All About DFW Real Estate Listing Agreements

Most home sellers don’t know it but there is more than one choice when it comes to DFW real estate listing agreements. The best listing choice for you depends on your willingness and ability to handle some of the home selling duties and the real estate market conditions in your community.

Types of Listings

Open Listing

An open listing allows a home owner to sell their home themselves. It is a non-exclusive agreement. The owner may have an open listing with more than one real estate agent and only pay the agent who brings a willing and able buyer whose offer the owner(s) accepts. The difference is that an owner will probably pay only a selling agents commission, which is about half the amount of typical real estate fees. This is because the owner is not represented by a listing agent. In this case, the owner does not pay a agent to represent them, but they do pay the agent to represent the buyer. If the owner is able to find the buyer themselves then the owner will not owe a commission to anyone. Open listings are not popular with many DFW real estate agents as they are not guaranteed to be compensated for their efforts and expenses.

Exclusive Agency Listing

An exclusive agency listing has many similarities to an open listing arrangement. The most important difference is that the agent represents the owner. The owner still has the right to sell the property themselves and not pay a commission. The agent is free to cooperate with another agent, meaning the second agent could bring an able buyer whose offer the owner accepts. Typically, this agent will be paid a listing commission that is shared with the selling agent. In this case the owner pays both fees.

Exclusive Right-to-Sell Listing

An exclusive right-to-sell listing is the most common of the listing agreements. It gives the agent an exclusive right to earn a commission by representing the owner and finding a buyer, either directly or through another agent. The owner pays both the listing and selling agents’ commissions. The owner cannot sell the property themselves without paying a commission, unless an exception is noted in the listing agreement when it is executed.
Exception to the contract: Say, your next-door neighbor has expressed an interest in buying your house. Often a listing broker will give the seller a certain number of days to execute a contract with the neighbor without them owing a commission.

Other Things to Consider

· Length of Listing
The term of the listing agreement is negotiable. Common listing agreement are 90 days, six months to one year or more.
· Selling Commission

How much will you have pay in commissions to your DFW Realtor? When there is a lot of inventory on the DFW real estate market and few buyers, to generate traffic, you may want to consider paying the selling agent more than you would in a market where inventory is tight and a lot of buyers are going after fewer listings. For example, if the total commission is 6%, and the listing agentn wants to offer 2.5% to the selling office, you could insist on paying 3% instead. Make sure your Realtor put the commissions in the DFW MLS correctly.

· Cancellation of the Listing Agreement
Will your agent let you cancel your listing agreement? If the agent will agree to let you cancel at any time, then that agent is giving you a guarantee. In that instance, the duration of the listing agreement doesn't matter.

· Expiration of the Listing Agreement
If the listing agreement expires without an automatic renewal or if the parties decide to cancel the listing agreement, the listing agent may supply the owner with the list of names of prospective buyers the agent collected. If any of those buyers contact the owner within the time frame specified in the listing contract and they purchase the property, the owner would still owe a selling commission.