Find the Key to Buying or Selling Your Home with a Flat Fee Listing Service

Don’t let the flat fee service model fool you. At 395 Realty, clients always receive full and personal service from a qualified team of experts.

If you are ready to buy and/or sell a home but are uncertain as to which real estate agency you should turn, perhaps this one question will steer you in the right direction: Do you want to keep more money in your pocket? And it should be vitally important to add: Do you also want to work with a real estate agent who offers a wealth of knowledge and experience?

While there are many qualified real estate agents in the metro area, the experienced and highly innovative team of experts at 395 Realty, a flat-fee, full-service real estate agency, has one single priority above all else: providing the client with the highest level of service and at a fair and reasonable expense. In addition to providing professional advice and guidance, these real estate experts never waver from a commitment to always do what is in the best interest of the client. By providing the highest level of service to both sellers and buyers using a highly competitive fee structure, the promise to keep more money in the client’s pocket is always fulfilled, and 395 Realty owners Kevin Hopkins and Greg Shahan cannot imagine it any other way.

With more than five decades of proven real estate experience between them, Hopkins and Shahan have seen an appreciable amount of change within the industry over the years, most notably with respect to the revolutionary changes within the technology realm. Before the advent of the internet and the advancements of such sites as Zillow and Trulia, real estate agents had to spend a significant amount of money on print marketing for their sellers and do a lot of leg work to help buyers find homes. Today, those expenses for marketing properties have largely been reduced to a non-expense and buyers, even before working with an agent, can quickly sort through copious information online and narrow down the search to something easily manageable, thereby eliminating a lot of the work previously assigned to the agents. What has not changed, however, are the commission structures across the industry. In fact, the normal sales commission still stands at six percent, half of which is given to the buyer’s agent. Hopkins and Shahan realized there had to be a better way.

“We wanted to provide a highly personal service where experience is the key,” expressed Hopkins. “Today, we are working with people now who are educated, smart and diligent and they have an interest in being involved in the entire process of selling or purchasing a home. The work we do now comes in the form of counseling for our clients, largely in the areas of price valuation for both buyers and sellers, professional negotiations and advice and guidance through the entire process of closing a transaction. It is our goal to get the best for our client through thorough evaluation, advocacy and development. Our flat-fee model takes into account both the buyer and the seller and we do everything a traditional real estate agency does.”

For home buyers, the services offered at 395 Realty are unparalleled and are available at essentially no cost to the buyer, whereby the agency simply collects the standard three percent commission paid by the seller. However, there is the option to utilize the Home Buyer Commission Credit Program, where 395 Realty does not collect a commission offered from the seller or listing broker, but instead offers a competitive flat-fee of only $1,995 the buyer pays, thus allowing the buyer to benefit directly from any offering by the seller. The buyer essentially saves the difference between the three percent (as an example) and the $1,995 flat fee, which can represent quite a bit of money.

For home sellers, 395 Realty offers two listing programs to suit their needs. The Premium Listing is available for $1,995. The Basic Listing still provides a high level of service but does require the seller to assume some of the duties, and the fee for such a listing is only $995.

A great example of how a flat-fee model monetarily benefits the consumer can be observed through simple math. On the sale of a $300,000 home, a three percent listing commission stands at $9,000. With 395 Realty’s fee of just $1995, the seller comes out $7,000 ahead!

Even though a potential buyer or seller can exercise appreciable due diligence by doing most of his or her homework without an agent going along for the ride, it is important to understand why you need an agent.

“We assist in upfront listing and marketing, as well as provide guidance and consultation through the beginning phases clear through the transaction itself, as that is the point at which things can go either good or bad,” explained Hopkins. “An agent’s experience here is paramount to a successful end and also to minimizing any potential problems that might arise.”

Working cohesively together as a team, the results for clients speak for themselves.

“Kevin and I work as a team,” noted Shahan. “We believe that what we do is right, with the consumer receiving the benefit of what we have to offer. It is our intention to make consumers aware of our model so they don’t miss out on something because all they know or understand is the traditional real estate commission model.”

Hopkins concurred. “Right now, we know that most consumers, whether buyers or sellers, don’t necessarily understand that there are other options available to them outside of the traditional six percent commission way.”