Top Discount Brokers in Austin, TX

When searching for discount brokers in Austin, you may notice a lot of options at your disposal. It can be a challenge to understand what’s important to look for when finding the right company or Realtor to sell your house in a “non-traditional” way.

In this article we’ll help you navigate the different discount brokers in Austin and make sure you are not trading savings for service in a way that could negatively affect your ability to sell your home for the highest profit possible.

What does a traditional agent charge in Austin, TX?

To avoid overpaying when looking for discount or flat-fee realtors in Austin, it is important to understand the going rate for a traditional agent. Real Estate commissions are typically highly structured and are usually a percentage of the home sales price.

Traditional real estate brokerages in Austin typically charge 6% commissions, this is 6% of the final sales price of the home.

For example, if you listed with a traditional agent and your home sold for a gross price of $500,000, you would pay $30,000 in real estate commissions.

In 2020 the average Austin resident paid $36,360 in real estate commissions, the typical ListingSpark home-seller pays about $356 in listing commission to sell their home on the MLS.

Based on Austin median home price of $606,000.

Paying high commissions can put a damper on the celebration after selling your home, so it is important for home-sellers to be aware of all of their options in 2021.

What to look for when choosing a discount broker in Austin, TX

It’s easy to drawn in by the cheapest options to sell your home. A flat fee MLS service or a company/agent that drops their listing commission below other competitors is an alluring proposition. However, there can be a significant trade off for those lower fees. Here is a list of the most important components an agent or Flat Fee MLS service should be offering you.

MLS Listing

If you are paying a service or agent and they are not advertising your listing on the MLS, you should run away as fast as possible.

Syndication on to Major Real Estate Sites

You want your listing displayed on the MLS and the most trafficked real estate sites like Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, etc.

Professional Photos

Many flat fee or discount sites don’t offer professional photography and it is incredibly damaging to a seller’s ability to drive interest, traffic, and offers to the home. We live in an online world now and the home should look stunning on line. iPhone pictures just won’t cut it.

Supra Lockbox and Showing Feedback

You may not think you need this. However, the security and tracking benefits are incredible, and the ability to get candid feedback is invaluable.

Market Data/CMAs

You need to know what’s happening in the market so you can properly price your home.

7 day a week communication and support

Unfortunately, this is something that most discount or flat fee MLS brokers will not provide and can really hurt your chances of selling your home with the best terms. Real estate is happening all the time and buyers and their agents can be very impatient if the company you chose is unresponsive.

Who are some of the discount realtors in Austin, TX and what are their pros and cons?

	ListingSpark	Rex Real Estate	Homelister	Creekview Realty
Pricing	$7/day or 0.5%	2.5% (min. $9,000)	$600-$2700	$600-$1400
MLS Listing	✅	❌	✅	✅
Unlimited listing updates	✅	✅	✅	❌
Professional photography	✅	✅	💰	💰
For sale sign	✅	✅	✅	✅
Lockbox	✅	✅	💰	✅

ListingSpark

ListingSpark is the largest flat fee or discount realtor in Austin. With over 900 properties sold in the last 24 months, ListingSpark is highly experienced at offering sellers with the best outcome at some of the lowest listing fees in the industry.

Pros:

• With our one of a kind $7 a day listing service, our clients typically only spend between $200-$500 to get their homes sold in the Austin area.
• ListingSpark includes everything you would want or expect from an agent charging you a full 3% commission. Including:
  • Professional photos at no additional charge.
  • Yard Sign
  • Supra lockbox
  • Showing notifications and feedback
  • Showingtime showing service
  • Proprietary ListingSpark seller dashboard so you can monitor showings, feedback, offers and make changes to your listing any time 24/7 from your computer, phone or tablet.
  • Proprietary negotiation platform to allow you to respond to offers 24/7.
  • Market Data to aid in pricing decisions at no additional charge. This is built in to our system, so you can look daily if you want to see what’s happening with sales in your area.
  • A 7 day a week support team, so not only will you as a seller will always be taken care of, but buyer’s and agents will always receive a timely response to questions about your property.
  • Our Agent on Demand service (an additional $975 only due AT CLOSING) is available if you feel like you need extra support with the negotiations and transaction process. Opt in any time and only pay if you successfully close.
  • In house title company Spark Title which will not only save you on title fees, but will start the title process early so when you find your buyer the process will run smoother and faster allowing you to potentially close sooner.
    • *Remember, you can use Spark Title even if you find a buyer before listing your home in the MLS and benefit from the savings and support.

