FAQs

The questions we often hear

Yes. You receive everything you’d expect from a 6% agent. MLS. Professional photos. Yard sign. Zillow. Realtor.com. Trulia. Open houses. Expert negotiation. Contract preparation. Full representation through closing. You sacrifice nothing. You save a bundle.

This is our most common question. How do 990 agents provide 6% service at a fraction of the 6% cost? The answer is easy. Technology. The Internet has dramatically lowered the cost of exposing homes to buyers. According to the National Association of Realtors, 98% of homebuyers search for homes online. The cost for Realtors to upload newly listed homes to Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com and other major home marketing portals is minimal. In fact, there is no per home upload fee. An annual membership fee allows agents to upload as many homes as they like to every major home website.

No. Our agents are affiliated with top local and national firms like Keller Williams, ReMax, Sotheby’s and Coldwell Banker. This is a huge advantage to you. Your 990 agent will be able to leverage the resources and credibility of an established firm and its agents in marketing your home.

Traditionally, the 6% commission is divided by half, 3% to your listing agent and 3% to the agent who procures a buyer. Over 85% of home sales involve both listing and buyers’ agents.

With the 990 program, your list commission is discounted from 3% to $990. This mean you pay a commission of $990 + 3% instead of + 6%. In a few parts of the country the typical buyer agent commission is less than 3%, sometimes 2.5% or 2.8%. If you live in one of those areas, your commission would be $990 + 2.5% or $990 + 2.8%.

Yes. Over 90% of buyers look with agents. If you don’t offer agents in your community the expected buyer agent commission, they won’t show your home. Studies show that eliminating 90% of the buyers from seeing your home is likely to cost you more in lost sale price than what you would pay to a buyer agent.

Also, one reason your 990 agent can afford to charge only $990, is the opportunity to find a buyer for your home and earn the buyer-side commission. Read the “990 Agents” section of our website to learn more.

Yes. It is customary in most areas for sellers to pay title insurance for the buyer and other standard closing costs paid by all sellers. Your 990 agent will gladly provide to you a breakdown of these closing costs and estimate your net proceeds at closing based on a probable sale price for your home.

Your 990 agent will show you a summary of sales of similar homes in your community. This is the standard method for determining home values. It’s how an appraiser would value your home. Pricing your home “right” is critical to achieving your best sales price. Many sellers insist on starting too high and “testing the market.” This is a mistake. The longer your home sits unsold, the lower your ultimate sales price could be.

Buyers naturally presume a home with high accumulated days on the market is overpriced or that something is wrong with it. When overpriced sellers finally lower their price, buyers sense desperation and either continue to wait or make unreasonably low offers.

990 agents are pros at providing correct pricing advice. They realize it’s your home and you are the final decision maker. But be sure to listen to your 990 agent’s advice. With our low $990 commission you have the ability to price your home more competitively and net more at closing than other sellers in your community listed with 6% agents.

Absolutely. You can cancel at any time and your 990 agent will immediately take your home off the market.

Absolutely. 990 agents will personally hold your open house or team up with a “partner agent” who is a community expert and specializes in holding open houses in your neighborhood. We even teach a “mega open house” strategy that has been recognized as “setting the bar” for attracting a huge number of motivated, qualified buyers.

Our low $990 commission helps you price your home more aggressively and still net what you need at closing. And, our powerful “home launch formula” was featured in Forbes as a great way to increase buyer demand for any home. Having difficulty selling? We’re your “911”!