Successful Alternatives to Sell Homes Despite Housing Slump

Despite the slumping housing market, Texans do not need drastic price reductions to sell their homes. The housing market in Texas is less volatile than other parts of the country, and sometimes a small price reduction is all it takes.

If the typical 6 percent real estate commission can be reduced or eliminated, sellers may be able to lower their prices sufficiently for their homes to sell and still pocket more cash at the end of the deal. However, when it is time to sell their home, most homeowners simply list with a Realtor® and agree to pay the typical 6 percent commissions, because they are not aware of other options.

What the Internet has done to travel agencies, stock brokerages and bookstores, it is doing to the real estate industry, and thanks to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), real estate commissions are now negotiable. As a result, non-traditional real estate companies that charge less than 6 percent are emerging and thriving. According to Entrepreneur.com, two of the fastest growing national franchises are discount real estate brokerages Assist-2-Sell and Help-U-Sell.

Creekview Realty, a growing real estate brokerage firm that has expanded to cover 75 percent of Texas and serves all of the state’s major markets, has a unique business model.

Creekview charges a flat fee of $495 to list a home through the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and refers all buyer inquiries directly to sellers for no additional fee. The seller agrees to pay a buyer’s agent a 3 percent commission, because that is what most agents get for procuring a buyer for an MLS listing.

Many homeowners wrongly assume that if they pay anything less than a 6 percent commission, they cannot get the service needed to sell their home.

“A common complaint we hear from sellers is that their 6-percent agent put a sign in their yard, listed their house on the MLS and was never heard from again,” says John Prell, broker from Creekview Realty. “If a seller wants a ‘full-service’ listing, we can handle all of the negotiations and contract paperwork for a $500 upgrade. At that point, what we provide is equivalent to what a 6-percent agent provides, but for a whole lot less.”

Prell adds that 6-percent agents typically spend most of their time and energy prospecting for new clients. “We do a higher volume of transactions and spend most of our time and energy servicing our existing clients.”

When representing buyers who do their own research to find their homes, Creekview Realty offers 2 percent of its 3 percent commission as a rebate, which is illegal in some states, but not in Texas. Buyers get paid a 2 percent commission for doing their own legwork, and Creekview gets 1 percent for handling the negotiations and paperwork.

Creekview offers resources for selling homes in todays down market at its Web site, www.creekviewrealty.com. The site also enables buyers to browse MLS listings to look for properties.


About Creekview Realty

Creekview Realty is a non-traditional real estate brokerage that offers flat fee MLS listing services for $495 and full representation for $995, instead of charging the traditional 6 percent commission. With more than 30 years of experience in business and real estate, Creekview’s team of experts provides all of the tools, guidance and quality client service needed for successful and cost-effective real estate transactions.

Amid 30 percent year-over-year growth despite market conditions, Creekview has expanded operations to all of the state’s major metropolitan areas, making its cost-saving services available to more than 75 percent of the state’s population. Creekview’s MLS coverage areas include DFW, Austin, Houston, San Antonio, Bryan/College Station, Central Texas, Corpus Christi, El Paso, Highland Lakes, Killeen/Fort Hood, McAllen, Temple/Belton, Tyler and Waco. For more information, visit www.creekviewrealty.com.