Frequently Asked Questions

About Don Anthony Realty
How does Don Anthony Realty work?
Why does Don Anthony Realty work?
What advantages does Don Anthony Realty offer compared to a traditional Realtor® or For Sale By Owner?
So why do so many people still list with agents charging 6%*?
If I am going to show the home and do the open houses, why do I need Don Anthony Realty?
Do you also represent buyers?
What happens if a buyer calls Don Anthony Realty directly to request to see my home?
How can Don Anthony Realty charge such low fees for its services?
If your business model is so beneficial to clients and you alike, why aren’t other brokers doing it?
Am I locked into a 6-month listing contract with Don Anthony Realty?

Real estate lingo
What is the MLS?
What is REALTOR.com?
What is “fee for service” or “á la carte services”?
What is “full service?”
What is "Limited Service?"
Are you a “discount” broker?

The sales process
How should I price my home?
Will a yard sign be provided?
What are open houses? Are they necessary?
We work all day. How can we show our property?
What happens when I receive an offer?
How does Don Anthony Realty help me with the paperwork and legal steps?

Commissions
What if I sell my home myself?
If another agent contacts me directly to show my home, do I have to give them a commission if they write a contact?
May a buyer contact me directly after a Realtor® shows my home to them?
How much commission do I have to pay?
Are there any hidden fees?
If Don Anthony Realty brings me a buyer who buys my home, then will I owe a commission to them for bringing the buyer?

Relationship with other agents
Won’t buyer agents boycott my listing?
How do other Realtors® show my home?
Will my listing look the same as those who have agreed to pay a full listing commission to a traditional agent?

How does Don Anthony Realty work?
You choose the marketing you need and how involved you want to be in the sales process. If you show your home and you sell your home, you save! Don’t have time to show your home? If we show and sell your home, you still save due to our low listing fee.

Your home will be offered to local Realtors® in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) so they can show and sell your home. If they sell your home, you pay a low Don Anthony Realty fee and you pay the real estate professional that brings the buyer the fee you agreed to and quoted in the MLS listing. You will still save thousands. No matter how it sells or who sells it, you save!

Why does Don Anthony Realty work?
Don Anthony Realty works because a steadily increasing number of buyers are using the Internet to search for a home before they ever even consider speaking with a real estate agent. In fact, thousands of buyers visit our websites each month. We cover your bases with effective marketing and work directly with the real estate community because the local agents are fully protected by the MLS system. We provide services that make the process seamless because our licensed consulting team will help you and the buyer fill out all the forms that are required by the state and handle the process from start to finish, including helping you find a buyer, qualifying them for a new loan, all the way through selecting which settlement company to use. As a seller, it is important to know that you can have professional help throughout the entire process.

What advantages does Don Anthony Realty offer compared to a traditional Realtor® or For Sale By Owner?
You get the exposure and support you can't get as a For Sale by Owner and you save thousands by selling your home with Don Anthony Realty instead of with brokers who charge a 6%* commission. You can use your savings to reduce the sales price, provide incentive options to the buyers, or offer an incentive to Buyer Agents who show your property, all of which will speed up the selling process. We let you choose exactly how much you want to participate in the sale of your home and exactly what services you need assistance with. Your fee is based upon how many services your Don Anthony Realty Real Estate Consultant provides. If you participate in the sale of your home and procure the buyer by either showing your home yourself or through an open house you hold, the cost to sell your home will be 45% - 95% less than a traditional listing agent!

So why do so many people still list with agents charging 6%*?
The big real estate companies spend a lot of effort training their agents to push the service-side perception of their offering and avoid the issue of fees. To defend their traditional pricing structure, many agents will argue that “if you pay less, you will get less.” It’s all a smokescreen, of course. There is no shortage of unhappy sellers who paid 6%*.

Loyalty - When sellers prepare to sell their home, they first think of the agent that sold them their home. Because of their past relationship, they often find it difficult to “arm wrestle” commissions when they didn’t have to as a buyer.

Education - Most people do not realize commissions are negotiable and rely on advice from a friend or relative in the real estate business. Many people think that For Sale By Owner or traditional agencies are their only options because information concerning options were not presented to them.

