Below I have listed some of the questions that we receive about ValueList Real Estate Services and the ValueList Flat Fee Listing Program.  If you don't find the answer to your particular question about St. Louis real estate or St Louis mortgage banking or about real estate in general, please do not hesitate to give us a call.

What Is A Flat Fee Listing?  A Flat Fee Listing is a listing where the real estate company only charges you a flat fee for listing your home.  What you get for that flat-fee varies greatly.  Some companies in the St Louis real estate market advertise themselves as being a flat fee listing company, but then go on to charge you more for such things as listing you on the MLS, signs, marketing materials, etc.  Also, most of these companies charge their flat fee up front.  If they don't produce, they still get paid!

At ValueList we charge a flat fee that is bracketed (please refer to the ValueList Real Estate Services Flat Fee chart) as a commission.  That is, if we don't produce, ValueList doesn't get paid.  Our Flat Fee secures our entire Full-Service listing program that includes placement on the MLS, extensive internet marketing of your home, ValueList fielding the telephone calls, ValueList showing the property, ValueList helping in contract negotiations and once the contract is negotiated, ValueList takes care of all of the details of getting your transaction through closing.

How Much Is The Flat Fee?  The ValueList Flat Fee is bracketed.  It starts out as low as $1,500.00 and tops out at $6,500.00.  As mentioned above, our flat fee is paid at closing and includes our entire marketing program.  There are no add ons.  The ValueList Flat Fee Listing Program offers the very best value in the entire St. Louis real estate market! Click Here To Go To the Flat Fee Chart.

How Much Will I Save By Listing With ValueList?  Your savings will vary depending on the value of your home.  Generally speaking, the more expensive your home, the more you save.  That said, even on a modest home, the savings can be substantial, ValueList can be as much as 80% less expensive than a conventional real estate company.  And remember, you don't have to sacrifice full-service to realize these savings!  Our web designer is working on a program to illustrate these savings and as soon as they are done with it, we will place that illustration here.  In the mean time, please call for a no obligation comparison.

How Can ValueList Be So Much Less Expensive?  There are basically three answers to this question; 

          1)  ValueList keeps our overhead low.  We don't have 39 expensively decorated            offices with managers earning $300,000 - $500,000 a year.  That's a bunch of over head and somebody has to pay for it.  Why should that person be you?

          2)  ValueList combines real estate services.  The ValueList Flat Fee Listing Program utilizes basically the same marketing strategy as a grocery store than advertises an item on sale.  You know that when the grocer advertises the eggs on sale for .99 isn't making a bunch of money on them.  They are hoping that while you are in to buy the eggs that you will also pick up some other items.  With ValueList it's the exact same thing.  ValueList gives you a hell of a deal on the listing side of your real estate transaction in the hopes that if you are selling, that you will also be buying.  If you are buying, that you may need a mortgage to finance that purchase.  In essence, selling you a home and financing it for you is our gallon of milk and loaf of bread!  It's not a requirement of the transaction, but it happens often enough for us to be profitable.

           3)  ValueList does more transactions per agent than your average conventional real estate agent.  The sad truth of the matter is that most real estate agents are part time and don't earn their living from real estate sales.  The "average" St. Louis real estate agent only handles something like 4 transactions a year.  Even when you only look at agents who purport to be "full-time" these agents only average something like 8 transactions a year. (Figures culled from National Association of Realtors statistics).  The "average" ValueList agent participates in over 40 transactions a year (Mortgages Included). 

What Does ValueList Do To Sell My Home?  As mentioned, ValueList Real Estate Services is a full-service Realtor.  We do just about everything that a conventional real estate company does to market your home and we also offer some services that many other real estate companies don't.  Specifically ValueList;

          1) ValueList puts your home in the regional Multiple Listing Service.  The MLS is the strongest tool that we have to sell your home.  Over 80% of home sales nationwide (and in the St Louis real estate market) take place through the MLS.  It's where the buyers are.  It doesn't cost a buyer anything to utilize the services of a buyer's agent.  If you're attempting to sell your home FSBO you're missing out on the vast majority of the market.  With ValueList your home is exposed to the entire market and you still save money on your real estate commissions!

          2)  ValueList provides a comprehensive marketing program for your home.  Starting with the competitive market analysis and helping you price your home for sale, ValueList markets your home in a manner that is comparable or better than any other real estate company in St Louis.  In addition to the MLS your home will be marketed extensively on the internet on such sites as Realtor.com, Homes.com, Yahoo.com, MSN.com and AOL.com, as well as a host  of other lessor known real estate portals.  Don't be fooled by promises of your home being in the local newspapers.  While it may be true, it simply doesn't work towards selling your particular home.  If it did, I'd advertise in the papers, but it doesn't and there is no reason for you to pay for all of this additional overhead.       

          3)  ValueList fields the telephone calls.  It might seem simple, but one of the biggest hurdles in selling your home FSBO or through a MLS only real estate company is simply being available to answer the phone.  Chances are that you are busy living your life, working, taking care of kids, getting the oil changed,etc.  The end result is that when I'm calling owners to set appointments I get a voice mail at least 80% of the time.  With ValueList our phones are answered at least from 10 AM to 8 PM M-F and from 10 AM to 5 PM Saturday and Sunday.  I can't guarantee that you won't get a voice mail, but this is our job!  We're pretty darned serious about answering the phones!

