» Jump To: Rankings | Reviews | Discount Brokers to Avoid | Everything to Know about Discount Real Estate Brokers in Washington DC | Ways to get Discounted Realtor Fees | Alternatives | Why Discount Brokers? | How Houzeo Works | Final Word | FAQs
Compared to last year, the home prices in Washington DC have decreased by 2.3%. If you’re planning to sell your house, discount real estate brokers in Vancouver, WA can help you save thousands in real estate commissions.
Here is a list of the best discount real estate brokers in Washington DC.
Rankings: Top Discount Real Estate Companies & Brokers in Washington DC
| Rank | Discount Real Estate Broker / Company | Listing Fee | Max Savings | 100% Online | 5-Star Reviews* | Broad Coverage | Mobile App |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Houzeo | $349 Flat Fee | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| 2. | Upnest | 2.5% Commission | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| 3. | Redfin | 1.5% Commission | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
Reviews: Best Discount Real Estate Companies & Brokers in Washington DC
1. Houzeo.com
🔥 BEST OVERALL
Houzeo.com
- Listing Fee: $349 Flat Fee
4.9/5
(4001 reviews)
4.9/5
(4001 reviews)Why Houzeo is #1: Houzeo is an online tech company that offers real estate solutions. It provides an unbeatable combination of maximum savings, cutting-edge technology, and 5-star customer support.
Houzeo for Homesellers
- Affordable Flat Fee: Houzeo’s plans are typically a small flat fee. This will save you thousands. If your buyer is unrepresented, you also save the buyer agent commission.
- Listings on MLS: 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.
- Fully Virtual Service: Houzeo is 100% online. Listing is easy and changes are fast. So you can focus on what is most important – your sale.
Houzeo for Homebuyers
- Access to Listings without Agents: Houzeo lets buyers get access to all the nearby listings on MLS without working with an agent.
- Closing Costs Calculator: Houzeo’s unique Closing Costs Calculator lets buyers get an accurate final cost at the end of the buying process.
👉 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.
» Houzeo Reviews: Houzeo is 100% online. You can finish the listing formalities in less than 60 mins.
- Near Nationwide Coverage: Houzeo covers 47 states + DC.
- No Listing Agent Commission: With Houzeo, you only pay a small flat fee to get access to the MLS and all the Houzeo tech
- 100% online: Easy listing, fast changes, online showings, and online offers
- Max Exposure: Listings get syndicated to Zillow, Realtor.com, Trulia, Redfin, and 100s of other real estate sites
- Fast Listing: Rush listing option gets you listed within a business day with Houzeo Concierge. This is best to sell your house fast.
- Real Estate On the Go: Houzeo Mobile App mimics most functionality of the Houzeo web platform, including Offers and Showings
- 5-Star Customer Service: Superb support that minimizes Houzeo complaints
- No Hidden Fees: There are no Houzeo hidden fees
» Is Houzeo Legit: Learn more about Houzeo.com’s locations and services
Houzeo has a rating of 4.9 out of 5 on Google & Trustpilot.
Houzeo is available nationwide.
2. Upnest
💵 TRADITIONAL COMMISSION FEES
UpNest
- Listing fee: 2.5% of the sale price
- 4.8/5.0
(1,291 Reviews)
UpNest is a discount realtor marketplace that allows buyers and sellers to compare and connect with the best local real estate agents in an area.
UpNest for Home Sellers
- No Obligation Service: Within 24 hours of signing up, UpNest offers a list of multiple agents to choose from. Moreover, the agent proposals provide a lot of information to choose a discount real estate broker. Nonetheless, there is no obligation to choose a broker from the list.
- High-quality Agents: UpNest has a very selective recruiting policy for partner agents, which is followed rigorously. Partner agents must meet UpNest’s performance criteria to get recruited.
- Marginal Savings: As per UpNest’s model, agents compete for listings, incentivizing them to offer low commissions. However, since there are no pre-approved commission rates, in the end, the negotiation is up to the seller. Consequently, the seller may end up paying more commission as compared to other low cost real estate agents.
- False Claims: UpNest claims to have facilitated billions of dollars in home sales and saved consumers millions of dollars in commissions, but that is inaccurate.
