When you click on our list now icon, the website will take you to a page to pick your MLS area. This drop down menu does NOT list every city we cover. Instead, we list the areas by major city. So what does this really mean? It means that we cover MANY cities that are not listed. Some choices are obvious…for example…Boerne, TX. While Boerne is not listed under the drop menu, it is fairly obvious that you should select San Antonio if you are a Boerne property owner. Let’s say the choice isn’t so obvious….Let’s say you are in Sherman, TX…nearly an hour outside of DFW…do you select DFW Forms? The answer is this case is yes…but never hesitate to call us. Just give us your city name and we can direct you to the forms for your local MLS.

The easiest and best way to return your MLS paperwork is via email to info@congressrealty.com. You can email your documents and photos all at the same time.

What format is preferred?

Typically, any format will work, however, PDF for the listing documents and jpegs for the photos is preferred.

Do you have file size restrictions?

We do not.

How will you know my paperwork is for my account?

Everything we need to create your account is included within your listing agreement.

Is there anything else I should know?

If you choose to fax the documents, no problem. It is not a bad idea to give us a call to ensure we have them after you send the fax. This is especially true if you are faxing the documents from a public location. (such as a Kinkos)

I don’t want to include my payment info when I email the documents.

No problem. Email the docs with a note that you will call us with the payment info at a later time.

A few updated testimonials – I am still working on uploading audio file testimonials to the blog. Hopefully these will be up by the end of the month.

To: english@congressrealty.com
From: REMOVED
Date: 9-27-2012 08:48am
Subject: Home has closed

Mr. English, the house has closed and I will fax you the settlement statement later today. Is there anything else you need from me at this time? Your service was exactly as promised and I have told many neighbors about you and your company.

I’m always hesitant to ask a former client for a testimonial. The reason being, I personally hate to bother anyone over this issue. In the past 10 years, I can’t remember ever directly asking a client a for a testimonial. Luckily, we have been fortunate enough to receive nearly a thousand thank you’s over the years from various clients. Many of these emails detail the experience the client had with our firm. Over the next few weeks, my goal is to receive permission from a handful of these individuals to publish these testimonials to our blog.

My goal with this project is to keep the testimonials simple. I want to copy and paste the exact verbiage utilized by the client for the world to see. Secondly, if I can figure out how to upload an audio file to our blog, I’d like to update a few audio testimonials that we have received within the last 6 weeks. If you are past or present Congress Realty client and would like to be included in this project, email us or give us a call at 800 657 6579 or info@congressrealty.com

If your listing is about to expire or you previously cancelled your listing…and now want to renew with our firm, the process is quite simple. You need to fill out your listing agreement again and fax or email this to us. You do not need to re-submit photos or the MLS profile sheet. All in all, the process should take you no more than 3 minutes to complete. If you do not have a blank listing agreement, just shoot us an email at info@congressrealty.com and we will email this over to you. When you receive the listing agreement, simply fill it out and return it. It’s as easy as that. The cost for the re-list is $175.

The MLS is a database created for Realtors(R) by Realtors(R). It is there to help Realtors(R) cooperate with each other. We try to explain to all homeowners upfront exactly what the MLS is. Much of our competition tries to paint a false picture of the MLS being some sort of FSBO safe haven. The fact is that limited service listings make up less than 10% of all MLS listings. The other 90% are traditional full service listings. So how does this relate to the question above?

We want to help homeowners sell properties. We are not in the business of simply listing them on the MLS only to see them never sell. The fact of the matter is that on occasion, other Realtors(R) want to talk to us. We are happy to talk to Realtors(R) to help ease any concerns they have. This holds true on Saturdays and Sundays. If a Realtor(R) has an offer and for whatever reason they want to fax or email the offer to our brokerage instead of handing it to the homeowner… No problem. We will gladly accept the fax/email and forward the offer to the homeowner via email as a PDF attachment.

This is something I can’t stress enough. All Flat Fee Listings ARE NOT THE SAME!!!! Whomever you list your property with, make sure they are available 7 days a week to receive and present all offers. In states like CO, TX, UT, and NE, many agents simply won’t present an offer to the owner directly. They want to speak with the Realtor(R) prior to submitting the offer. For whatever reason, talking to a real person who is licensed seems to put their minds at ease in presenting the offer. Remember, the goal is to sell your property…not just list it on the MLS.

Lastly, beware of any company that promises you that all offers will go to you directly. This simply isn’t true and violates licensing law. All brokers must be available to receive and present all offers in every single state. (this holds true for Discount brokers, Full Service Brokers, and Flat Fee Brokers) If another licensee presents an offer to the listing broker, it must be presented to the seller by the listing broker. The listing broker may not refuse to present the offer and force the other Realtor(R) to present the offer to the seller directly.

I love competition amongst businesses. Competition not only gives the consumer options but also ultimately drives innovation and progress amongst businesses. That said, not all business compete in an ethical manner with one another. The Flat Fee business model relies upon the internet in order to reach potential customers. As a result, anybody can put up a site and make various claims about what services they offer, etc… So why/how does this affect the consumer when choosing a Flat Fee Company? Below, I’m going to put up a quick list of things to watch out for and questions to ask any/all Flat Fee Brokerages.

