Selling a home is not a cheap undertaking. When your home does get sold, you end up paying a lot of money to a number of different real estate agents. That's true whether you are selling King West condos or Rosedale mansions. Where exactly is that money going? When you pay your listing agent, what services are you getting in return? Let's take a look at some answers.
First, it is important to keep in mind that the agent you use to list your property does not act the same as the agent who showed you the property in the first place. Sutton Reality and other brokers employ both selling and listing agents. The selling agents are the ones who work with buyers, while a listing agent will assist people looking to sell their homes. The listing agent is the one guaranteed to make some money when the home sells; selling agents may only make money on a sixth or less of the houses they show.
Because listing agents will get paid, you can expect them to do a certain amount of tasks for you in order to help you sell the home. At the very outset, a listing agent will help you set a price for your home. If you haven't noticed, Toronto mortgages and those in the rest of the country have risen substantially in the last decade. That means you can expect your home to be worth quite a bit more than when you first bought it.
How much more will be determined by your listing agent. He or she will have a walk through your home with you, looking at what kind of state it's in, taking note of any renovations, and so on. Then it is back to the office, where the agent takes a look at the price other homes that are similar and close to yours sold for. The price range suggested will be based on these figures.
Next comes the marketing of your home. Whether we are talking residential or commercial property, mortgage or cash sale, almost all properties get put on the Multiple Listing Service. This is a big database open to all realtors and brokerages in Canada. It means that your house is known to be for sale coast to coast, and with the power of the Internet you may find you have potential buyers from all over.
Listing on the MLS means that other agents and brokerages are aware of your property, the lawn sign starts alerting the public. If you haven't sold yet (and it is not that rare for houses to sell right after hitting the MLS these days) your listing agent will begin to engage in traditional advertising. You will find your house in newspapers, the Internet, and other places along side power of sale properties in Brampton and other real estate offerings.
There are more tasks that your listing agent will do for you. We provide this information in another article.
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