UpNest for Home Buyers
- Buyer Rebate: While offering a buyer rebate completely depends on the buyer agent, UpNest promises a rebate of $150.
👉 Our Take: UpNest only connects buyers and sellers to local agents who can quote their commissions. This does not guarantee savings. On the other hand, Houzeo.com offers custom-made packages with no hidden costs, increasing savings!
» UpNest Reviews: Everything You Need To Know
- 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 4.8 out of 5.0 on Google.
UpNest has nationwide coverage.
3. Ideal Agent
👨💼 GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE
Ideal Agent
- Listing Fee: 2% of sale price
- Nationwide coverage
- 4.9/5.0
(5,001 Reviews)
4.9/5.0
(5,001 Reviews)Ideal Agent helps sellers find quality discount real estate brokers. On average, a seller saves approximately $3,000 – $4,000 while listing with Ideal Agent.
Ideal Agent for Home Sellers
- Agent Matching: Home sellers are matched with one real estate agent, who then guides the seller through their journey. Agents are assigned from the top 1% agents who have closed deals in the seller’s locality.
- Profit Maximization: The agent with whom you’re matched will visit your home to identify the features of your house that stand out. By leveraging these features, the agent will help you in maximizing your sale profits.
- Dedicated Concierge: The discount realtor will also get professional photos taken of your home and help you in setting the list price. In addition to marketing your house, the agent will provide negotiation assistance and take care of closing coordination.
Ideal Agent for Homebuyers
- Home Search Feature: Ideal Agent has a home search feature, where home buyers can look for homes by location, home type, and price range.
- No Other Benefits: Since Ideal Agent is a seller-centric platform, it does not offer a lot of services for buyers. Buyers can hire an agent but you need to get in touch with their customer service to set up a call with the concierge. Post the formalities, the agent will then get in touch with you to understand your needs.
👉 Our Take: Ideal Agent is a good choice for home sellers. They set a high bar for recruiting agents, which means sellers get to work with the top-performing agents in their locality. However, with no significant services for buyers, the platform is not recommended if you’re planning to buy a house.
» IdealAgent.com Reviews: Everything You Need To Know
- Qualified agents
- No obligation to choose an agent
- Nationwide coverage
- Add-on services like professional photos and more
- Good customer service
- Marginal savings
- Single-agent match
- Inconsistent agent results
- No customer dashboard
- No buyer savings
Ideal Agent has an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 on TrustPilot.
» Reviews of Ideal Agent: Reviews, Complaints, and Alternatives
Ideal Agent is available throughout the U.S.
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 in Washington DC 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
Everything You Should Know About Selling with Discount Real Estate Brokers in Washington DC
What are Discount/ Low Commission Real Estate Brokers & Companies?
Discount real estate brokers or low commission real estate brokers are top real estate agents in Washington DC that provide specific services for a discounted fee. Instead of charging the seller standard agent commission of 3% (listing agent commission), low-cost Washington DC realtors will work for less (such as a 1%-2% commission or a pre-defined flat fee) and provide restricted services. The reduced fee can easily save sellers a good amount of money.
A discount realtor in Washington DC typically offers the same services as full-service brokers. The key difference is in pricing.
Types of Discount Real Estate Brokers in Washington DC
There are four types of low-commission real estate agents:
1. Flat Fee MLS Brokers
A flat fee MLS listing company or service is nothing but a registered flat fee realtor in Washington DC with a low commission or discounted broker/that lists your home on the MLS for an upfront flat fee.
The seller and the broker agree on a la carte services, and the broker takes a flat fee instead of a percentage of the home’s sale price. Say you want to sell a $500,000 home. A traditional agent will charge you between 2% and 3% of the sale price. That’s 15 grand!
With a flat-fee MLS Listing in Washington DC pay an average of $300, which includes listing and marketing. Even if you choose to add services like pricing and buyer negotiations, you will still save money.
2. Virtual Full-Service Agents
Think of everything a traditional agent does, from listing your property, marketing it, pricing it, negotiating with buyers, and closing it.
An online discount broker- full service does all that – online. Because of their cloud-based presence, they have many advantages such as lesser fees, discounted commissions, and much better management and marketing support. Many MLS listing companies like Houzeo, also provide full-service options that are 100% online.
