Flat Fee MLS! » Limited Service MLS Brokerage Report

Limited Service MLS Brokerage Report

February 3rd, 2010

www.LimitedServiceMLS.com is an online marketing platform designed to merge flat-fee MLS real estate brokerage with sellers of real property. We help buyers and sellers connect with real estate brokers who offer “fee for service” or flat fee MLS. Consumers who access our web site quickly learn about the various aspects involved in selling a home, including how to identify those discount real estate brokers who offer the lowest “fee for service” within their local respective market. We offer news on real property matters, such as settlement services, changes in licensing laws, important court rulings, flat fee MLS, issues affecting the MLSs, e-commerce, technology, and title insurance.The consumer benefits by dealing with those discount real estate firms that both understand and operate within a specified local area. Read more…

There appears to be a growing movement within the flat-fee MLS marketplace that businesses selling flat fee MLS online services do not need to obtain the requisite licenses in order to comply with applicable state brokerage licensing laws. For a listing broker, flat-fee MLS has become a giveaway business that, at best, should only be used to capture additional revenue from alternative sources. So, why can’t this popular segment within the real estate industry generate enough in profit margins to sustain itself? The answer is quite clear: unfair methods of competition, resulting from unlicensed activity. This inappropriate intrusion into a regulated industry operates to the detriment of legitimate licensees, many of whom have become insolvent due to unlicensed activity. The extent of the damages to the industry is unknown. One could easily argue, however, that this behavior makes entry into the market place more difficult and has had a profound effect on sustainability. Read more…

Florida consumers who wish to utilize the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) for a flat fee need to be aware that a growing number of online FSBO (For Sale By Owner) marketing firms that sell flat fee MLS online services to Florida consumers do not maintain a Florida brokerage license. These companies might be in violation of Chapter 475, Florida Statutes, given the fact that they are soliciting real estate services from Florida consumers/sellers for a fee without maintaining an active, valid Florida real estate brokerage license. Read more…

(a) A person may not operate as a broker or sales associate without being the holder of a valid and current active license therefor. Any person who violates this paragraph commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083, or, if a corporation, as provided in s. 775.083. Sec 475.42, Fla. Stat. Read more…

On May 27, 2008, NAR and the U.S. Department of Justice reached a favorable settlement, concluding a two-year DOJ investigation (followed by two and a half years of litigation) regarding NAR’s multiple listing policy as it pertained to the display of listings from the MLS on brokers’ virtual office Web sites, or VOWs. Read more…

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