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Choosing an Agent
Listing Agents vs. Selling Agents
You see, there are listing agents
and selling agents. Listing agents are the ones who "list" a
home for sale on the Multiple Listing Service, and they deal
primarily with sellers. Selling agents or "buyer’s" agents do
not usually list homes very many homes for sale. They
deal mostly with homebuyers. Buyer’s agents sell the homes that
are placed in the MLS by the listing agents.
Most agents concentrate primarily
on one side or the other. This is not a "hard and fast" rule.
There are also agents who split their time equally between
buyers and sellers. Often, these are the very best Realtors.
The fact of the matter is, if you are buying a home who
do you want on your side? A Realtor who deals primarily with
sellers? Or one who deals mostly with buyers?
If you call on an advertisement
in a newspaper or one of those home selling magazines, you are
most likely calling the listing agent. Listing agents place ads
for several reasons. First, they need to show the seller that
they are doing something to sell their home. Second, by showing
how much they advertise, they can also attract other individuals
who are thinking of selling their homes. They point to their ads
as an example of what they will do to market the house.
Why Agent's Advertise. Is
it what you think?
What sellers don’t realize is
that a listing agent’s main marketing emphasis is directed
toward other Realtors, not the general public. Their main goal
is to convince the selling agents (buyer's agents) to find
buyers and make offers. This is a good thing because if you are
selling a home, you want as many Realtors as possible bringing
buyers around to take a look. Most of a listing agent's
marketing efforts toward other Realtors are invisible to the
general public, but it is where an effective listing agent does
a home seller the most good.
One reason listing agents
advertise homes in newspapers and magazines is to show their
clients that they are aggressively marketing the property. When
home sellers constantly see ads from a particular Realtor, they
are inclined to want to list with that Realtor. So even though
the ads look like they are directed toward home buyers,
they often have another purpose. To attract home sellers.
Selling
agents (buyer's agents) do advertise homes for sale in order to
attract buyers. However, they don't really expect you to
actually purchase the home you originally
call on. They would be happy if you do, but it happens so
rarely that they do not expect it.
When you call on a real estate
ad, you often schedule an appointment to go look at the
advertised home. While you are out looking at that home, you
will probably want to look at a few others, too. Eventually, you
and the Realtor will zero in on what you need and like in the
proper price range and you will make an offer.
Why Signature Group
When it comes to choosing your
Real Estate Agent, you've come to the right place. As an agent
with Signature Group Real Estate I have ............ |