3. Flat Rate Low Commission
You can choose a low commission (flat-rate) agent in some markets. For a flat fee of $3,000 to $6,000, the agent will sell your home. The flat rate is usually based on how much the house is worth and how well the agent does their job. In this case, there is no percentage listing fee. Everything has a fixed price. Homie is one of the best examples of a real estate broker with a flat rate listing of $3500 and a low commission rate. Since Homie doesn’t offer as many services as full-service flat fee real estate brokers in Washington DC it can easily make up for the lower prices it charges.
Think about the following situation: The price on the list is $450,000. With a flat-rate model, the agent’s commission fee stays the same no matter what happens, even if you agree to sell your home for less money. This is because it is a flat rate that doesn’t depend on how much the house is sold.
Before you hire a real estate agent in Washington DC you should find out what kind of service you can expect from the company. Make sure you’ve read the contract all the way through before you sign it. Some services, like consultation, professional photography, yard signs, and other marketing materials might be included in the flat fee, but this is not guaranteed.
So, if you don’t include them in your budget, you may have to pay a lot of money out of your own pocket. Any contract with a flat-fee agent needs to be read carefully, especially the small print. Also, keep in mind that even if you use a flat-rate agent, you will still have to pay the buyer’s agent fees, which will be between 2.5 and 3 percent.
4. Discounted Commission Full-Service Real Estate Agents
Full-service discount brokers offer many of the same services as traditional realtors for a low listing fee or flat rate, but they don’t charge as much. When a house is sold, they give the seller money back in the form of a discount on their commissions.
For example, if a full-service discount broker charges 1.5 percent of the sale price instead of the standard 2.5 percent of the sale price on a $450,000 house, you will save $4,500 in commissions. There are many discount real estate brokers, but they are not all the same.
Some have a lot more value and a lot less risk than others. But in most businesses, you have to take what you can get. All of these things could happen if there aren’t many services, if there’s less support, if agents don’t have much experience, and if there’s not much to choose from.
👍 BETTER IN ALL – AGENTS, SERVICES & SAVINGS!
Why pay a higher commission for a lower service? With Houzeo you can get better services at an affordable price!!
With HOUZEO
- 👩💼Qualified and Reputed Agents
- 💰You list your home at a very reasonable price within 24 hours
- 📣 Listings get syndicated to Zillow, Realtor.com, Trulia, Redfin, and 100s of other sites
- ⭐ 5-Star Customer Support
- ❌ You can cancel anytime with no obligation
4 More Ways To Get Discounted Realtor Fees
Are you a good negotiator? In fact, commissions in the Washington DC real estate can be negotiated. Even if the company is a flat-rate discounter, you can always ask for a few minor tweaks. You can lower the amount you pay by a wide range of factors, including the location of your property, its condition, and the brokerage.
Houzeo, a low-cost real estate company, can save you tens of thousands of dollars in commissions while still providing excellent service. If you want to lower your commission, keep reading to learn how.
Average Area Commission
Know your leverage before negotiating. For example, the real estate commission in Washington DC is 4.96%, which is slightly lesser than the national average. Lowering your overall commission might not be possible. Once you know your reference point, negotiations can get a lot more reasonable.
Buying and Selling With the same Discount Brokerage
Using the same discount brokerage or company to buy and sell has its own set of advantages. It makes you more likely to be repeat customers, giving you more chances to get refunds and cheaper commissions. For example, Landfall Properties, an MLS listing company, offers a rebate that can only be applied to your next purchase with the same company.
Pick the right type of Discount Broker
For example, picking a flat rate discount broker may not be the best option if your house is priced on the lower end. You will wind up losing more, instead, for maximum savings, you can pick a flat fee MLS company.
Buyer Agent Fees
Almost all buyers work with an agent. For maximum savings, offer a competitive buyer agent commission. Once you cut out the risk factor of selling the house, your listing agent will be more comfortable with lowering their fee.
How to choose a Low commission/ Discount Real Estate Broker, Brokerage, or Company?
To find discount real estate brokers in Washington DC look for a low-commission brand. Check for services and top companies. You will be assigned a low-commission real estate agent based on brokerage policies. As a seller, you can choose the right broker. Then you can use the chosen broker.
