The real estate market in Chicago witnessed a rise in house prices by 1.0% in May 2022. Selling a house in this competitive market can be profitable. And one way to make the most is to approach discount realtors who charge low commissions.
Here are some of the best discount real estate brokers in Chicago who can help make your work hassle-free.
Rankings: Discount Real Estate Brokers in Chicago, IL
| Rank | Discount Real Estate Broker / Company | Listing Fee | Additional Charges | Max Savings | 100% Online | 5-Star Reviews* | Mobile App |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Houzeo | $349 Flat Fee | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| 2. | Johnson Realty | $500 Upfront + 0.5% commission | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| 3. | Lucid Realty | 1%-2.5% Commission | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| 4. | Redefy | $3,500 Flat Fee | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| 5. | UpNest | 1.5% Commission | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
Reviews: Discount Real Estate Brokers & Companies in Chicago, IL
1. Houzeo
🔥 BEST OVERALL
Houzeo.com
- Listing Fee:$349 Flat Fee
4.9/5.0
(1,390 reviews)
4.9/5.0
(1,390 reviews)Houzeo an online real estate company, provides an unbeatable combination of maximum savings, cutting-edge technology, and 5-star customer support.
💰 Save Thousands on Commission: Houzeo’s plans are typically a small flat fee. This will save you thousands. If your buyer is unrepresented, you save the buyer agent commission as well.
📣 Maximum Exposure: Listings get syndicated to the MLS, Zillow, Realtor.com, Redfin, Trulia, and hundreds of other websites. Houzeo also has nifty social media sharing tools. No other platform gives you this much exposure.
⚡ Fast Listing & Changes: Houzeo is 100% online. Listing is easy and changes are fast. So you can focus on what is most important – your sale.
⭐ 5-Star Customer Support: Home sellers across America have rated Houzeo 4.9 out of 5 stars on major review sites like Google and Trustpilot. There is comfort in the fact that when you call, a live person picks up the phone on the other line.
📱 Cutting-edge Technology: Houzeo is the most powerful real estate website. Its advanced features include:
- IntelliList Listing Management System: Lets you manage your listing 100% online.
- Houzeo Showings: Manage to show appointments online.
- Houzeo Offers: All offers are summarized online. You can view and compare offers, or counter any offer. In a multiple-offer situation, you can also call for the highest and best offers.
- Buyer Search: Buyers can contact you directly on Houzeo.com instead of going through a real estate agent.
- Houzeo Settlement Agent Platform: Guides you to your closing.
👉 Our Take: Houzeo.com is our top pick because it delivers an unbeatable combination of savings, tech features, and service of any flat fee MLS listing service website we’ve reviewed.
- Nationwide coverage
- Listings get syndicated to Zillow, Realtor.com, Trulia, Redfin, and 100s of other sites
- Quick listing (within a day with concierge)
- Savings on commissions
- 100% online – easy listing, fast changes, online showings, and online offers
- Mobile app availability
Houzeo has a 4.9 out of 5 rating on Google & Trustpilot.
Houzeo is available nationwide.
2. Johnson Realty
🌟UNIQUE PLAN
Johnson Realty
- Listing Fee: $500 upfront + 0.5% of 1% at closing.
- No credible source was found.
Johnson Realty is a full-service discount brokerage that helps sellers to list their property at a fair price with great savings. Led by Cheryl Johnson, they charge their clients a flat rate of $500 + 0.5% of 1% of the selling price at closing.
💵 Discounted Plan: $500 upfront + 0.5% of 1% of the selling price.
📜 Sale Process: With the $500 flat rate, sellers can get all the services including thorough analysis, and MLS listing. At closing, the seller must pay 0.5% of 1% of the sale price, after which the closing document will be signed.
👩💼 Agent Management: Initially, they will help you with the MLS listing but for showing an outside agent will be involved. Any feedback during the showing will be conveyed via the Showing Time App.
- A unique plan includes a $500 flat rate + 0.5% of 1% of the sale price.
- Get listed on popular real estate websites like Zillow, Trulia, and Redfin.
- A durable metal sign.
- Guidance to host open houses.
- Besides an agent from Johnson Realty, another outside agent will be involved in the process which may not be very appealing.
No credible sources were found to provide the reviews.
Johnson Realty offers its services in Missouri and Illinois.
3. Lucid Realty
🏆 GREAT LOCAL EXPOSURE
Lucid Realty
- Listing Fee: 1%-2.5% Commission
- 5.0/5.0
(27 reviews)
5.0/5.0
(27 reviews)Lucid Realty is a full-service discount realty that offers its services only in Chicago, Illinois. Their special approach allows sellers to save a substantial amount by the end of the closing process.
