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Understanding Your Listing Agreement

You’re selling your home, and you’re taking no prisoners. Let’s face it, you have two goals: selling for as high a price as possible and selling as soon as possible. That’s why you’re hiring a top broker to deliver the goods for you. But think about your agreement before you sign on the dotted line.

“Most homeowners realize the importance of finding the right agent,” says Richard Roll, president of American Homeowners Association (AHA), “but few fully understand the listing agreement they sign with that broker.”

Laws and real estate practices vary from place to place, but most homeowners enter into an exclusive right-to-sell agreement with their broker. You give the broker the sole right to sell the property, to list your home, do all of the marketing, and do their best to get you the highest possible price.

If another broker was involved in bringing a buyer to the table, your broker will share the commission unless the other broker is a buyer’s broker paid by a flat fee or hourly rate. No matter what, your broker gets paid. Even if you find a buyer on your own without your broker’s help, your broker still gets a commission.

Think that’s not fair? Want to save big bucks on those commissions in your listing agreement? Not so fast.

As always, you get what you pay for. Why should your own broker work hard and spend hundreds of dollars marketing your home to potential buyers if the listing agreement precludes them from sharing in the commission?

Of course, there’s no reason to rule out any option when negotiating an agreement, as long as you and your broker are happy with the arrangement. Just be sure you know the pros and cons.

 

 

Foreclosures, Bank Owned, short sales, Monrovia Real estate, homes for sale, monrovia, san gabriel valley real estate, donna baker real estate. fixers. first time home buyer,

Top 10 Mistakes Sellers Make

Thinking of selling your home? The following are the Top 10 mistakes sellers make when listing their homes:

  1. Pricing your home too high. Compare with other sales in your area for a true price.
  2. Taking an inflexible position on financing. Have your agent explain what financing options are available.
  3. Errors in marketing time. Ask your real estate professional if the market cycle is poised to net you the most money.
  4. Not providing easy access for showings. If your home is easy for agents to show, more prospective buyers will see it.
  5. Not staging your property correctly. Put some items in storage, create more light, improve the “ambience” of your home so people can get a feel and a vision of what it will be like when they move in.
  6. Pricing your property too low. One reason for hiring a real estate professional is to make sure there is not money left on the table.
  7. Not re-evaluating the market plan. You and your Realtor may need to make intuitive changes based on the current market and buyers and your particular situation.
  8. Believing your agent is NOT doing the job when there aren’t any offers. If you don’t have a problem showing the home, but it hasn’t generated any interested buyers, it may be time to re-evaluate the price. Don’t blame your agent, especially if you directed your agent on price.
  9. Not making the right kind of repairs. Ask your real estate professional to suggest low cost solutions to minor repairs that will yield the best profits.
  10. Not giving the sales effort enough time. You should never give too little time to what is inherently a long process.

The right information can make quite a difference. call me for a complimentary informative report.

Tips for Keeping Your House in Shape

Following these simple tips can save you money in the long run:

  • Check all window and door locks for proper operation.
  • Check your home for water leaks.
  • Have a heating professional check your heating system every year.
  • Remember to leave at least 3 feet of area around your space heater and unplug it when it is not in use.
  • Remember to replace your furnace and air conditioner filters on a frequent basis to allow heating and cooling systems to operate properly.
  • Regularly clean up leaves that tend to be slippery when wet on concrete surfaces and can cause dead patches on your grass if left too long.
  • Test your emergency generator & smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
  • Have a certified chimney sweep inspect and clean the flues and check your fireplace.
  • Remove bird’s nests from chimneys and outdoor electrical fixtures.
  • Check for a corroded or disconnected water heater flue on your gas water heater.
  • Don’t overheat your rooms. Increasing the thermostat setting by 1 degree can increase your costs by 3 percent.
  • Make sure the caulking around your bathroom fixtures is adequate to prevent water from seeping into sub-flooring and inside walls.
  • These tips will help keep your home efficient and will contribute to the overall value when you get ready to sell.

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