How to Hire a Discount Real Estate Agent
If you want help selling your home but you want to cut costs, consider hiring a discount real estate agent, who can provide a few key services - such as getting your home listed on a multiple listing service (MLS) - and will let you do a lot of the other work yourself.
- Difficulty:
- Moderately Easy
Instructions
-
-
1
Call local real estate firms and ask for a discount agent, or search in the yellow pages for firms that offer discount services.
-
2
Interview potential agents and make sure you understand what services will and will not be provided.
-
3
Understand the fee structure and ask about all costs - many firms charge separately for each service they provide.
-
4
Make sure the discount agent you're considering can list your home with an MLS.
-
5
Determine the amount of money the discount agent will share with other agents who may bring buyers to the table.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Apply the same quality standards to discount real estate firms that you would to full-service firms.
Make sure the agent you select will discuss the required documents and disclosures that must be provided by the seller by law.
Once you have a contract with a buyer, a real estate attorney or a title company will handle the closing process. Find out who you will be dealing with and make sure your agent will provide all the necessary paperwork to the attorney or title company.
If a discount broker or flat-fee company is selling your home, it may take longer for the property to sell if the agent will not be sharing the commission with another agent who represents buyers.
Related Searches
Comments
-
pensacolafl
Aug 25, 2008
Wow! This advise is clearly out of phase with the current real estate market! If you follow this advise you could LOSE THOUSANDS of $$$. Why? Because discount brokers have to cut something to give you those discount commissions. So, what do they cut? Advertising, internet exposure, email marketing and much, much more. Don't fall for this gimmick, you have too much to loose! -
Nov 22, 2005
Factors to consider when deciding whether or not to go with a discount RE agent are the saleability of your home, how volatile the RE market is, that many MLS agents will not show your home to buyers, and buyers will expect you to discount your price too.
