List With Freedom Review: What it is, how it works

List With Freedom is an online company that helps home sellers list their houses on the local MLS, without having to hire a real estate agent. The company, which offers three different tiers of service and charges a flat fee for each, has been in business since 2005.

What does List With Freedom do?

List With Freedom is a flat-fee MLS company, meaning it caters to “for sale by owner” (FSBO) home sellers who don’t want to pay a Realtor’s commission. It charges a flat fee to list FSBO homes on the seller’s local MLS, or mulitple listing service — a database of homes for sale that is usually only accessible to real estate pros. MLS listings are typically syndicated to large consumer sites like Zillow and Realtor.com, which greatly increases the visibility of a listing.

Sellers who list their home through List With Freedom can choose from one of three packages, each with escalating prices and levels of service:

• Gold, $89: This lowest-priced package is the company’s most basic, which lists your home on the MLS for six months with up to 25 photos. Sellers are also charged a 0.5 percent “compliance fee” when the sale closes.
• Platinum, $195: This also provides a six-month listing, but with unlimited photos and a lower 0.25 percent compliance fee.
• Platinum+, $395: The top tier of service extends your listing to 12 months, with the same unlimited photos and 0.25 percent fee as the middle package. It also includes many services that are only available for an additional fee in the other packages, such as a yard sign, unlimited open houses and a virtual tour.

Once you choose your package, you fill out the listing forms online and upload photos of your home. Once you sign all the required documents, List With Freedom lists your property on your local MLS. You are contacted directly by buyers’ agents with inquiries and offers.

How does List With Freedom make money?

Users pay a flat fee to list a property with List With Freedom. And while these fees are modest, ranging from $89 to $395, there are plenty of optional add-ons in the cheaper two packages that can add up fast, including fees for yard signs, open houses, virtual tours, and $395 for something called “personal transaction coordinator service.”

And then there’s the compliance fee. Collected when your property sells, this fee is the biggest by far — if you choose the Gold package, which has the cheapest flat fee at $89, you’re actually paying the highest compliance fee at 0.5 percent of the home’s sale price. If you sell your home for $350,000, for example, 0.5 percent comes to $1,750. For the other two packages, the fee is 0.25 percent; on a $350,000 sale that comes to $875. While this is much lower than the 2.5 or 3 percent commission you’d pay a real estate agent, it’s still much higher than the supposedly “flat” fee.

List With Freedom coverage

The company is a licensed real estate brokerage that operates in most U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. The only states where List With Freedom is not currently available are Alaska, Colorado and Hawaii.

List With Freedom pros and cons

List With Freedom alternatives

If you’re not sure that selling with List With Freedom is right for you, there are many other ways to sell your house. Consider these other options:

• Traditional real estate agents: A local agent can offer expertise in your local market and guidance throughout the entire sale process. If you hire an agent you’ll have to pay their commission, but this fee is often negotiable.
• Low-cost agents: If you like the traditional listing process but not the traditional agent commission rates, consider using a discount broker. Options like Redfin and Clever offer lower rates than typical brokerages.
• Other flat-fee listing companies: List With Freedom is far from the only flat-fee MLS company out there. Other companies that offer similar services include Houzeo, Beycome and Homecoin.
• Cash-homebuying companies and iBuyers: These companies make quick cash offers on homes and can close much more quickly than a traditional sale. Cash homebuyers typically buy homes in as-is condition, which means that not only do you not pay an agent’s fee, but you don’t have to pay to fix things up at all, either. And iBuyers like Opendoor work in a similar manner (but are more selective in what kinds of homes they buy). The catch is that these companies will offer less for your home than you would likely get with an open-market listing.

Bottom line

List With Freedom lists your home on the MLS without the cost of hiring a listing agent. This can save you time and money, but it can also cost more than you might think. If you want marketing help or expert guidance, you might be better off working with a local real estate agent who knows your market well.

FAQs

• Is List with Freedom a legitimate company?

  Yes. List With Freedom was founded in 2005 by Jim Tyminski, who still serves as CTO and Executive Vice President, and is headed up by CEO/President Ralph Harvey. The company is based in Boynton Beach, Florida, and is licensed to operate in every U.S. state except Alaska, Colorado and Hawaii.

• What type of real estate company is List With Freedom?

  List With Freedom is a flat-fee MLS company — it helps homeowners list their homes on the local MLS without the need for a real estate agent. The service is for “for sale by owner” transactions, and the company does not manage your listing once it’s posted in the way a Realtor would.

• Does List With Freedom put my house on the MLS?

  Yes, List With Freedom puts your home on the local MLS, or multiple listing service, for a fee. Homes listed on the MLS are also typically syndicated to large consumer real estate sites like Zillow and Realtor.com.