FAQ's
Q. What’s my Total Selling Cost ?
A. Under our Sell Smart/Save Money Program you pay no listing commission, saving you on average 2.5% of the sale price of your home. You set the selling commission you’re willing to pay a MLS real estate firm if their agent produces the buyer. Today, this typically ranges 2.0% - 2.5% of the sale price. However, if the buyer is procured by either you or HouseSavvy, you pay no selling commission. Bottom line? With a traditional real estate firm you will pay, on average, 5% of the sale price no matter who sells your home, including yourself. With HouseSavvy, the highest you’ll pay is our fee and the MLS selling commission you authorize, and the lowest you’ll pay is our $389 fee.
Q. How long will it take to get my home on the market?
A. Typically, your home can be on the market within 24-48 hours from the time you submit your listing information. (See How It Works)
Q. How can you do all this for $389?
A. Easy. We work with buyers which provides us revenue from MLS selling commissions and mortgage fees. Unlike traditional real estate firms, we don’t charge you, the seller, for the normal 2.5% listing commission that you would pay the firm you used to list your home – no matter who sells it, including yourself.
Q. Why do I have to put your “For Sale” sign on my property?
A. MLS rules and regulations require that home sellers utilizing its service may not erect their own “For Sale” sign on their property. It must be the sign of a member firm of the MLS.
Q. How are you going to get buyers?
A. Our “For Sale” signs and Internet Listings are our two main sources of buyer inquiries, although there are a goodly number of buyers who contact us after using our website for general real estate advice and information.
Q. What if I produce a buyer on my own – one who is not working with a real estate firm or agent?
A. It’s all yours – you end up paying no MLS selling commission (usually 2.0 – 2.5% of your sale price). It’s important to point out that our philosophy on this issue is quite different than the traditional real estate firm that would charge you that 2.0 – 2.5% even though you produced your own buyer.
Q. What’s my total selling cost with HouseSavvy as opposed to a traditional real estate firm?
A. With HouseSavvy, the highest you’ll pay is our fee plus the MLS selling commission you authorize (normally, between 2.0 – 2.5% of the selling price) and the lowest you’ll pay is our $389 fee if you produce you’re your own buyer or the buyer is generated by HouseSavvy through our yard sign, Internet listings, and general web site activity.
With a traditional real estate firm you will pay, on average, 5% of the sale price no matter who sells your home, including yourself.
Q. Do I have to sign a contract and, if so, for how long?
A. Yes, you have to sign a contract for two major reasons: (1) we can’t get your home into the MLS and listed on the Internet without it, and (2) it’s always a good practice to get all the basic understandings in writing – for both your benefit and ours. That way there is no misunderstandings and the expectations of both of us are clearly identified before we get started and available for reference thereafter.
The term of our Service Agreement is “until sold.’ However, you may cancel it at any time upon 10 days notice.
Q. I'm a little uncomfortable with signing a contract with someone I haven't met. What do you suggest to ease my mind?
A. The founders of HouseSavvy also operate the business on a day-today basis. These are the people providing you this service. Their background, experience, reputation and business philosophy are summarized in About Us. By the very nature of only charging $389, we obviously have to watch our overhead, so time to schedule, conduct and follow up face-to-face meetings - although much preferred by us - can't be accommodated. However, we'd be happy to "meet" you by telephone and address any questions or concerns you may have.
Q. What's the major differences between HouseSavvy's services and traditional real estate services?
A. There are two: with HouseSavvy (1) you will save a considerable amout of money because (2) you participate in the selling process by performing some of the functions and activities traditionally performed by a real estate firm.
You will save at least 2.5% of the selling price of your home with the good possibility of saving the entire sale commission (normally 5%). That money goes right into your pocket, not the broker's. See Program Description.
Additionally, today's technology puts knowledge and sales tools at your fingertips rendering much of the traditional, costly real estate services redundant compared to what you can easily do yourself today.
Q. How can I evaluate my abilty and willingness to participate in the selling process under the HouseSavvy Program compared to traditional real estate services?
A. Consider this: there are three major steps involved in successfully selling a home. Click to review, and you will see that conducting and controlling these three major steps yourself is really not that difficult.
Q. What do you think is the one major reason I should go with HouseSavvy?
A. In a word - RESULTS! Click here to see a sampling of the many homes sold through the HouseSavvy Program since 2004 documenting the money each customer saved. This figure was arrived at by subtracting the actual sales fees/commissions these customers paid from a full 5% commission charged by most traditional real estate firms. Testimonials from actual clients will fortify this statement.
Q. What if your program is not quite what I want?
If there are program features you’re not comfortable with – such as having to personally schedule appointments or negotiating directly with buyers – give us a call at (866) 97 SAVVY and we’ll work with you to create a program custom-tailored to your unique needs – and still saving you lots of money.