Cons:

• Call us cocky, but unfortunately we haven’t found any yet.

In short, if you are looking to find the best discount Realtor in Austin, you don’t need to look any further than ListingSpark. Check out another great blog: Considering a Flat-Fee Real Estate Agent? What You Need to Know to learn more about what you should look for if you are thinking about using a Flat Fee MLS broker or discount Realtor in Austin.

Pricing:

ListingSpark offers two tiers of pricing with one being pay as you go and the other being paid at closing. ListingSpark also offers the option to add a full service agent for a small additional fee.

$7/day – Pay as you go	0.5% Paid at Close – The Premium Plan
✅ Cancel any time prior to contract	✅ No payment until close
✅ Free Pro Photos	✅ Free Pro Photos
✅ Lockbox / Sign	✅ Lockbox / Sign
✅ ShowingTime Service	✅ ShowingTime Service
✅ All required documents	✅ All required documents
✅ 150 point Marketing Plan	✅ 150 point Marketing Plan
✅ Optional Fast Pass Close	✅ Optional Fast Pass Close
✅ Optional Agent on Demand	✅ Optional Agent on Demand
	✅ Pricing Review
	✅ Photo Review
	✅ Description Review
	✅ Showing Time Instruction Review

Reviews:

As of November 23, 2021, ListingSpark has an average rating of 4.4/5 based on 568 reviews across Google, Birdeye, Facebook, and Zillow.

	4.1/5 (124 reviews)
	4.3/5 (315 reviews)
	4.2/5 (43 reviews)
	4.9/5 (86 reviews)

Creekview Realty

Creekview Realty has been in the Austin area for some time now and is a well known flat fee MLS company. They offer a basic package for $600 up front to get you listed in the MLS, or a package with more “hands on” negotiation support for $1400.

Pros:

• MLS access and syndication on to major real estate sites so you do get maximum exposure.
• Maintain control of your listing throughout the process.
• You receive a yard sign included.
• Option to opt in to a higher level of support for $1400

Cons:

• You pay $600 up front regardless of the outcome.
• There are a lot of upgrades that you will want/need that will cost you more. For example:
  • Professional Photos are an additional $250 up front.
  • A CMA (market data to help you with pricing) is an extra $100.
  • The Supra lockbox which offers the most secure type of showing is an additional $100.
• Lack consistent and round the clock support. This can lead to buyers and agents questions and inquiries not getting responded to.
• The upgraded service is a large payment up front leaving you out a lot of money should the transaction fall through or the property doesn’t sell.

Pricing:

Creekview Realty offers two pricing tiers depending on the amount of support you need, as well as some a-la-carte services for an extra additional charge.

Reviews:

As of November 23, 2021, Creekview Realty has an average rating of 4.7/5 based on 203 reviews across Google, Yelp, Facebook, and Zillow.

	4.8/5 (81 reviews)
	4.5/5 (51 reviews)
	4.5/5 (21 reviews)
	4.8/5 (50 reviews)

REX Real Estate

REX is a big disruptor in the real estate space right now, going to battle with Zillow and NAR over how listings are displayed as well as commissions. They list your home for a 2.5% commission (this is an increase from 2% they originally charged). REX’s big differentiator is they do not list your home on the MLS in the hopes of finding a buyer without an agent through other forms of marketing and advertising. They also encourage buyers of REX listings to pay their own agents commission which is a hot button topic right now.

Pros:

• If your home sells, there can be lots of savings in commissions.
• REX is a tech forward real estate company.
• You work with a REX agent throughout the process.

