What Type of Listing Contracts Best Fits Your Needs?

Whenever you decide to sell a house, one the first most important things to consider is a listing contract which comes in different types and colors. The listing contract is the official document that is arranged and signed between you and your real estate broker. The most well known and most regularly used listing contract is the “Exclusive Right to Sell”, yet, the goal of this article is to describe other popular listing contract types. The level of agent’s involvement in the sale of your property defines the type of the listing contract. Even though many types exist, only several are frequently used such as the following:

• Open Listing allows you to assign the agent to show your property to the clients.  Should the agent’s efforts be successful and the house is sold to one of the clients, the agent receives the commission. There is an equal level of involvement from both the agent and yourself. On the pro side are no obligations from your side apart from the potential commission to be paid. The disadvantage is that there are no high obligations from the agent either, who is very likely not to put much marketing effort in the sale of your property
  
  
• One-Time Show is quite similar to the Open Listing contract with the only difference that you do the main chunk of work with the help of the agent. This listing contract indicates the name of the prospective buyer. If the sale is successful, the agent gets the commission. One-Time Show contract also as the above one does not stimulate the agent to put maximum effort into the sale.
  
  
• Exclusive Agency Listing involves the participation of a broker. Even though it is very typical that different kind of people getting involved in different type of contracts. The advantage of the exclusive agency listing is that it allows you to be free to sell your home on your own and not pay anything to the broker conditional upon the possibility if the broker sells your home through a licensed professional real estate agency. However, if you manage to sell on your own, you are not bound by any obligations to pay. Exclusive Agency Listing contract is quite popular since they give a chance to the seller not to spend anything on the broker.
  
  
• Exclusive Right to Sell Listing used the most frequently between the seller and the agents, since it gives the broker full freedom to act upon his discretion when selling your home.  This type of contract provides the best motivation for the agent, since if the transaction is successful he will get the decent share of the house price in the form of commissions. In this case, the seller may not put so much effort in the selling process of the home.

Regardless of what type of contract you choose, make sure that you are absolutely comfortable with each point mentioned in the contract. The type of the contract very much depends to which extent you would like to get involved when selling your home. Be clear about any pros and cons of different contract types. This is one of your first legal documents in selling your home, so make sure you get it right.