offers a proprietary Offer Wizard tool that makes creating and submitting legally binding offers easy. When someone views your home, you provide them with a link to our Offer Wizard. Our Offer generator displays 15 questions. Once answered the Offer Wizard creates a fully compliant Massachusetts Offer to Purchase with contingencies and TRID addendum. It takes 15 minutes and helps buyer’s who are not working with an agent.
Photos are extremely important when marketing real estate. When taking your photos they should be in landscape mode. Portrait mode photos don’t look good. For the sake of consistency, all photos should be shot using the same mode. Please note, per the rules and regulations of MLS, for sale signs, contact information and watermarking is not allowed on photos. We do not allow the use of photorealistic imagery (virtual staging or renovation editing). However, we do allow architectural plans and interior designs (CAD). You must also own the rights to your photos. If you have previously listed your property with another Agent, they technically own the rights to the photos. With this being said, you should not search online for your old listing photos and reuse them without permission from the Agent unless you photographed them.
Massachusetts (MLSPIN)
Photo Allowance: up to 42 photos per listing. Photo allowance is subject to change but we will inform you of any changes made by MLS prior to activation.
Photo File Size: 512 x 400. Although MLSPIN provides optimal size, it is best to just send us the photos without resizing them. MLS will automatically resize the photos.
New Hampshire (NEREN)
Photo Allowance: up to 40 photos per listing. Photo allowance is subject to change but we will inform you of any changes made by MLS prior to activation.
Photo File Size: maximum resolution is 1280 x 960. If a photo is under the 125K limit but has a resolution of image size larger than 1280 x 960, compression will occur. If a photo is over 125K in file size, the image will be compressed to 125K. Note: this could result in a reduction in quality. For users who upload photos larger than the 125K limit, it is recommended that the images do not exceed 20MB in file size.
Photo Orientation, Formatting, and Ordering.
For the sake of consistency, all photos should be taken in Landscape mode. Photos taken in Portrait mode do not look good. We accept the following photo file formats: .jpg, .png, .gif, and .pdf if you want to send us floor or architectural plans and designs. You should name the photo files in the order you would like them displayed (1.jpg, 2.jpg, 3.jpg) on your listing. If you do not specify the order, we will arrange them for you. The best approach is to start with 1-2 exterior photos > kitchen > first floor rooms > bathrooms > open areas > bedrooms > basement > more exterior > landscape shots. If you have a small bathroom skip it. There’s nothing gained by showing a photo of a toilet unless it’s one of those fancy TOTO intelligent toilets ;). Photos are meant to pique interest to get prospective buyers to view your property in-person. Showing too many photos can sometimes give a buyer’s a reason to not schedule a showing.
Sending Us Your Photos
All listing photos should be sent to photos@instamls.com. Once received our system will send you an automated response within 10 seconds informing you that we have received your photos. Our email provider (Google) allows a max size of 25 MB per email. If your photo file sizes are large, we will not receive your email and you will not receive an automated response. If this occurs, please batched your photos and send them in multiple emails. We recommend running photos through a free online photo compression service such as www.tinyjpg.com. You may also send us a dropbox link of your photo album.