If I am going to show the home and do the open houses, why do I need Don Anthony Realty?
The #1 reason sellers use Don Anthony Realty is for our marketing & expertise. We counsel you on pricing your home, marketing your home, and most important, managing your transaction through closing to make sure that all of the paperwork is done correctly and that all required legal documents are included.

Do you also represent buyers?
Yes. Many of our sellers were once buyer clients, and of course, many of our sellers also want to buy again. We also have buyer agents who specialize in working with buyers.

What happens if a buyer calls Don Anthony Realty directly to request to see my home?
The Don Anthony Realty office will first check your showing instructions to see if you have given them instructions to show your home. If not, they will then make every effort to contact you for you to show.

How can Don Anthony Realty charge such low fees for its services?
We have streamlined the process of selling a home and identified how much time each service takes within the sale. This has allowed us to charge low fees based upon the amount of time our real estate professionals will have to dedicate to the sale of your home.

If your business model is so beneficial to clients and you alike, why aren’t other brokers doing it?
Traditional real estate brokerage is pretty entrenched, and industry change is slow. The Internet has really shaken things up, and changes are starting to appear. Large national chains are even starting to tinker with the traditional model; and along with Don Anthony Realty, there have been several Internet start-ups taking a stab at simple discount brokerage. We expect that the rate of change within the industry will increase, bringing new choices to consumers. Instead of seeking to “jump on the bandwagon”, Don Anthony Realty is proud of doing “fee for service” from the start.

Am I locked into a 6-month listing contract with Don Anthony Realty?
No, you can choose a shorter time if you'd like and you can cancel your agreement anytime for a small administrative fee.

What is the MLS?
The MLS® (Multiple Listing Service) is the most comprehensive computerized database of homes for sale, with over 3 million listings nationwide. This database is used by Realtors® to market and promote their own listings and to cooperate with other Realtors®. A large portion of real estate transactions are a direct result of MLS exposure. By having your home in the MLS, it will be exposed to thousands of local real estate agents who otherwise would not have known that your property was for sale and would not have shown it. This is the same MLS used by a traditional broker who would charge you a full cost listing commission.

What is REALTOR.com?
REALTOR.COM is a leading Internet site where buyers can search for homes. It is basically the public version of the MLS. Technically, it is the official Internet site for the National Association of Realtors®. REALTOR.com’s 3 million home listings are provided by participating REALTOR® Multiple Listing Services. This is one of the advantages of listing your home on the MLS - your home will then be copied to the REALTOR.com web site and will be accessible to individuals and Realtors® via the Internet. This includes color pictures, video tours, and all pertinent information (price, location, square footage, contact information, etc.)

What is “fee for service” or “á la carte services”?
“Fee for service” is where the full service package is separated into any number of component parts and combinations. In this arrangement, different services cost different fees, and these fees are usually not contingent upon the property selling. This arrangement is suited for today’s more “e-savvy” sellers and “For Sale By Owners” who want assistance with select parts of the process of selling their home, without having to pay a traditional real estate company's higher full-cost fee. For the real estate professional, the two most costly and time-consuming services in a sale of your home are the open houses and showings. The standard Don Anthony Realty fee does not include these services. You can show your own home and SAVE! Should you want help showing your home, we are available. With our program, you have the option to decide whether you need this service. Our fee structure provides you “full service” to meet your needs, while saving you as much money as possible.

What is “full service?”
Most real estate professionals refer to their service as “full service.” This means that they do everything they think will sell your home: place it in the MLS, advertise it in the local paper and home magazines, provider a flyer, do open houses, show your home to potential buyers, handle the negotiations when you receive an offer, and handle everything through closing. The question really should be, “What is full-cost service?” Sadly, some brokers (regardless of company) list homes in the MLS and wait for a contract to come in with no service provided beyond that. Many times after these listings expire, we end up interviewing with these unhappy sellers. We explain carefully to them what we do and what we don’t do. Most clients realize they are getting more services than when they were paying 6%* commission. We offer you a menu of services that lets you choose as much or as little service as you desire! AND we back it up in writing by making the specifics of the service and the marketing we provide part of the listing agreement!

What is "Limited Service?"
Some brokers just put you on the MLS with 1 picture and that is it. If a broker doesn't help with contract negotiation and certain other aspects of the transaction, the MLS considers the listing to be a "limited service" listing. The MLS requires the broker to disclose it on the listing so buyer agents know they may have to do more work than if they were dealing with a "full serivce" firm like Don Anthony Realty.

