Part of the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is an online database of all the homes for sale listed with the Realtor members in the Peoria region. What does this mean for you?

First, once your home is listed with a Realtor, ALL the Realtors will know! When a Buyer's Realtor, (or Buyer's Agent) is looking for a home for their buyer, the Agent goes to the database and searches for exactly what the buyer wants. So, in a way, when you hire one Realtor, you've hired them all!

Second, Statistics show 50% of todays homebuyers are starting their home search online. Many of the most popular national real estate sites (Realtor.com, yahoo, MSN, etc.)download data from the MLS. There are over 700 Realtors in the Peoria Multiple Listing Service (MLS), many with their own websites that have search functions that buyers can use to find homes listed in the MLS. Potential buyers may find information about your house with my phone number on a competitor's website just because you were in MLS! All this is in addition to agents who give potential homebuyers lists of homes in their price range. Reach all the potential buyers through the MLS and Marquise Realty, all for only 4.9%.

NOT all Licensed Real Estate Agents are Realtors! Only agents who have sworn to abide by the Code of Ethics are Realtors, ask before you sign a listing contract. Agents that are not Realtors can not market your property in the MLS.

This is a full service program, Brent or Chris will handle the transaction from start to finish, taking care of advertising, appointments, showings, the works. In addition to placement in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), the Marquise Marketing plan includes local print media, local media websites with links to marquiserealty.com, classified and/or display ads, Central Illinois Homes Guide, signs with the Marquise diamond logo, and more.

The Marquise Marketing program with 4.9% commission INCLUDES the 3% paid out to the Buyers' Realtor through the MLS. This is important because some companies offer you a lower commission, but they discount the part paid to the Buyer's Realtor - reducing the incentive to sell your property (see "Pitfalls" paragraph below.)

This full service package compares to plans many other Peoria area real estate firms would charge 6% or more for! I believe this is the best offer in town!

Before you sign a Listing Contract with another company, COMPARE - The Marquise Marketing Promise: 1. Your property in FULL color in the Homes Guide minimum of once per month 2. Streaming Video Tour on Realtor.com, in the MLS, and many other web sites COMPARE how few listings have tours! This is also a Streaming (moving) Video Tour, not still photos 3. Your property in the Sunday Journal Star a minimum of two Sundays out of four. The big companies have too many properties for sale to advertise your house with this consistency.

There are no up-front fees or additional charges to my office - just the 4.9% commission at closing.

How can we offer all the service at such a savings? 1. Less Image advertising: Have you notices how some agents spend as much advertising themself as promoting their sellers' homes! Higher commissions pay for that image advertising. Marquise Realty does no expensive image ads on TV, Radio, or billboards. 2. No Franchise Fees: being a locally owned company, not a franchise, means we don't have to charge sellers more to cover national ad campaigns or send money to "the home office". 3. No posh office space: many of our local competitors have offices fit for a king, but they pay for it with the commission on your castle!

With MLS, sellers will increase the demand for the property, as there will be a larger market of buyers, and hence possibly a higher sales price than selling "by owner".

Serving you with over a decade of experience in the real estate industry. Click on an agents name in column at left to learn more about each agent. When you choose Marquise Realty, you can count on professional service at reasonable cost.

I believe the Marquise Diamond package is the best option for selling a home. I don't say this for selfish reasons, as the commission I keep out of the 4.9% may be only 1.9% with this program. The MLS works!

There are many "discount" programs where the consumer is "coached" through the selling process. Usually these companies ask for a fee upfront - why do they need money before closing if their program is likely to get you to closing? After their cheapest plan fails to work, you'll get a sales pitch for a program with higher commissions - I feel this is a good old bait & switch.

So be cautious of companies that ask for money up front - if they believe their service will sell your property, they will be paid at closing.

"Do it yourself" programs: Many aspects of the real estate industry can't be coached, and are learned by experience. Realtors are Salespeople, and the arts of persuation and negotiation take time to master. If an unsuspecting seller takes a home off the market for an un-qualified buyer, he/she could miss out 2-3 months of prime marketing time, and then not be able to purchase their dream home.

Whose commission is being discounted? Some offices offer you a lower fee, but are deducting your savings from the amount of commission offered through the MLS to the Buyer's Realtor. This isn't helping you sell your home! Commissions are offered to salespeople as in incentive for them to show & sell your property. If there are 10 houses to choose from, which ones get action? By paying out 3.0% to the Buyers' Realtor, the Marquise Realty program ensures buyers know about your home. Buyer's Realtors are going to show and "sell" (say positive things about) properties that pay them well to do so. That's why my program offers 3% to the Buyer's Realtor through the MLS. Offering Buyers' Realtors less than 3.0% through MLS creates an incentive for them to show other Sellers' properties. The result may just make your listing stale, hurting your overall chances of selling for top dollar.

The 4.9% Commission is for homes priced above $150,000. The Commission on homes below $150,000 but above $70,000 is 5.50%. Marquise Realty reserves the right to refuse service to anyone. Marquise Realty reserves the right to charge higher fees in certain situations, including, but not limited to repossessed and/or distressed properties.