A new Nova Scotia real estate brokerage has launched an online service that allows homeowners to list their homes themselves on the Multi Listing Service.

Air Realty is the brainchild of Joshua Svec, an entrepreneur in Cow Bay.  In founding Air Realty, he is hoping to change the way Nova Scotians list their property on the MLS, the standard site for listing properties for sale.

Svec said that homeowners can access the MLS themselves through a little-known process called “mere listing” and Air Realty lets them take advantage of the mere listing rules. He said that by listing the properties themselves, homeowners can save on their listing fees. They pay a flat fee for the listing commission, though they would still have to pay a commission (usually about 2.5 percent) to the agent selling the house.

“Many homeowners do not know that mere listings are an option to them when selling their house,” said Svec. “Air Realty is looking to solve that problem by offering the homeowner all the tools and resources they need to list their property online, themselves, using any device. There is currently no other brokerage offering this type of service in Nova Scotia.”

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This will allow the homeowner to potentially save thousands because they will pay no commission for the listing fee, they will just need to pay a small flat fee for listing and pay the buyer’s agent (typically 2.5% of purchase price).

He said the homeowner can list his or her home within 24 hours through a three-stage process: First, the homeowner fills out the interactive forms online. Second, they submit the listing forms to the brokerage for review. Third, they electronically sign the listing documents.

The brokerage now includes just Svec and his partner Steve Ritchie but he hopes to add agents across the province.

Svec said in an interview that he is now in talks with a brokerage in Ontario to work with in launching the service in that province and then to add provinces across the country.