Are you a “discount” broker?
No. What makes Don Anthony Realty different is that we are a “fee for service” company. We have determined a very competitive fee for each component of a real estate transaction, and we offer that to the public in a “no haggle” environment. Unlike traditional real estate, you don’t have to argue and bicker with us to get a super competitive rate! We don’t attempt to make a fortune from each family we deal with; we just sell a lot of homes and pass along the savings to you.

How should I price my home?
We can provide you with a Comparative Market Analysis that will give you information regarding the price range of similar home sales in your area so that you can choose a price you feel is appropriate for your home.

Will a yard sign be provided?
Yes, an attractive Don Anthony Realty yard sign, as well as directional signs, will be provided that is conservative and does not indicate a low cost or alternative listing.

What are open houses? Are they necessary?
Open Houses are typically conducted on Saturdays and/or Sundays. The idea is to let the buyers preview your home in a no-pressure, non-scheduled manner. Open Houses statistically are responsible for 2-3% of all home sales. Just like "location, location, location" is important, so is "exposure, exposure, exposure". The more people that see your home, the more you increase the odds of finding a buyer. Since opening your home to others does not require a real estate license, we allow you to do this and save money, or we can do this for a small fee.

We work all day. How can we show our property?
Fortunately, the people buying homes also work all day so most people can only preview a home in the evenings or on the weekend. Generally, scheduling the buyer to meet with you is not an issue. However, in the event that the buyer can’t wait, you can choose to let us show your home to that buyer.

What happens when I receive an offer?
We will write the contract and handle the transaction through to Closing. Contact us immediately so that we can prepare the paperwork and get the process rolling.

How does Don Anthony Realty help me with the paperwork and legal steps?
Don Anthony Realty’s licensed consulting team will help you execute your transaction through closing. Once you find a buyer (either directly or through a buyer’s agent), simply call Don Anthony Realty and one of our licensed Real Estate Consultants will assist you with the creation of the purchase agreement and steps to closing. If you receive an offer from a buyer’s broker, then Don Anthony Realty will facilitate the transaction through to closing.

What if I sell my home myself?
If you sell your home without a cooperating Broker, no Buyer's Agent commission is due. The only fee is the Don Anthony Realty fee, which is collected at closing.

If another agent contacts me directly to show my home, do I have to give them a commission if they write a contract?
If your home is listed in the MLS, then you are legally bound to pay the real estate professional that procures a buyer for your property the amount of commission defined in the MLS listing.

May a buyer contact me directly after a Realtor® shows my home to them?
Yes. However, you will still be obligated to pay a selling commission to the Realtor® who showed the home.

How much commission do I have to pay?
Unlike most real estate agencies, we offer several options to list your home—we are leading the trend within the real estate industry to charge a “Fee for Services Provided." You decide how much you want to participate in the sale of your home and what services you would like your Don Anthony Realty Real Estate Professional to provide. Many of our clients choose to use one or two added optional services, but you can successfully sell your home with us for only $499 up front and 1/2% when sold.

Are there any hidden fees?
No. Don Anthony Realty identifies all fees up front.

If Don Anthony Realty brings me a buyer who buys my home, then will I owe a commission to them for bringing the buyer?
It depends. If a Don Anthony Realty agent brings a qualified buyer to you who purchases your home, we are entitled to the buyer agent commission for selling your home if we are acting as the buyer's agent and only if they do NOT become clients through our advertisements of your property. This is the same as any other agent who brings a buyer. In most cases, the buyer will have found your home due to our advertising of it, creating substantial savings for you since you will save that commission!

Won’t buyer agents boycott my listing?
No. Buyer brokers are indifferent as long as they are being paid their due. Our listings have been sold by nearly every major real estate company in the area, and we have excellent relationships with our colleagues. In addition, it is a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act for agents to choose which listing to show or not show based on the fees you are paying. No agent wants to lose their license, lose their livelihood, and go to jail.

How do other Realtors® show my home?
Other Realtors® will schedule a showing through Centrialized Showings, the appointment scheduling service we use.

Will my listing look the same as those who have agreed to pay a full listing commission to a traditional agent?
Yes. Your listing is a “Full Service” listing so it will be identical to those paying a much, much higher fee.