Ever have the feeling that you do more work than your real estate agent when you buy a home? After all, you’re probably the one looking at hundreds of listings online and you’re probably the one who hands your agent a shortlist of homes you’d like to see.
Likewise, when you’re selling your home, do you get the feeling your traditional, old-school real estate agent gets too much commission for the work they do?
The founders of Simple Showing feel your pain and have a new way of doing things!
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What is Simple Showing?
Simple Showing is a full-service brokerage that’s leveraged technology to create a new way to buy or sell your home — and keep more money in your pocket during the process.
The service is up and running in Georgia, Florida and Alabama, with licensed real estate agents active in the Atlanta, Birmingham, Orlando, Tampa and Savannah markets.
Here’s how it all works for buyers and sellers…
Here’s what buyers need to know
Simple Showing offers a refund on commission!
If you’re a buyer who is in the very late stages of the buying process — that is, you’ve already identified a home, a target zip code, a price point and/or a purchase timeframe — Simple Showing will represent you as your buyer’s agent.
As is customary, Simple Showing gets the traditional 2.5% – 3% of the home purchase price for representing you. But since you did all the hard work of identifying a home, they’ll refund up to half of their net commission.
That means a “Buyer Refund” of 1.25% to 1.5% back in your pocket.
So…how much money does that actually translate to?
It could be up to $10,000! However, Simple Showing says the average refund is $6,000.
How do I start working with Simple Showing?
About six to eight weeks before you plan to make an offer, Simple Showing suggests you get in touch with them via their website, mobile app or by calling 1-800-456-8075. One of their agents will arrange to show you homes and shepherd you through the latter stages of the home-buying process.
Does Simple Showing only help you with property showings?
No. The service does everything a traditional agent does for a potential buyer. That includes, but is not limited to, the following:
- Helping you identify possible properties
- Providing comps for your target neighborhood
- Contacting the listing agent on your behalf
- Helping you to make you offer
- Guiding you through the counter-offer or contingency process
- Setting up a home inspection
Any caveats I should know about?
Yet, there are a couple of caveats here:
- Simple Showing has to make a minimum net commission of $3,500 before they’ll pay out your refund, which you can take as a check or a credit during closing.
- The amount of your refund may be reduced if use Simple Showing agents to see more than five homes as a potential buyer.
- This is all subject to lender approval and certain kinds of loans may restrict you from working with Simple Showing. Check with your mortgage professional for complete details.
Here’s what sellers need to know
First off, what do I have to pay?
You still have to offer the standard 2.5% – 3% commission to the buyer’s agent as enticement to get them to show your home.
In addition, you pay Simple Showing a listing fee of $5,000 at closing, which is deducted from the profit on the sale of your home. Keep in mind this is same process you would go through with a traditional brokerage, only you’re paying a fraction of the cost.
What do I get for that money?
As a full-service brokerage, Simple Showing offers the following:
- Analysis of comparable home sales data so you’re priced right
- Sending a professional photographer to shoot your home
- Putting together a complete plan to market your home through the MLS and dozens of other websites and channels
- Coordinating showings for interested buyers
- Help negotiating offers
- Providing support all the way through the closing process
So how do I get started with Simple Showing?
You start by signing up for a free home valuation report. From there, Simple Showing schedules a photo shoot of your home and puts your listing on the MLS and more than 50 real estate sites, including Trulia, Redfin, Zillow and more.
The Supra iBox (lock box) goes on your door and you receive automated showing requests on your phone when a potential buyer(s) wants to see your home. One of Simple Showing’s licensed real estate agents will even be there to show the buyer around if the buyer’s agent is unavailable or they’re unrepresented.