Alternatives to Discount/Low commission Real Estate Agents
Traditional Agent
A traditional agent assists you in buying, selling, renting, and all other aspects of real estate. A listing agent and a buyer agent are two types of traditional agents. Agents operate for brokerages and companies or under the supervision of a qualified broker.
Let’s get down to business with their commissions. The average overall commission fee for selling a home is 5%. This is deducted from the seller’s proceeds and shared between the listing and buyer agents. The commission rate changes on a regular basis and is determined by the location of your property.
The listing agent assists the seller in the sale and marketing of their home. The buyer’s agent, on the other hand, brings in clients who buy the house. They each get 2.5 percent after closing for a total of 5%.
iBuyers
An instant buyer, often known as an iBuyer, is a corporation that buys houses for sale for a cash offer. Unlike the usual way, the major goal is to sell it swiftly and efficiently. They employ cutting-edge technology and provide you with complete closing flexibility.
They make reasonable offers, although with a large service cost. Most iBuyers charge additional closing fees, which can easily push your commissions up to 12%! For example, Redfin Now charges up to 13% in service fees, 3% in maintenance fees, and 1% in closing costs, which can potentially total up to a staggering 17%!
iBuyers have their own set of rules, with costs that aren’t necessarily in line with market norms. It is always better to pick a discount real estate broker instead and save thousands of dollars!
» iBuyer Reviews: Selling your home for cash in 2022!
For Sale By Owner
As the term indicates, a for sale by owner property is one that is sold by the owner without the assistance of a listing agent or real estate broker. It’s the most cost-effective approach to avoid commissions and selling your house quickly. FSBO is ideal for sellers with some experience with the selling process and marketing. The best way to FSBO is to list on the Multiple Listing Service. Their large database allows them to market your home to agents all throughout the country, allowing it to sell faster and with the most exposure possible.
» For Sale by Owner Websites: 12 best for sale by owner websites in 2022!
Why Choose a Discount Real Estate Broker Over a Traditional Agent?
The simple answer is that whether you are buying or selling, working with a discount or flat fee realtor in Washington DC will help you lower the closing cost. Let’s look at an example.
Say, a property costs $500,000. Through traditional real estate commissions in the US, the seller is required to pay 5% – 6% in commissions. This means that as a seller, you can incur closing costs anywhere between $25,000 – $30,000, which is a considerable sum. To minimize this expense, you can try selling a house as is through discount realtors in Washington DC
| Traditional Agent (2.5% commission) | Discount (1% commission) | Discount (1.5% commission) | Discount (2% commission) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seller's Agent | $12,500 | $5,000 | $7,500 | $10,000 |
| Buyer's Agent | $12,500 | $12,500 | $12,500 | $12,500 |
| Total | $25,000 | $17,500 | 20,000 | $22,500 |
| Savings | ❌ | $7,500 | $5,000 | $2,500 |
If the seller has to pay a lower sum in commission, they may reduce the overall price of the house, making the property that much more inexpensive to buy for you.
Savings Calculator
Here’s how much you can save with Houzeo.com!
Let’s Find Out How Houzeo Works
Real estate bargain brokers fall midway between a for-sale-by-owner and a full-service agency. With MLS listing packages starting at $349 and cutting-edge technology that allows you to manage your property, review offers, counter, and manage showings online and via their mobile app, Houzeo delivers the best of both worlds.
Check out the following video to understand: What is Houzeo? How does it work? And, why it is the best FSBO & Flat Fee MLS platform out there?
Final Word
There are a number of low-cost discount real estate brokers in Washington DC today that provide unique features at a great value. For a seller, it is recommended to look for pointers like listing fees, listing time, services offered, customer service, coverage, and technology before selecting a Washington DC discount realtor.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between full service and discount brokers?
A full-service broker gives you just that: a higher level of personal service for your investments, but at a higher cost. Find out what kind of broker you might need. When compared to a full-service broker, a discount broker charges less for buying and selling orders.
Are real estate commissions negotiable in Washington DC?
Commissions are completely negotiable in Washington DC. Contact several real estate agents, compare commissions and free services, then negotiate a better deal.
What is the lowest a realtor will charge as commissions in Washington DC?
Discount Real Estate Brokers in Washington DC can charge as low as 1%. With a flat fee service, you can save even more if the valuation of your home is high.
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