Cons:

• REX homes not being listed on the MLS hurts their exposure dramatically and is likely to decrease their chances of selling.
• REX listings don’t see the same level of visibility on major sites like Zillow because they are not formally listed in the MLS. This can make their listings harder to find and impact their ability to attract buyers. There is a lawsuit ongoing between REX and Zillow. regarding this topic.
• Buyers like to work with an agent to help them on their purchase, with little or no buyer’s agent commission being offered, this can negatively effect your ability to attract buyers with an agent who may not be able to pay out of pocket for their own agent.
• Even though you may save on commissions, not having the proper exposure decreases the buyer’s pool and risks lower offers, less multiple offer situations and ultimately a lower selling price which negates all the savings in commissions.

Pricing:

REX advertises a flat 2.5% listing fee that “covers both sides of the transaction.” However, this is only true if REX manages to find an unrepresented buyer, which is usually not the case. REX also maintains a minimum fee of $9,000.

Service	Fee
Listing Fee	2.5% (min. $9,000)
Buyer’s Agent Commission*	2.5-3%
Total	5-5.5%

Reviews:

As of November 23, 2021, REX has an average rating of 4.7/5 based on 917 reviews across Google, Yelp, Facebook, and Zillow.

	4.5/5 (60 reviews)
	3/5 (2 reviews)
	4/5 (103 reviews)
	4.9/5 (752 reviews)

Homelister

Homelister is a flat fee company that started in California and has since expanded in to Texas and the Austin market. Similar to Creekview they have a $599 Flat Fee option, as well as upgraded options $1599 and $2699 which have varying levels of service.

Pros:

• Exposure on the MLS and other sites like Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com.
• Yard Sign is included.
• They use Showingtime to schedule showings at no additional charge.

Cons:

• Much like Creekview a lot of the essentials are not included (professional photos, market analysis, etc) unless you upgrade or pay more for the service.
• The upgraded services are very pricey compared to other flat fee or discount real estate services.
• Homelister is not a local Texas company so that can cause issues with the listing process.
• Homelister is known to shut down communication outside of business hours which can cause delays on receiving information or having buyers or their agents get responses about Homelister listings. They specifically leave a note in their MLS listings stating they will only have offers reviewed Monday – Friday during business hours.

Pricing:

Homelister offers 3 tiers of pricing with varying features as well as a-la-carte services for an additional charge.

$599 – Basic	$1,599 – Premium	$2,699 – Platinum
Listing on Your Local MLS	Same as Basic, plus:	Same as Premium, plus:
Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, Redfin, Remax, Homes.com etc.	Professional Photography	Offer Negotiation
ShowingTime — Instant Showing Requests & Feedback: App & Text *	Open House Signs (2)	Appraisal Comps
Live Virtual / Video Showings with Virtual Tours App	Seller’s Paperwork Management	Professional Photography Including Aerial Photography
Traditional Post Yard Sign	Custom Marketing Flyer (for Open House or Email)	Home Price Report (CMA)
	Offer Review & Counteroffer Preparation	Staging Consultation
		Digital Lockbox
		Real Estate Professionals Guiding You throughout Your Sale
		Email Marketing to Local Agents

A-la-carte services:

• Professional Photography – $299
• 3D Interactive Video Tour – $349
• Arial Photography – $379
• Additional Wooden Frame Yard Sign – $149
• Combination Lockbox – $40
• Digital Lockbox (Bluetooth & Individual Codes) – $149
• Online Advertising Campaign (2 weeks) – $249

Reviews:

As of November 23, 2021, REX has an average rating of 4.7/5 based on 179 reviews across Yelp, Facebook, and Zillow.

	(0 reviews)
	4.5/5 (9 reviews)
	4.8/5 (38 reviews)
	4.8/5 (132 reviews)

Discount Realtors in Texas by City

In Texas you’ll find a variety of discount Realtors operating in each major city. These companies can provide area expertise and the tools necessary to sell your home effectively.

Every Texas discount realtor is different. Always make sure to thoroughly compare all of your options when evaluating offerings to make sure you’re getting a fair deal.

Discount Realtors in Dallas, TX

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Discount Realtors in Houston, TX

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