Frequently Asked Questions

Absolutely. You will see absolutely no difference in the level of service you receive using our Flat Fee Service than you would if you used any other full-serve brokerage in the area. In fact, brand new clients regularly think they are going to have to sacrifice service in order to save THOUSANDS of dollars selling their house. However, after working with us, they often tell us that they received better service through us, than previous transaction with other brokerages. I know it’s hard to believe, but that’s why we offer guaranteed results and allow clients to cancel their service with us any time, and for any reason, with no penalty.

There really is no comparison. We are a full-service brokerage that handles EVERYTHING involved in selling your house. From the initial consultation, to determining the market value of your house, to the entire sales process, we do it all. From marketing to close, we do it all. From the paperwork to negotiations, we do it all. From scheduling inspections and appraisals, we do it all. Really, we do it all. While some “Discount Brokerages” have different levels of service, we do not. We do EVERYTHING you need to successfully sale your house and still save you THOUSANDS of dollars.

Generally speaking, there are no additional fees. The only exceptions might be if you want to hire a professional photographer or something really out of the norm like needing an engineering report or requiring a survey. As for photography, our fee includes basis photography and even a virtual tour, but some clients opt to hire their own professional photographer and sometimes it’s a good idea depending on the property. For example, a large house on acreage that needs an aerial view. Since we allow clients to cancel their service with us at any time, and for any reason, we expect them to pay for any such items that are out of the ordinary. The good news is, since you’ll be saving THOUSANDS of dollars, you probably wont mind.

Absolutely. For a real estate agreement to be valid in Idaho, it must have a start and end date. However, we allow you cancel your agreement at any time and for any reason. In addition, most real estate agreements have fees tied to them if you do cancel. We do not have any such fee if you decide to cancel. Also, most real estate agreements have a specific number of days that you’re tied to the agreement, even if you do cancel. We do not have any such fees. So really, you can cancel anytime you want, for any reason you want, with no fees, and no games. Why do we do this? We truly believe we can sell your house and save you THOUSANDS of dollars. If we can do what we say we can, why would anybody want to cancel? Simple, they don’t.

Yes. Let’s be honest, there are only 24 hours in a day, and we must prioritize accordingly. Depending on the time of year, type of listing, or other market conditions, we may not be able to help everyone. We don’t have a set number of clients at any given time, but we do want to keep our quality high and that means limiting how many clients we will take at any given time. Trust me when I say this, but if we are too busy to take on additional clients, you WANT us to be honest and tell you. Imagine if you keep calling and can’t get any help because we’re dealing with too many clients. That’s something that we never want one of our clients to experience. So, if you’re considering using 208 Flat Fee, please contact us and see how our schedule is looking.

Basically, we work anywhere in Ada and Canyon County. Occasionally, we’ll work in surrounding counties like Gem, Payette, or Owyhee Counties.

It’s a strange but true story that dates back to late 2007, when I was a new real estate agent just trying to make a living. I sold a house for a friend of mine and everything went as planned until the closing. At the closing, my friend was reviewing the closing documents and he noticed the commission lines that showed how much he was going to have to pay in real estate commission. Now, this was definitely disclosed upfront as it should have been (he even signed documents to the fact). However, I really don’t think he realized just how much it was going to cost for what SEEMED like such little work on my part. Now I’m not discounting how much work we real estate agents put into each transaction, as most clients will never know the real amount of work that goes into a successful transaction. Rather, they think we do a little research, prepare some paperwork, put a sign out, and that’s about it. And, with a good agent, that’s how easy we should make it SEEM. However, they is way more to it, and a good real estate agent should make the transaction seem easy. Long story short, I didn’t change my commission structure for a couple of years after. However, that experience played heavy on my heart and mind with each new transaction. Eventually, prices in the Treasure Valley began to rise dramatically. Houses that were $150,000 became $200,000, then $250,000, them $300,000. I also started selling more expensive houses (now they average $500,000). What I found was almost all of my business was coming from repeat customers and referrals and I actually liked giving them discounts as the sales prices were so much higher, and technology made my job so much easier, it just made since to discount to my friends, repeat clients, and referrals. Then in roughly 2015 I just started passing the savings on to everybody. And to be totally honest, I love discounting as it saves my clients thousands of dollars, makes everyone happy, and I never need to advertise as the repeat clients and referrals keep coming.

There is actually no set standard for commission, and every brokerage has the right to set their own fees. However, the norm in the Treasure Valley is 6% of the sales price. This 6% is usually split 50/50 between the Listing Broker and the Selling Broker. That is, the brokerage that actually lists your house for sale get’s 3%, and the brokerage that bring the buyer to the transaction gets 3%. What we usually see when the 6% is discounted is the same 50/50 split of whatever commission rate is agreed to. However, that is not how we do it. We only charge 4% and we split it 3%/1% with us taking only 1%.

Since we only charge a 4% real estate commission, it’s often asked how we split it with the cooperating broker. Basically, we take the 4% and split it 1% for the Listing Broker (that’s us), and 3% to the Selling Broker. We do this for a couple of reasons. First, we do not want to take money away from other hard-working agents. Since we are the ones offering the discount, it’s only fair that we take the hit. And secondly, we want to increase demand for your house, and by not reducing the commissions of other agents, they will happily show, and encourage buyers to buy your house. It’s simple economics.

No. Though most real estate transactions relating to the SALE of properties do qualify, some more complex transactions such as Estate Sales, Short-Sales, Foreclosures, etc. may be slightly higher. However, we won’t surprise you and you’ll know if your property qualifies during our initial consultation. If you’re interested in your particular situation, please feel free to contact us and ask.

We obviously can’t answer all possible questions in this FAQ’s section, so if you still have questions, we invite you to give us a call anytime between 10:00am and 10:00pm MST, email us, or contact us at your convenience. We’re more than happy to answer any questions you may have.