💰Lower Commission: Lucid Realty provides its listing service at a 1%-2.5% commission for a property. They provide a unique sliding scale service where expensive houses can save more.
📜Features: High-definition photos, customized webpage for your listing, you can avail a detailed marketing plan, inputs on home improvement, social media marketing, staging recommendations, and more.
👨💼Agent Management: They ensure that the seller receives the best service and support throughout the process. They also offer expert supervision during the inspection and appraisal.
- Impressive local exposure which includes suburbs of Chicago.
- Costlier the house, the lesser the commission.
- HD photos
- Home Evaluation & Staging Recommendation.
- Customized property webpage
- Social media marketing
- Qualified agents.
Lucid Realty Chicago has an average rating of 5 out of 5 on Yelp.
Lucid Realty offers its services only in Chicago, Illinois.
4. Redefy
🔥 Flat Rate Listing
Redefy Real Estate
- Listing Fee: $3,500 flat fee
4.5/5.0
(36 reviews)
4.5/5.0
(36 reviews)💰 Save Thousands on Commission: Redefy Real Estate is a flat rate brokerage company that allows you to sell your home at $3500. However, the platform becomes expensive when a house is sold for over $1 million. The sale price in such a case is 1% of the total sale price.
📣 Extra Exposure: The company provided in-house support that can help you with accurate pricing and other features like staging home, etc. Under Redefy Real Estate’s working model, limited agents cater to a large volume of customers. This poses a risk to service quality. They provide features like listing on MLS, comparative market analysis (CMA), showing service, yard sign, lockbox, and more.
👉 Our Take: Redefy does not provide open houses and printed flyers which makes it a bit different from the traditional Realtors.
🔍 Explore: 10 Best Discount Real Estate Brokers and Companies
- Reasonable listing fee for low-value homes.
- In-house support.
- Flexible add-on features.
- 1% commission for homes with a value of $1M+.
- Limited coverage in Tennessee.
- A non-refundable deposit of $500.
Redefy has an average of 4.5 out of 5 on Yelp
Redefy covers Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
5. UpNest
💵 TRADITIONAL COMMISSION FEES
UpNest
- Listing fee: 2.5% of the sale price
- 4.9/5.0
(96 reviews)
UpNest is a discount realtor marketplace that allows you to compare the best real estate agents in your neighborhood.
🚨False Claims: It claims to have facilitated billions of dollars in home sales and saved consumers millions of dollars in commissions but that is inaccurate.
💵Marginal Savings: The platform provides a no-obligation service and maps you with local real estate agents. The savings are minimal because the commission fees are still high.
👨💼Informative Agents: The good part is that the agent proposals provide a lot of information to choose a discounted realtor.
- No obligation service
- High-quality agent network
- User-friendly customer dashboard
- No savings on agent commission
- Average listing speed
- No guarantee of agent quality
- Poor customer service
UpNest has an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 on BBB.
UpNest has nationwide coverage.
Here’s a quick recap of the best discount real estate brokers in America:
America’s Best Discount Real Estate Brokers (2023)
We’ve reviewed the best discount real estate brokers in 2023
Discount Real Estate Brokers to Avoid
Some agent-matching websites advertise themselves as “free”, but in reality they keep a portion of the commission received by the discount real estate brokers. Since you pay the commission, this amount technically goes from your pocket.
For example, List With Clever promotes itself as a real estate educational website that matches sellers with discount realtors. Even though Clever claims to be “free”, 25% to 40% of the commission you pay will be directed to Clever as a “Referral Fee”.
» Clever Real Estate: Read our full review of Clever Real Estate
What Is a Discount Real Estate Broker?
Discount real estate brokers are licensed individuals who help clients to buy and sell their property at a flat rate or low commission. Some flat fee realtors offer full-service whereas, others offer limited services that may just include MLS Chicago listing. Before choosing a low-cost broker, ensure that they include all the features you require to sell your property.
There are 4 distinct types of discount realtors in Chicago, IL, and each has its benefit. Let’s try and understand the different types:
Types of Discount Realtors Chicago, Illinois
| Types | Description | Why It's Unique? | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flat Fee MLS | Flat fee MLS lets seller list their property on the local MLS from a list of packages. Each package consists of unique benefits. | 💰 Multiple Services | Houzeo |
| Flat Rate | Flat rate brokers charge a flat fee for full service that includes everything from MLS listing to price negotiations, etc. | 💲Cost - Effective | Houwzer |
| Low Commission | With low commission, sellers can list and sell their homes with a listing fee as low as 1% commission. This helps sellers save thousands of dollars at end of the sale process. | 💵 More Savings | Redfin |
| Virtual Full-Service | Sellers who want to list and sell their property from the comfort of their homes can opt for virtual service. Each step right from listing to negotiation is carried out virtually. | 💻 100% Online | Houzeo |
Why Choose a Discount Real Estate Broker/Company Over a Traditional Agent?