          4)  ValueList shows your property.  This is actually a lot more important than most people would think.  The reason that it's so important is that buyers are very leery about dealing directly with the seller.  A buyer will be a lot more forthright with an agent (particularly when they've built a relationship with that agent) than they will be with a seller showing the home directly.  Think about it for a second.  If you were looking at a home and you thought that the seller's tasted sucked, would you point it out to them?  By having an agent show the property we can overcome objections that you wouldn't even know existed.

          5)  ValueList helps in contract negotiations.  Another very valuable service that ValueList provides.  I can't tell you how many times I've had a buyer and a seller a few hundred or thousands of dollars apart and one or the other party gets pissed off and won't move forward.  Well, helping in negotiations sometimes means holding your hand, sometimes it means patting you on the back and sometimes it means giving you a little shove!  One way or the other, having that experienced ValueList Associate in your corner providing objective and rational advice can mean the difference between getting your home sold or not.

          6)  ValueList takes care of all of the details of getting your transaction through to closing.  This one is a BIGGIE!  While I don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings here, I'll tell you something that makes me laugh on a weekly basis.  That's when I have a FSBO tell me that they don't need an agent because they have sold a home before on their own or that they were an agent 20 years ago or something else as equally silly.  Let me ask you this, if you WERE going to list your home for sale with an agent, would you even consider listing with an agent who had only sold 3 homes over the past 15 years?  Would you list with an agent who had been out of the business for 20 years?  Again, I don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings, but ValueList associates work at this forty, fifty hours a week and sometimes more.   I've been doing real estate since 1984 and have worked THOUSANDS of transactions.  While not all ValueList associates are as experienced as I am, they all have me as a resource to turn to.  Wouldn't it be worth having these resources in your corner, especially if something went wrong with your transaction?  Can you see the value that ValueList brings to the table?

I Talked With An Agent From A Different Company And They Told Me That Nobody Would Show A ValueList Listing.  We hear this all of the time and while there might be an agent or two out there who might discriminate against us, it's simply non-sense for them to say this.  If they did, it would be violating their fiduciary responsibilities to their buyer's for one and I don't think that we would still be in business after almost 12 years if it were true.  Remember, ValueList doesn't get paid unless we produce.  The proof is in the pudding!

Does ValueList Work With Buyers?  Yes, while ValueList is best known as a listing company, ValueList is also a one-stop-shop when it comes to working with buyers.  Since we are a full-service, VA approved mortgage lender you don't have to run all around town in order to buy a home.  ValueList brings all of the resources, tools and the decades of experience to bear in helping you buy a home. 

Are ValueList's Mortgage Rates Competitive?  Yes, they are.  And they are real!  One of my biggest pet peeves in the mortgage world is the fact that many companies, including some really big companies that advertise heavily on television and radio, quote rates that are not realistic.  When you get to closing you find the catch and by then it's too late.  ValueList will quote you an honest quote.  If you like, we'll even show you our wholesale rate sheets.  While we're all about making money, we don't have to make all of our money on you!  With our low overhead, combined real estate services and business philosophy ValueList can compare favorably with any other mortgage company in the country!

Don't The Bigger Companies Have More Resources And Tools To Sell My Home?  There is a certain amount of truth in this statement.  Real estate agents with these large companies like Coldwell Banker and Remax do have a lot of resources available to them through their companies.  The sad truth of the matter is that most of these resources that I mentioned are geared towards helping the agents market themselves, not your home. 

At ValueList we aren't a national company (yet) with our own IT department or graphics department or any number of other departments that come with being a large company.  We are a locally owned and operated business.  We have teamed up with large companies and small to provide you ALL of the benefits of the larger companies and even some that they can't offer BECAUSE of their size such as access to management and the ability to respond quickly.

Our website is hosted by Homes.com, one of the countries premiere real estate internet companies.  Our graphics needs are taken care of by Basement Graphics and our administrative duties are all handled locally.

How Long Has ValueList Been In Business?  ValueList Real Estate Services was started in 1995 and has been serving the St Louis real estate market ever since.  To the best of my knowledge ValueList is the country's 3rd oldest discount real estate company and the country's only full-service/discount real estate and mortgage company.  I know for sure that ValueList Real Estate Services is St Louis' only full-service/discount real estate and mortgage company.

Will ValueList Actually Sell My Home?  The answer to this question is a qualified, yes.  Qualified in the sense that ValueList has had listings expire just like EVERY other real estate company.  You can dance around the issue, but the truth of the matter is that every home will sell at the right price.  Therefore, expired = over priced.  ValueList will work with you to determine the best price to list your home at.  We will report to you the market response to our asking price in an honest and forthright manner.  ValueList does everything that is REAL to sell your home.  Since 1995 we have sold thousands of St Louis homes and your home should be no different. 

Does ValueList Really Offer The Very Best Value In St. Louis Real Estate?  Yes, we do!  When you take everything into account.  When you look at what ValueList does to sell your home and how much we charge, there simply isn't any comparison.  ValueList offers the very best value in St Louis real estate today!

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