FAQ’s
1. What are the fees for listing on the MLS with Richr?
Richr is FREE TO LIST, $0 upfront, 1% at closing plus title settlement fees included, and only pay if you sell. Cancel anytime! One of the main benefits of listing on theMultiple Listing Services (MLS) is that thousands of real estate agents can see your home is for sale, and show it to their clients. MLS rules require that you offer them a commission to compensate them for bringing a buyer so you might end up paying them a commission if they find your buyer, but you should save bundles of money by listing your home on the MLS with Richr vs. going the traditional route and paying 6% in fees.
2. Why do I have to offer a cooperating broker compensation when I list on the MLS with Richr?
As the MLS is a co-brokerage site, they require a fee to be offered to agents who find a buyer for your property. You can choose the figure to offer, as long as you offer more than $0 or 0%. We generally recommend a 2-3% figure to motivate agents to bring their buyers to see your home, but you can choose the figure you’re comfortable with. On average our clients offer 2.5%. And remember, as the MLS syndicates to hundreds of other websites, if a buyer finds your property without a broker, you pay no buyers agent commission. If a broker brings a buyer, you still saved circa 3% on commission payments.
3. Why list on the MLS?
There are over 800 MLS’s in the USA, approximately 30 in Florida, and about 195,000 realtors use the MLS in Florida (Florida has the second largest number of real estate agents in the US). Richr can list in the majority of counties in Florida, so chances are we can list in your area! Most MLS’s syndicates to hundreds of other real estate websites, so buyers searching without agents can also find your property. Why wouldn’t you want to harness the same marketing power as an agent and use the MLS to maximize the visibility of your home listing?
4. Do I need a real estate broker to sell my home?
According to the National Association of REALTORS®, there are about 7.1 million homes sold in 2021. There are also about 1.46million real estate brokers and agents in the USA, competing for those listings, so of course, they are protective of their industry. Although some people need agent assistance to sell their homes, others do not. Many people are experienced sellers and don’t need agents. Agents themselves often sell their homes as FSBO’s rather than using a brokerage. Other sellers have had bad broker experiences and don’t want to rely on middlemen to sell their homes. More and more sellers just want to save tens of thousands of dollars of their equity rather than losing it to commission payments. We want to help those who want to go it alone, by offering technology services to make the process easier.
5. How is Richr different to other MLS sites?
There are many flat fee MLS listing sites charging upfront fees, they have been around for decades. Richr is different. We list for FREE, for one payment of 1% you get your home sold faster with title settlement fees included. Plus the flexibility to cancel anytime, and Richr is a one-stop-shop for optional additional services such as optional title and homeowners insurance. We make it simpler to transact on your home. You get unparalleled support throughout the process, from listing to closing.
Also,
- Our software helps users complete their listing information in a simple questionnaire format
- The questionnaire can easily and quickly be completed on a computer or cell-phone from Richr.com
- Our software will pre-populate public information to help you with the hard stuff
- Our platform will save your draft listing so you can return to it whenever you want
- Users can cancel anytime
- We don’t nickel and dime you for changes and extra photo uploads and listing extensions. All our users get unlimited photo uploads (to the max you can put on the MLS), unlimited changes and listing agreements for up to 12 months.
6. Is Richr a brokerage?
We use our affiliated brokerage, Richr Homes, to list properties on the MLS. This is how you can list for FREE, and only pay if you sell. No upfront fees and no catches!
7. How can Richr help me list on the MLS if it’s not a broker?
The MLS can only be accessed by brokers and their sales associates, which is why we use our affiliate brokerage Richr Homes to access the MLS.
8. What happens after I submit my MLS listing on Richr.com?
When you complete your listing questionnaire, an MLS listing agreement will populate. As MLS rules require that all brokerages sign listing agreements for each listing, there is no way to list on the MLS without signing a listing agreement. Once executed, we will email you to confirm that we received your listing. If it’s missing any vital information such as photos, we will let you know. We will send you a draft of your listing for approval before it is set live on the MLS so there is always time for last-minute updates!
9. Why are there 3 commission entries on the MLS listing for my property when I only offer one buyers agent commission?
The MLS captures details on the commission you offer to a buyer’s agent who brings a buyer for your property. The three commission entries that appear on the MLS all relate to the three different types of buyer-agent relationships that can exist. Any buyer will only ever have one of these relationships – so only one commission is being offered. Here is an explanation of the different types of buyer agent relationships you may find on the MLS:
- Transaction broker – In this relationship the buyer’s agent can also represent the seller, but provides limited duties to both.
- Buyer Agent – This is an exclusive buyer agent relationship so the buyer’s agent cannot also represent the seller.
- Non-representative – The agent does not represent the buyer and just facilitates the transaction.
Many clients question whether the three entries mean they are offering a listing agent commission, but they do not. They have no connection to the listing side of the transaction. In fact, the MLS doesn’t capture or record a listing agent’s commission.
10. How will potential buyers contact me?
Agents with potential buyers will contact you directly as your phone number will be attached to your MLS listing. Buyers reaching out from
11. In what circumstances would I have to pay compensation to any agent or broker?
The listing agreement makes it clear that Richr Homes is FREE TO LIST, only 1% at closing plus title settlement fees included, and only pay if you sell. The agreement states the compensation you have agreed to offer a broker who represents a buyer for your home.
So: If an unrepresented buyer purchases your home after seeing it on one of the hundreds of sites it will be syndicated to, only 1% at closing plus title settlement fees included, and only pay if you sell. If a buyer with representation purchases your home, then the compensation offered to a buyer’s broker would be owing in addition to the Richr homes fee, as they will have found you a buyer.
12. How do I upload photos to my listing?
On the photo upload screen, you can upload photos individually or use our batch ‘drag and drop’ feature. If you are having problems don’t worry – you can email them to us instead after we respond to your listing and we can connect them to your listing. Our questionnaire allows you to highlight the photo that you would like to be the featured photo on your listing, so make sure you identify your best photo. Please note that most MLS’s require that the first photo be of the front exterior of your home, or the view from your home (followed by the front exterior in second position).
Also remember that you have to own the photos you upload to Richr, as the MLS’s will impose a huge fine of about $5000 if you breach another’s copyright, and use photos that don’t belong to you (for example you cannot copy photos from other listings or websites). Even google earth images of your home do not belong to the homeowner and cannot be uploaded to the MLS. As home photography and drone footage are now very affordable, this doesn’t cause an issue with you being able to still show your home in all its glory.
13. How do I make changes to my listing once its’ gone live?
If you want to add photos to your listing, reduce the price, update your status, etc. you should email your change request to hello@richr.com. We will then follow up to confirm that the requests have been actioned. We want your listing process to be as smooth as possible.
14. How do I notify potential buyers of my open house?
Open houses are a great way to show off your home to potential buyers. That’s why agents conduct them for their own clients (they also try and pick up buyers as new clients). Beware that some HOA communities do not allow sellers to conduct open houses, so check with them before you schedule your open house. Putting open house signs around your neighborhood can help direct buyers’ attention to your listing, but we can help you advertise your open house online on sites such as Zillow so that buyers searching the web can be notified. We make this simple and entirely FREE for you. Just email hello@richr.com with your request.
