I've read that you can pay a realtor a flat fee of a few hundred bucks to list the house on the MLS for you, nothing more.
I've also read that once you are on the MLS, there is really not much benefit to having a realtor. Getting on the MLS is key, and that you can do this for a small fee.
Furthermore, it appears that the best way to sell the house fast and get the best price is, according to studies, to price the house low, way below market and create a multiple bidder situation. This especially works well with Class A properties. This way, you ask each of them for their highest and best, and let them bid up the price.
Chances are they are singling out your house because it's a good deal so they KNOW that it's worth more than you are asking. In an effort to get the deal they keep outbidding each other and end up either just below, at, or above market value.
Or is there a better way? I certainly am NOT looking forward to paying 35K in transaction costs to sell just ONE of my houses...For the love of God, it's a sizeable chunk of net worth to sell them all after factoring in transaction costs...