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NewswireToday - /newswire/ -
Elizabethtown, KY, United States, 06/13/2006 - “For Sale By Owners” (FSBO) gain access to the powerful marketing exposure of the MLS and Realtor.com without paying a 6% commission in Kentucky as FlatFeeDirect.com expands into Louisville metro market.
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A Kentucky Flat Fee Real Estate Company opens the door to the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) and Realtor.com for the Louisville Metro market and surrounding counties enabling them to save thousands on the sale of their house.
This move gives “For Sale By Owners” (FSBO) access to a resource to promote their property to buyer’s agents at 3% commission through the MLS and to a worldwide audience at Realtor.com while potentially saving thousands of dollars over the market rate of around 6% broker commission.
According to consumers like Cassie Gardner of Louisville, “It’s about time more options were made available to sellers in Kentucky”. Gardner, who was one of the first to use the service in the Louisville Metro area saved $4076.00 on the sale of her Louisville home by working with FlatFeeDirect.com- TW Shortt Realty and doing some marketing steps herself.
The company offers a range of real estate services from Contract Writing with transaction processing to full service marketing at a set flat fee and sellers know up front what their costs will be at closing.
MLS and Realtor.com access for a flat fee is expected to be the most popular service with the Louisville market according to company officials though.
Unlike other real estate companies, FlatFeeDirect.com-TW Shortt Realty, offers services to sellers in an “a la carte” mode.
A seller picks the service that they want and pays for only what they want and need. “No matter what the selling price of your house, our fee remains the same” according to Kim Shortt, REALTOR and spokesperson for the seventeen year old company.
A real estate brokerage fee structure that is based on the selling price of the house is outdated according to TW Shortt, CRS, who started the company in 1989.
“There remains no plausible reason why a broker should charge $6000 to sell a $100,000 house and $12,000 to sell a $200,000 house when the company’s expenses are virtually the same”, said Shortt.
“Sellers are turning away from the traditional approach to real estate brokerage to seek different alternatives" according to many flat fee brokers.
No matter what services a customer purchases from us according to Shortt, there are certain minimum levels of service mandated by the Kentucky Real Estate Commission (KREC) that we follow and usually exceed. These include accepting delivery of offers, accepting contract deposits, assisting the parties with negotiation and answering real estate related questions.
Company officials’ admit that this method of selling real estate isn’t for everyone, however, it should be available to everyone.
Consumer groups, Federal Government Antitrust lawyers and the Federal Trade Commission have come out in favor of more options for consumers and more pricing competition between brokers where a 6% commission has been common since the 1960’s.
Real estate industry groups have influenced some state regulators to establish rules and laws that discourage brokers from offering unbundled real estate service while others have embraced it as the trend gains momentum.
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Broker[.]FlatFeeDirect.com 
