When you decide on selling a house through a real estate agent you will be faced with the decision to list your house with several real estate agents, this is called an 'open listing' or you could list your house as a 'sole agency' or 'exclusive' listing. The decision you make about which option you'll choose will have quite a large impact on the entire sales and marketing program when selling a house.
In this article we'll explain what is involved with listing a house as an open listing as well as a sole agency listing and we'll explain the pros and cons of selling a house using both methods. The method you choose could affect the final selling price of your house and the time that your house is on the market for, this is why it is essential that you firstly have the right information in order to make a decision and then assess which method will work best for your house and your personal situation.
Selling a House as an Open Listing:
An open listing gets its name from the fact that when you list your house for sale as an open listing you 'open' the listing up to sell my house fast multiple real estate agents from multiple real estate agencies to allow them to represent your house as the sales agent. With an open listing you're not tied into using only one real estate agent for a set period of time as you would under a sole agency listing.
Each real estate agent will have their own database or contact list of buyers that are looking for specific types of houses and if your house matches the requirements of one of their existing prospects, it could result in a sale. It's only natural that the more agents that know about your house, the more number of homebuyers that could be inspecting your house. However, open listings will never get the full attention or service from the agents as it would if your house was listed as an exclusive-agency listing.
One important tip here: With an open listing all the agents will want to put up a for sale sign in front of your house so that they can increase their chance of receiving sales enquiries off the sign. Never have more than two For Sale signs (from different agencies) in front of your house. If you have any more than two signs out the front of your property it could appear to be a 'distressed' property (one sign is ideal). A 'distressed' property is one where the vendor is in desperate need to sell. This could be because the house has been on the market for so long, the price could be too high or there could be something wrong with the property or the area in which it's situated. Having too many agent signs out the front of your house could make it appear to be a property in distress and this could affect your end selling price and even the buyers first impressions when they drive past your house.
Listing your house as an open listing may also result in having to spend less money in advertising. This is due to the fact that there are a lot of agents that may have buyers already interested in the type of house your offering as well as the fact that you might spread some ads over several different agents over several weeks.
If you do have an open listing and intend to begin an advertising campaign to sell the house, it's important that you have one 'lead' agent for your advertising. Do not place an ad one week with one agency, then run an ad the next week with another agency.
If you place ads with more than one agent it could appear that the house is in distress and that you're advertising with anyone who will take on your house to sell. Also, buyers will call several different agents about houses advertised and if your house is advertised with several agents you will be wasting your money.
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