What should I look for in a real estate agent to sell? one I spoke to wanted a 6 month exclusive. HUH?

Answer 1

I would guess you understand why they want an exclusive listing so I guess your question is about the six month part.

Of course you will expect the agent and their company will be spending time and money on marketing your home and they are probably not asking to be paid any money up front. I guess they are not asking for any money until they successfully sell it.

This would mean they need a long enough listing that they can reasonably expect to be successful. That period of time would vary depending on the market for your home. In North Texas in the average price range of up to about $250,000 we might be OK with a four month listing. A company I work with a lot that has a large inventory of $5 million and up homes generally wants 24 month listing and an advertising fee up front!

If your home is an average price for the area and the homes are selling fairly well then six months is a bit long.

On the other side if your agent agrees on too short of a time they will probably be reluctant to work very hard on it since their chance of getting paid might be very small.

Answer 2

A six month listing is way too long in any market. This agent is probably a listing agent and does not sell houses.

All he/she does is list a house for as long as they possible can, after which they hope some other agent will sell it for them.

The real estate company they work for and the selling agent company will split the commission. He/she will get at least 50% of what the company get.

The more they list and the longer they get a listing for is of the most concern for this type agent. They will do little or nothing to advertise your house. They will have a caravan to show all their listings to the real estate agents, but very little in the sense of personal advertising for your house in particular.

One person hit it on the head, interview about 3 full service agents also include the discount or flat fee agents. You will learn a lot and get lots of information from each agents.

A listing for about 60-90 days should be sufficient for an agent to sell a house. If this agent finds that this is too short of a time then they should move on to another client.

You should have a clause that allows you to get out of the contract if either you or the agent is not pleased with the way things are going.

When you find an agent that tells you they can not fully expend a lot of time and effort because of the length of time you want to give them for listing, the best thing to do is move to someone that will give you individual attention and cater to getting your house sold.

Keep in mind that they have other clients also, but the length of a listing should never determine the amount of time a person will put in on a sale of a property nor the amount of money expended. Most of the time that is a tax deductable expense if they did not sell the house.

A few questions you might want to ask are

#1 How long have you been an agent.

#2 Are you full time or part time?

#3 How long have you been with this company?

#4 Why did you change from you last company?

#5 May I have a list and telephone number of your last 3-4 listings and houses you sold?

#6 What is the least amount of pionts will I be charged by your company.

#7 Am I gonna be dealing with you for all questions I have or will I be dealing with an assistant?

#8 If I am gonna be dealing with an assistant how much knowledge do they have and will they transfer me to you if I deem it necessary?

#9 Will you do newspaper and other print ads to include or media advertisement and if so who will you use. Can I proof the ads before they are used?

#10 How many open house can I expect and what are my responsibilities?

#11 Do I get to select my own title and closing/escrow agent?

You might think of a few more, but those will cause enough conversation that you will know if there is a possibility that you will hire them.

I hope this will be of some use to you, good luck.

"FIGHT ON"

Answer 3

Real estate agents put in a lot of hard work and spend a fair bit of money setting up the listing for your property, and they want some assurance that you're not going to jump from agent to agent and not give them enough time to sell your property and make their commission. You should be able to get a 90-day (three month) exclusive listing agreement instead of the 6-month one, though. Ask around at the different agencies in your city to see if that's possible, then either talk to the agent you mentioned to see if he/she will go for that, and if not, sign up with one who will.

There's also the For Sale By Owner websites on the Internet to consider. That's how I sold my home, and it cost me a lot less than the 5-7% commission asked by the agents.

Answer 4

Agents have to invest quite a bit of their own money to market your property. Newspaper advertising, internet ads etc are all paid for by your Realtor. If they dont get your house sold they never get that money back. Most top selling agents will not do anything less then a 6 month contract especially in the current market where houses are moving slower.

If you want a 3 month contract you are probably better with a newer agent that is more willing to do the shorter term.

Im not sure what you mean by Exclusive but if they mean that they are the only office that can show your property then I would not sign. You really want as many agents as possible able to show your property to buyers in order to increase your chances of a fast sale.

Answer 5

Alarms should be going off! Interview at least three agents before selecting. Never, Never sign a 6 month exclusive unless there is an unrestricted cancellation clause after 90 days. Also, exclusive usually means only the brokerage you signed with can show your house. Otherwise, sign for a maximum of 90 days. Ask to see agent's sales and listings for the last year. Ask how long s/he has been an agent and how long s/he has been with the current broker. Ask for a list of customers to contact for reference.

Answer 6

ask them what they are going to do to earn their comission. Tell them that filling out a contract and listing your house on the MLS takes about an hour so what else are they going to do to earn their fee?. Are they going to market it?. If so, where and how?. Are they going to hold open houses?. Make them earn their commission.
P.S. I dont see the need of a 6 month contract. 3 to 4 month should be enough. If they cant sell it in that time try another.
I personally would never use an agent to sell my house. I would sell it myself. It isnt hard or complicated at all...even though a realtor will tell you different for obvious reasons.

Answer 7

Of course the realtor will want you to sign the 6 month listing. But you can also get a 3 month listing. At least that's the way it was when I sold real estate.