Let’s assume a property costs $600,000. Through traditional real estate commissions in the US, the seller is required to pay 5% – 6% in commissions. Through a traditional process, a seller can incur closing costs anywhere between $30000 – $32000 – that’s too expensive. A home seller can avoid these exorbitant commissions through discount realtors in Chicago.
| Traditional Agent (2.5% commission) | Discount (1% commission) | Discount (1.5% commission) | Discount (2% commission) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seller's Agent | $15,000 | $6,000 | $9,000 | 12,000 |
| Buyer's Agent | $15,000 | $15,000 | $15,000 | $15,000 |
| Total | $30,000 | $21,000 | 24,000 | $27,000 |
| Savings | ❌ | $9,000 | $6,000 | $3,000 |
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💡Make A Note: Sellers get discount on seller’s agent commission only, they still have to pay 2.5%-3% commission to the buyer’s agent at the end of the sale process.
Similarly, approaching a discount realty in Asheville, NC, that offers a higher buyer rebate can make the house that much more inexpensive to buy. For instance, if the buyer agent offers a rebate of 1% on a property priced at $500,000, it will save you $5000. Please note that some realtors also offer non-cash incentives as buyer rebates.
» Seller Closing Costs in Illinois and Buyer Closing Costs in Illinois: Use this free tool by Houzeo to get an estimate of your closing costs.
Houzeo Helps You Save Thousands
| Package | Price | What You Get |
|---|---|---|
| SILVER | $349 | 3-month listing, 24 photographs, syndication to popular real estate websites, and a few more additional services. |
| GOLD | $429 | 6-months listing, Maximum number of photos, syndication to popular real estate websites, and a few more additional services. |
| PLATINUM | $449 | 12-months listing + Virtual Full Service that includes everything you require to sell the property. |
Savings Calculator
Here’s how much you can save with Houzeo.com!
Discount Real Estate Companies Who Offer Flat Fee MLS Near Me
Before opting for a discount real estate brokerage, you would want to know its coverage. All discount realtors in Chicago do not have the same coverage. Some have nationwide coverage, while some are restricted to a few states.
We’ve compiled a list of the best flat fee MLS Listing Services in each state. Click on your state to check them out!
| Region | States |
|---|---|
| Northeast | Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont |
| Midwest | Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin |
| South | Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, D.C., West Virginia |
| West | Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming |
- ✍️ SAVE: With Flat fee MLS, you will save thousands of dollars in listing fees. You also get the option of selecting the service you want and customizing the packages to your seller’s needs.
Conclusion
With the median prices at $355K, it is evident that the housing market is competitive in Chicago. And it is the discount real estate brokers in Chicago that will help home sellers benefit the most from the process.
Houzeo is a low-rate real estate company that will help home sellers to list their property from the comfort of their homes. Its customer-centric approach and advanced technology make Houzeo an ideal choice for residents in Chicago to list and sell their property without paying high commissions.
» Selling A House In Illinois: Here’s What You NEED to Know
Frequently Asked Questions
Are real estate commissions negotiable in Chicago, Illinois?
Yes, you can negotiate real estate commissions if you know your property's worth. A seller can negotiate based on the condition of the house, and the location of the property. It is advisable to negotiate in the beginning because unaware sellers can end up paying high commission fees which they could have avoided. So, negotiate on the terms both parties can mutually agree upon.
Do buyers pay realtor fees in Chicago, Illinois?
Realtor fees in Chicago are mostly paid by sellers as they pay agent commission fees for both the seller agent and buyer agent.
How much does a real estate agent make in Chicago?
According to PayScale, the average salary of a real estate broker in Chicago is between $26k - $176k. This compensation is based on the experience, skill sets, and city they are based.
How much are closing costs in Chicago?
Closing costs in Chicago include seller and buyer agent commission, home warranty fees, home inspection fees, and more. So, if the final sale price of a house is $550,000, then the closing costs can be approximately $34,000! this is a large sum of money if the seller goes to a traditional agent. A seller can instead save on these closing costs if they approach a low-cost realtor.
What is the lowest a realtor can charge in Chicago, Illinois?
A realtor can charge as low as 1% commission if they work as a discount realtor, but generally, the average commission of a realtor is 5%-6% in the US. This commission is based on the state, the location of the property, and various other factors.
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