Belize Real Estate  Links  
Real Estate Information

The Listing Contract: Its All in the Details


Now that you've chosen a real estate professional to sell your home, you'll need to work together to complete a listing agreement. This legally binding contract authorizes a broker and his or her real estate professionals to find a buyer for your home, according to the conditions specified in the contract. Depending on the type of listing agreement, you can expect to see most of these terms detailed in the document.

Terms of the Agreement
The length of time the contract will be in effect typically runs anywhere from 30 to 90 days, depending on the local market. Since a contract can be extended before it expires, you may not want to lock yourself into an automatic extension.

Under Terms of the Agreement, you'll also find the price of the home. You and your real estate professional should arrive at the home's market value after considering the Comparative Market Analysis (prepared by your representative) and other factors.

Commission
It may come as a surprise that commissions are not set by the industry. Real estate professionals expect to earn between 6% and 7% of the sale price, depending on what's customary in the area. If another real estate professional finds a buyer, the commission is split between the two. Although commissions are negotiable, this practice tends to be reserved for special circumstances. For instance, if a real estate professional knows of an interested buyer, this would eliminate the need to market the home. To close the deal, he may be willing to cut his commission.

Multiple Listing Service (MLS)
This section authorizes a real estate professional to list your home with the MLS. An MLS listing gives your home greater visibility and even exposes it to Internet users. Of course, you have the right to opt out of listing with the MLS. But why should you, when it can dramatically increase the chances of selling your home.

Lockbox
This hollowed-out padlock or miniature safe holds a key to your home. The lockbox, which usually gets attached to the front door, allows easy access for anyone showing the home. Only a person with the combination or with an electronic key can gain entry.

Description of the Property and Its Condition
Here you'll find a description of the property and its general condition as well as the condition of its major systems-mechanical, plumbing and electrical. Along with the description should be a list of the items that will stay with the home, for instance, the washer and dryer, and those you intend to remove such as a light fixture.

Although the forms are preprinted, everything in a listing agreement is negotiable and may be tailored to reflect your specific requirements. Your real estate professional will complete the listing agreement based on your input, so you may want to take time before you meet to consider your response to each section of the contract. The more prepared you are, the less likely you'll have a misunderstanding down the road.

Neda Dabestani-Ryba is a Realtor in Maryland. She is a member of the President's Circle of Top Real Estate Professionals. She can be reached at (800) 536-3806 or visit her website for more information: http://neda.dabestani.pcragent.com/.

Prudential Carruthers REALTORS is an independently owned and operated member of Prudential Real Estate Affiliates, Inc., a Prudential Financial company. Equal Housing Opportunity.


MORE RESOURCES:

Aspen real estate outgained other state resort-area markets in 2011
Aspen Times
ASPEN — A flat year for the Pitkin County real estate market in 2011 is looking good compared with the performance in Eagle County and other resort areas in Colorado. A report by Land Title Guarantee Co. shows Aspen and Pitkin County had one of the ...

and more »


$16 house man: real estate genius or squatter?
New Zealand Herald
And while real estate experts and authorities say he's misusing the law, Robinson appears to have inspired dozens of imitators who moved into the Dallas-Fort Worth area homes - some of which were still occupied by their owners.

and more »


Montgomery County eyes hefty real estate tax jump
Roanoke Times
Demands and cuts in state funding suggest a 21-cent real estate tax rate hike. Supervisors balked. By Mike Gangloff Montgomery County supervisors braced themselves Monday for the possibility of a record increase in the county's real estate tax rate.

and more »


Chicago Tribune

Real Estate: National foreclosure settlement delayed, Nevada AG concerned
Reno Gazette Journal
Ap File BY THE NUMBERS Foreclosure-related filings for 2011 for Washoe County, Nevada and the United States. Filings include notices of default, notices of sale or auction and bank-owned foreclosures. Washoe: 7981 (down 27.3 percent and 27.6 percent ...
Week ahead in real estate (Feb. 6-10)U-T San Diego
Banks Paying Homeowners a Bonus to Avoid Foreclosures: MortgagesBusinessWeek

all 501 news articles »


Real estate title agent to add 200
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
The parent of United Lender Services, a national real estate title and settlement agent in Findlay, has acquired two large office buildings along the Parkway West, where ULS will relocate and triple its employment to more than 250.

and more »


Real estate firm's game ad nothing to laugh at
Chicago Tribune
Five years into the housing crisis, a national real estate firm thinks there's still a national audience of potential homebuyers just waiting for the right opportunity. The combination of home affordability and mortgage interest rates are practically ...
Century 21 Maintains Leadership Position in Brand Awareness SurveyRisMedia.com (press release)

all 2 news articles »


New York Times

So Eager to Get Foot in Real Estate's Door, They Work Without Pay
New York Times
In past years, becoming a real estate agent was rarely a first-choice gig. For many people, it was a way to pay the bills while trying to break into another field. For some, it was a second career — or maybe a third or a fourth — tackled after the ...
Real estate is a team sportBoston.com (blog)

all 1 news articles »


AFP

Spain's Santander covering real estate assets with additional €2.3B to meet ...
Washington Post
MADRID — Spain's Banco Santander will set aside an additional €2.3 billion ($3 billion) in provisions to meet a new government demand for all banks to boost their buffers against troubled real estate assets. Europe's biggest bank by market ...
Spanish banks book provisions against property sectorAFP

all 12 news articles »


Zephyr Real Estate Announces Top Producers for 2011
MarketWatch (press release)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Feb 06, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Zephyr Real Estate, San Francisco's largest independent real estate firm, is proud to announce the company's top producing real estate agents for 2011. The Company Top 10, in order by highest ...

and more »


TEXT-S&P says European real estate should weather downside credit risks
Reuters
"We think that our macroeconomic forecast of a mild recession for the first half of the year will have a moderate effect on the operating performance of our rated Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) portfolio," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst ...

and more »

Google News

home | site map | Colorado Log Homes | Homes for Sale in Denver Metro
© 2006