SAN FRANCISCO, April 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – LessThan6Percent (http://www.lessthan6percent.com), the online marketplace where home sellers can compare commissions and marketing plans from local real estate agents, is exiting its beta launch in the San Francisco Bay Area and expanding into Southern California. Founded in late 2012 by serial entrepreneur Simon Ru, LessThan6Percent provides home sellers a convenient platform to streamline the process of finding the best agents to represent their home.

“The problem home sellers face is that there are thousands of agents in any given market,” says Ru. “It is difficult for home sellers to compare agents to find the best match. They don’t know what questions to ask, what to look for in a marketing proposal, or how to start the awkward conversation of negotiating services commissions.” This is where LessThan6Percent steps in.

LessThan6Percent differs from traditional agent-matching service such as Trulia (http://www.trulia.com/) and Zillow (http://www.zillow.com) by matching sellers to proposals submitted by agents rather than agents’ profiles. Instead of directing sellers to call agents’ numbers on a directory, LessThan6Percent transforms the matching process by having agents compete for sellers’ business. With a click of a button, home sellers would know exactly what services they are going to receive and how much they would cost. This level of transparency is unparalleled in the real estate industry.  

LessThan6Percent Benefits Home Sellers

When using LessThan6Percent, sellers are able to request proposals anonymously and review profiles that showcase agents’ marketing brochures, past transactions and social network reviews. A typical request will receive five proposals within two business days. Each proposal is personalized and includes answers to all the pertinent questions that a seller would typically ask when interviewing agents.  Sellers will be able to compare commission quotes, length of contract, and services such as number of open houses, staging, marketing and virtual tours that the agents are willing to offer.

Beyond quantitative metrics and stats, agents are also given the opportunity to provide a customized response on how they can help the seller obtain a higher price and how they are the best agent for the seller and the property.  This information adds depth to an agent’s profile and helps the seller decide on the appropriate agents to interview and hire.

“When agents compete for your business, the opportunity to get a competitive commission quote comes naturally,” says Ru. On top of the commission savings, LessThan6Percent also offers home sellers a $500 bonus rebate at close of escrow.    

LessThan6Percent Also Benefits Agents

While home sellers enjoy convenience, selection and savings when using LessThan6Percent, real estate agents will enjoy a new avenue to connect with sellers they would not have met otherwise. By gathering and analyzing massive amounts of data from credit bureaus and third-party data sources, LessThan6Percent identifies potential home sellers and brings them to the site. LessThan6Percent’s team interviews and identifies the needs of each seller so that agents can create tailor-made proposals. Because the proposals and commission quotes are personalized and only viewable by the seller, LessThan6Percent provides a safe platform for full-service agents to compete with discount brokerages such as Redfin (http://www.redfin.com/) in a way that was not previously available.  

Since piloting the beta in February 2013, LessThan6Percent has established partnerships with over 300 real estate agents in the San Francisco Bay Area. Several of its partner agents are ranked in the Wall Street Journal as among the top 100 agents in the U.S.

About LessThan6Percent
Founded in November 2012 by serial entrepreneur Simon Ru and led by a team that has helped grow companies like EBay (http://www.ebay.com/) and Redfin, LessThan6Percent™ is a marketplace where home sellers can compare commission quotes and listing proposals from local real estate agents. To learn more about LessThan6Percent, please visit http://www.lessthan6percent.com

LessThan6Percent, Inc.
1001 Bayhill Drive, #294
San Bruno, CA 94066
(Office) 1-800-692-5010

SOURCE LessThan6Percent

RELATED LINKS
http://www.lessthan6percent.com

Article source: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lessthan6percent-revolutionizes-how-home-sellers-and-real-estate-agents-connect-205310341.html

Bay Area home sales rebounded in August after a surprise drop in July but still remained far below historic levels according to data collected by real estate information provider DataQuick.

A total of 7,513 new and resale homes were sold in August in the nine county Bay Area, which includes Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Mateo, Solano and Sonoma Counties. That was a gain of 9.1 percent from July’s 6,887 sales and also a gain of 12.2 percent from the 6,698 sales posted in August of 2010.

The Bay Area historically sees a sales increase of 3.4 percent between July and August. Home sales in the Bay Area were 22.4 percent below the historic August average of 9,682 homes sold. The lowest amount of homes sold in the Bay Area in August since 1988 was 6,688 in 1992, while the highest amount of homes sold was 13,940 in 2004.

However, because August had 23 business days in which home sales could be recorded compared to 20 days in July, the average number of homes sold per day in August was actually five percent lower than in July but were still 7.3 percent higher than in August 2010.

“The sliver of positive news here is that, no matter how you look at it, last month’s sales beat the year-ago numbers, which were pretty lousy. Lower prices and mortgage rates lured some homebuyers off the sidelines last month, but too many others lacked the confidence to step into the game. They worried about their job, or about prices falling more. Others couldn’t get a loan because credit remains drum-tight, or they couldn’t move because they’re underwater,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president.

The median price for new and resale homes and condos declined 1.1 percent to $370,000 in August compared to $374,000 in July. The median price was down 3.9 percent from $385,000 in August of 2010, the eleventh straight month that year-over-year home prices have dropped.

By comparison, the lowest median price posted during the current real estate cycle was $290,000 in March 2009, while the peak median price was $665,000 in July/August 2007.

Distressed home sales made up 45.0 percent of the Bay Area’s resale market last month, with foreclosure re-sales accounting for 26.4 percent of re-sales in August, up from 25.9 percent in July, while short sales made up about 18.6 percent of Bay Area’s sales last month, down from 18.8 percent in July.

Foreclosure re-sales peaked at 52.0 percent in February 2009 while the historic rate of foreclosure re-sales is about nine percent.

Tags: Bay Area, DataQuick, home sales, home prices, spring selling season, median sales price, new homes, re-sale homes

Source:
Dataquick

Article source: http://loanrateupdate.com/mortgages/bay-area-home-sales-rebound-in-august-but-prices-fall