1) The first question you want to know is do you have a Real Estate License to do business in my state? If the answer is, no… move on immediately. If the answer is no, but we are going to refer you to a “local” broker who does, etc… Move on.

Reason – It is illegal to accept a fee for Real Estate Services in a state you are not licensed in. Secondly, never allow a company to refer you to a “local” broker. You as the consumer have no say in who they refer you to. Referral companies generally choose the cheapest option for them. (meaning the local broker who will accept the least amount of money) The problem with this is that you could be sent to a company who is only open 3 days a week. (or doesn’t accept phone calls, etc…) You won’t find out who they are referring you to until after you’ve paid. You as the consumer should choose who you will be working with. Do not allow a referral company to choose for you.

2) Can I speak with a real person before paying?

Reason – If you can’t speak to a live person, do not sign up with that company. Preferably, ask to speak with the broker who will be listing the property before paying.

3) Can I review the listing agreement before paying?

Reason – the listing agreement is the agreement b/w you and the broker that allows the broker to put the property in the MLS. This agreement has the terms and conditions of your agreement. DO NOT PAY a penny to anyone before you have read the entire listing agreement.

4) Always ask just how much control you have over your listing.

Reason – Flat Fee Companies are notorious for misleading consumers into thinking they have complete control over the MLS listing. The fact is that they really do not. A seller has control over the data, however, the listing broker has to be the one to update the MLS with price changes, photo changes, etc… As a seller, you are at the mercy of the listing broker concerning when they actually update your listing.

5) Will all offers and negotiations go through me? (the seller)

Reason – Every state has different state laws affecting this very issue. Always ask ahead of time so that you know what to expect. If you are in a state where most offers are presented to the listing broker, DO NOT sign up for an MLS listing service where the broker does not work weekends. The worst thing in the world that can happen is an offer comes in on Friday night and the broker doesn’t fwd you the offer until Monday afternoon.

How Congress Realty would respond to your questions:

1) Yes, we are licensed in every state we do business. Our brokers are Donald Plunkett and Andrew English. You can speak with either directly at any time.

2) Absolutely, both are available at 800 657 6579

3) Yes, you can download the paperwork from our website or give us a call and we will email the docs to you. You can review everything before paying.

4) We have multiple staff members who update listings throughout the day. A seller can submit changes through our website directly via the private client area or via email/fax.

5) We constantly forward offers – 7 days a week. If an offer comes in a Sunday, 99% of the time you will receive the offer that same Sunday.

House Sold, But With A Twist Hyphen Interiors

The attached PDF file is a first hand account of our services and how the process works from the viewpoint of an actual client.  We are extremely grateful to the seller for posting such a detailed account of our process. This blog post gives a very accurate account of what a seller can expect from our company and our service.

Many times when customers are considering which Real Estate brokerage to go with, they fail to ask what I think is the single most important question…. “What have you actually sold”? Not, what have you listed… Not, what is your flat fee listing price…. Instead, what have you actually sold through your Flat Fee MLS service?!

You will notice that many other “discount” brokerages on the internet will try to get your business by making claims that can not be proven to be true or false. For example, you will see other companies claim to be the “original flat fee company”… or the “leader in flat fee”, etc…. With many of these companies, it’s all about the advertising and not about the results.

Congress Realty is different from every other flat fee company out there in that we will gladly provide our sold data to our prospective clients. Not only will we provide the data, we will provide it to you directly from the MLS so that you can even verify it is accurate/honest data. Anyone can put up a website with ridiculous claims and promises. Congress Realty can actually prove our program works.

To prove my point, I ran our data versus a competing flat fee firm who advertises themselves as the lowest cost provider. You can quickly see why they don’t advertise themselves as the leader in sold properties.

Las Vegas and Omaha.

In Las Vegas, Congress Realty has been credited with 80 closed sales in the past 12 months. The competing firm has been credited with 7.

In Omaha, Congress Realty has been credited with 53 closed sales. The competing firm has been credited with 6.

Upon request, we can provide the MLS printouts showing the sales referenced above and the names of both Congress Realty and the company referenced in the above comparison.

Congress Realty operates under the belief that the goal of any listing brokerage is to sell the property at a fair price acceptable to the seller.  Whether you are paying $100, $300, or 6%, the goal is to sell your property.

It is always best to add photos to your MLS listing before the listing goes active on the MLS. The reason for this is that the longer you wait to add photos, the more likely your photos will not appear on various 3rd party websites. By adding your photos from the very start, all 3rd party sites should pick up the photos.

How do I ensure Congress Realty has my photos? Prior to faxing or emailing your MLS documents to us, add your photos to our pre listing manager or email the photos to info@congressrealty.com.

What to do if you choose to add your photos at a later time after the listing is active? Email the photos to info@congressrealty.com or add them to the private client area. Do not add them to the prelisting mang after the listing is active.