You might be wondering what I suggest to people who want to sell a home fast, but for one reason or another their home just doesn’t work for me. Meaning, I look at their home and give them advice but I do not personally buy their home. What happens next for them?
Honestly, they usually decide to list their home with a real estate agent. One thing I often suggest, if I think the homeowners are equipped with adequate time and interest, is to sell their home themselves. Some people are set up with the schedule to market and show their home, and other people are working multiple jobs and really don’t have the time. I wouldn’t advise a person who is too busy to do a good job for himself or herself to undertake the job at all. If your goal is to sell a home fast, you don’t want to take on the job yourself unless you have the time and inclination to do the job the way it should be done.
Since a lot of people are too busy for yet another job these days, I usually suggest that they list their home with a real estate agent. But there is one unique piece of advice that I give homeowners. I have never heard a real estate agent provide sellers this particular information, so I make a point to share it myself. Here’s the secret – there is more than one type of listing agreement you can sign with a real estate agent. It’s true, but it’s not common knowledge, and in fact, most agents will not even know what you are talking about when you ask them for a different form of legal agreement. You will either have to get a form from your own lawyer, or ask the brokerage firm if they have one of these forms available to you.
The form I’m referring to is called an Exclusive Agency Listing Agreement. This form is quite different from the standard listing form , which is called an Exclusive Right-To-Sell. The basic difference is the most important right that you, as the seller, will retain and not give over to a listing agent – you retain the right to sell your home yourself without obligation to pay a real estate commission.
Let me repeat , you retain the right to sell your home yourself. You have given your listing agent the right to market and sell your home, but you can sell it yourself as well. By signing an Exclusive Agency Listing Agreement you have the best of both worlds; your home is listed on the multiple listing service, but you can proceed to market your home yourself as well when you want to sell a home fast.