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Q. What Multiple Listing Services does your company serve?
A. The markets we serve are: Spartanburg, Greenville, Anderson, Columbia, Rock Hill, Myrtle Beach, Charleston, Hilton Head & Beaufort.
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A. Real Estate Advocates, Inc is the Real Estate Company that is responsible for listing your property and has been in business since 1991. We have sold thousands of homes while saving our clients over 5 million dollars in commissions.
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Q. Where is my house marketed when I engage your services?
A. In all markets, the listing is placed in the local Multiple Listing Services (MLS), Realtor.com, other National sites, and on local real estate company sites.
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Q. Can I withdraw my listing at anytime without any penalty?
A. Yes. If you withdraw and you permit us to refer you to another company, we can refund all or part of your listing fee. Your house will only be withdrawn after it is executed in writing with the seller’s and agent’s signature. (This amount will vary. Email us for details)
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Q. What is the best way to communicate with us?
A. Via E-mail. Place your property address with city on all e-mails so our staff can easily address your question. E-mail will be the best way to get an expedient accurate response from our company as different personnel will be addressing these every day.
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Q. Can I have a For Sale by Owner sign in my yard?
A. No! No! No! You will get one warning if you do, and then we will take your house out of the system on the second incident with no refund. This is non negotiable. You must have our sign in the yard. Multiple Listings vary in different states regarding signs and other policies. Our sign does have a 24 hour 800# info line with Seller’s contact # in the Voice mail message. If you secure the buyer through this method you save the buyers agent’s commission.
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Q. If I order and then decide not to list, do I owe you any money?
A. Yes, a service charge of $50 will be due. If we listed the property no refund will be due unless we refer you to another real estate company and a refund will be given after closing.
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A. Yes, however you are not a For Sale By owner in its purest sense. You are listed with our company. Make sure you don’t tell other agents or the public that you are a For Sale By Owner. We can get into trouble with our boards. You can advertise and show the property on your own, saving money on the buyer’s commission. However, you must advertise that you are listed with Real Estate Advocates, Inc in the Columbia Market.
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Q. Can I secure a buyer by myself and write a contract without you.
A. Yes, in some markets. We will charge a flat fee to assist you if you wish.
Be careful going it alone. You can make a costly mistake. In Columbia, it is required that the agent be fully involved in the whole transaction.
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Q. What can happen if I write a contract without your knowledge?
A. It is important to let us know about any contract. If you do not, a full price offer may come in with an agent. YOU MAY THEN OWE THE AGENT’S COMMISSION, SOLD YOUR HOUSE TWICE AND YOU COULD BE SUED BY THE AGENT AND TWO BUYERS. We can save you thousands and help in the contract to closing . This is our business and we do it well. Be careful about saving hundreds which can end up costing you thousands. If you do this without us, remember we told you. We are all for saving money, but sometimes a few dollars saved can cost you thousands and much stress.
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Q. What about commissions to other agents?
A. They will vary and are always negotiable. We recommend paying a minimum of 3 %. To pay less would discourage agents from showing your property.
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Q. What are Seller closing cost?
A. Both the Seller and the Buyer have closing cost. The Seller is responsible for paying deed stamps, a pro-ration of taxes and document preparation and recording fees. Deed stamps are about $370 per $100,000 of the sales price. Taxes are pro-rated based on the number of months that you owned the house for the year. Document preparation and recording fees are usually $100 to $300 dollars. The Buyer may ask for a potion of their closing cost to be paid for by the Seller in their offer. This is negotiable and Real Estate Advocates can assist you with the negotiations. The Seller is still responsible for their portion. Please checkout our website, www.RealEstateAdvocates.com under forms for a more detailed estimate of closing cost. Note: Some counties charge miscellaneous fees at closing.
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Q. Can you save me money buying or selling a home anywhere in the U.S.?
A. Yes, if you call us before you look or commit to an agent or property.
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Q. What is your relationship with the referral companies?
A. We accept referrals from them. However, we are an independent real estate company and must abide by the state laws and policies of Multiple Listing which vary from state to state and MLS to MLS. Unfortunately, referral company’s sites are generic and may have information that is not true in our market. For example, the use of their signs and Non MLS Lockboxes is prohibited in South Carolina MLSs. Agents working for our company , can bring the buyer and get the same commission you offered buyers agents. Some referral companies tell you we give you all the buyers from our marketing programs which is not necessarily true in all markets.
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Q. Can I have multiple photos on MLS, your site and realtor .com?
A. Yes, see our Menu of Services and fees.
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Q. What other services do you provide?
A. See our Menu of Services and fees.
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Q.Do I have to disclose that I have a pet?
A. Yes, always let us know of any pets. Some people are allergic and other have bad phobias. To protect your best interest, we should disclose all pet information in the showing instructions and remarks.
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Q. Can I make changes to my listing?
A. Yes, you can make up to three changes to your listing for free. Any additional changes (after the listing is proofed) will be charged $25 each.
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Q. What type of Internet exposure do I get?
A. You are on the largest site in the world, Realtor.com. In most markets we give permission to go on other real estate companies sites in that market with our broker reciprocity program. We do not have control over how fast these sites download the information. Some sites take 3-5 days. Please don’t contact us about this until after 5 days. Pictures sometime take longer to appear on those sites. We will e-mail you the listing as it appears in the MLS. You do not have access to this secured site. Some people confuse Realtor.com with the Multiple listing which is not the same. Realtor.com can take up to 3 days for photos to appear.
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