The Possible Danger of an Exclusive Listing

We are certainly living in a seller's market right now! I was recently in a course and learned of a new practice that is questionable as to how it serves home sellers. I want to start by saying that the practice of selling your home in an Exclusive Listing in the current market may possibly serve you well. I just want to bring to your attention a very real potential danger.

In a hot seller's market, many sellers are seeing offers well above their asking price if their home is properly priced and marketed. We have been seeing this all year in Oxford County. Many buyers have needed to make offers on several homes before being the successful bidder. In this type of market, it is almost always in a seller's interest to have their home listed on the open market with many potential buyers being exposed to their listing.

Now, lets talk about why an exclusive listing may be bad for you. What if I, as a realtor, were to approach you and tell you that I would list your home exclusively, meaning only me and my office had access to showing it, and I would do that for a 3.5 or 4 % commission. I already have a buyer ready to go and I think I can sell your house this week. I am cutting you a break from my usual 5% commission. Sounds great, right? No muss, no fuss, and you are SAVING money. The question is, are you really?

Let's now imagine that you are willing to sell your house for $250,000. At 4%, I am saving you $2,500 dollars. At 3.5%, I am saving you $3,750 dollars. That's not pocket change. Great savings!

But now we need to factor the market back in. If your home is truly worth $250,000, what might the offer be on the open market? There is a very good chance that you get at least asking price. But now we are on the open market. Your home is on MLS. Multiple offices are showing the property. What if you get into multiple offers? What if your home goes for $5,000 over asking? $10,000? Or maybe even more. 

Selling your home in an exclusive listing just took away that possibility. You may have left a bunch of money on the table. Just make sure that you make the right decisions for YOU in this market. Don't miss out on an opportunity because of what your Realtor says. Being listed exclusively might be the best thing for you, but in the end, in this market, it probably isn't!

Please give a member of The Sherman Group a call if we can be of assistance in any way. We would be happy to answer any questions you may have about Excusive Listings or any real estate related questions you may have.