What Is Broker Marketing Assistance?
Simply put it is a mutually advantageous arrangement between the homeowner and a cooperating Broker that allows the Broker/Office to supply the homeowner with various marketing (local print advertising, lawn sign, etc.) and support services (secretarial/answering services, hosting open houses, etc.) at no cost to the homeowner.  Most of the Broker supplied services are the same ones that would be offered under a traditional listing arrangement. 

 
Why Would A Broker Offer FREE Marketing Assistance?
Because it helps them secure more home buyers.  The more buyers a Broker can work with, the more potential sales that will be generated.  In effect, they attract buyers by advertising your house and connect with buyers by servicing your listing.  Not every buyer that calls for information will be appropriate for your house, but that was a buyer nevertheless and the Broker can possibly capitalize on that by attempting to sell them something else.  In other words, it is a one hand washes the other kind of arrangement.  You receive support and additional marketing from the Broker and in return the Broker acquires additional buyers they can work with.  Plus, because they are servicing all agents and buyer inquires they have a better chance at selling your house than other brokers.
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What is the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island (MLS)? 
The Multiple Listing Service is an association of Realtors which maintains a computerized list of properties for sale in Nassau, Suffolk, and Queens.  The MLS is the primary vehicle used by Realtors to find properties for their buyers.  In early 2008, the MLS had over 23,000 members and over 2,700 member offices, and well over 40,000 properties listed for sale.  At one time, this valuable resource was for the exclusive use of Realtors only.  Now, through the Internet, MLS is available to the general public (see www.MLSLI.com).   

Property listing information is now available to the general public via MLS's public web site MLSLI.com (with over 17,000 daily visits, and more than 200,000 visits a month, this is the most visited web site by prospective homebuyers on Long Island).  No longer does a buyer need to go to a local real estate office in order to find all the properties for sale in a given area.  Today's home buyers do their searching from the convenience of their home and office.  A myriad of tools and services are available that allow buyers to track houses of interest, set automatic search criterion, and compare like properties.  They can easily check recent area home sales with such tools as Zillow.com.  Houses can be viewed on-line utilizing Virtual Tours which offer the buyer a panoramic view of the home, room by room.  Some of these tours even have accompanying audio presentations.  School Information and Neighborhood Profiles are easily available.  Even an aerial view of you house and neighborhood can be found on GoogleEarth.com.  When a buyer finds a house they are interested in, they can simply click a button to request additional information or to schedule a showing.  It is easy to see how the Internet has revolutionized the residential real estate industry.  As a home seller, you need to have an effective Internet presence in order to simply compete in the marketplace.  No matter how great your location, or how nice your house is, if buyers don't know about it you will have a difficult time selling it and getting your best price.  Not only do they need to know about your house, your presentation on the Internet must be strong enough to entice them to request a showing.

 
What Is A Buyer's Agent? 
An increasing number of homebuyers are hiring a Realtor to act as their Buyer's Agent.  In the past, most every Realtor was working for the seller, either directly as the listing agent, or indirectly as what is known as a Sub-Agent (or Sellers Agent).  A Sub-Agent is any Realtor showing the house to prospective buyers (other than the listing agent) that is not a Buyer's Agent. The default relationship is Sub-Agent (Sellers Agent), unless the buyer has a special written agreement to the contrary.  In other words, every agent other than a Buyer's Agent is working for the seller.  It is critical that today's home sellers be aware of what it means to them to have a Buyer's Agent negotiate on behalf of the buyer, for the sale of their house.  A Sub-Agent (or Sellers Agent) is prohibited by law from advising the buyer or assisting them in any way during the negotiations, if such advice and/or assistance would in any way adversely affect the seller's negotiating position.  According to the latest *NAR statistics, 64% of buyers reported that they worked with an agent who represented their interests alone.  Long Island is woefully behind the rest of the country in utilizing Buyer Agents.  However, this situation is fast changing.  The Internet has educated buyers to the home buying process and as a result, the number of Buyer Agency relationships on Long Island is increasing rapidly.  Homebuyers have finally realized that they are paying the entire bill, but getting none of the critical representation.  This one facet alone is of considerable importance to home sellers who decide to sell on their own.  In the past, most every real estate agent involved in the sale of a home was working for the seller, even the agent who brought the buyer.  In this traditional environment, the seller was protected even if they didn't realize it.  The ever increasing use of Buyer Agents by homebuyers is jeopardizing this security . . .   
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Who Pays The Commission, The Buyer Or The Seller? 
This is a very interesting question and one that goes to the heart of pricing and estimating your anticipated net return on the sale.  True, the seller writes the check to the Realtor(s), but where did they get the money . . . from the proceeds of the sale, or in other words, from the buyer.  Understanding this (somewhat abstract) concept is extremely important when developing your asking price.  Properly factoring this aspect of the asking price can give you a tremendous marketing edge.  "Padding" the asking price by 1%, 2%, or even 3%, and then offering this extra percentage to a seller's or buyer's agent can generate a tremendous amount of buyer traffic (remember agents are driven by commission).  The more traffic, the more potential offers.  When you keep in mind that all offers are negotiable, you start to gain some insight into how you might employ this concept into your marketing.  Consider the following example:

A seller is looking to net $405,000 on the sale of their house.  Recent comparable sales indicate a selling price range of $390,000 to $425,000.  A $35,000 spread, or approximately -3% to +5% off the desired net.  Giving 2.5% or 3% to a selling or buying agent can be easily justified in this example.  Pricing the house at $420,000 positions the seller very favorably in their market while at the same time eliciting above average agent activity via the added commission incentive . . .

If you study the above example, I think you will start to see the dynamics that are at play.  As long as you maintain a pricing strategy that is within the market's range for your house, this approach can be extremely effective.   
  
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Why Choose Cyber Smart Real Estate? 
This is a great opportunity for the home seller to get their house listed on the Internet and MLS, in addition to the use of many other marketing tools and enhancements for only a fraction of what it would cost to list with a traditional Realtor.  Being on the Internet allows for the possibility of NO agent commission being paid at all.  And being in the MLS allows you the opportunity to have your house listed in the same database that Realtors use to find listings for their buyers.  Working with Cyber Smart Real Estate offers the home seller more cost effective options to help get their home sold quickly and for top dollar.  Every option, from a simple do it yourself MLS listing to a full service arrangement is offered.  What really sets us apart from the traditional listing Realtor is that we offer the home seller everything in between.  The home seller can tailor their support package to their specific needs and save thousands in the process, and not compromise their marketing and selling effort at all.

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How Can Cyber Smart Real Estate Save Me Money?

        SCENARIO 1 (The Internet) - Once you list with Cyber Smart Real Estate your home will be posted on major Internet sites such as Realtor.com, AOL, Google, Yahoo, MLSLI, Craigslist, and many other sites.  If you find a buyer on your own, or a buyer finds you via Realtor.com (or any of the other sites your home is on), then you would only have paid the onetime cost of your Seller Package!  This will save you thousands because without our service you would typically have paid a Realtor 4% - 6% at closing (5% of a $500,000 house is $25,000).  That is a huge savings!

        SCENARIO 2 (Multiple Listing Service - MLS) - Once you list with Cyber Smart Real Estate, your home will also be listed on the Long Island Multiple Service (MLS).  This allows Realtors to find your house in the MLS database and show it to their respective buyers.  If a Realtor (Selling Broker) brings you a buyer, pay 2% (lower or higher if you choose) to the SELLING BROKER at closing.  This would still save you thousands because you would not have to pay the 2% - 3% to the LISTING BROKER (because you paid one flat fee up-front).  Therefore, if your house sold for $500,000 then you would have saved the commission that would have normally went to the LISTING BROKER ($10,000 - $15,000)!

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What Does The Strategic Alliance Mean To Me As A Seller?
Cyber Smart Real Estate has developed a unique approach to the marketing of residential properties on Long Island.  Our "Strategic Alliance" concept has allied us with many of Long Island's leading brokers.  This relationship has allowed us to take advantage of the current market conditions by leveraging the need of real estate agents for qualified buyers, with the need of sellers to get their property shown.  This ground breaking approach combines the tremendous strength of the Multiple Listing Service, the 23,000+ Long Island real estate agents, and many other dynamic marketing tools, to expose a seller's property to as many prospective buyers as possible, without requiring the seller to pay a Listing Broker commission.  In effect, a seller attains the full reach and marketing benefit of a full service Realtor but at a much reduced cost, while the Realtor gets the benefit of a steady stream of qualified buyers.  This concept has worked for many others, why not let it work for you?