When it comes to putting a house on the market, your listing agent will consider a number of different types of listings. To help you understand the various options, we have summarized them for you. Just remember that while there are various options, just a few are used with the most common being the open listing, exclusive agency listing, and one-time show, which is what we want to cover
Open Listing
The most common type of listing used is the open listing, which is used in a situation of “for sale by owner” who want to work with a real estate agent. In this case, the listing agent would have the right to bring potential buyers to see the home. Now, if one of those buyers purchases your home, then the agent would earn a commission.
With this option, there is no exclusion aspect, meaning you can give this type of listing out to anyone you want. Because of this, you will find few real estate agents using an open listing or listing your home in the Multiple Listing Service. If your home is something one of the potential buyers wants and the listing is convenient to the agent, then he or she may show it.
Exclusive Agency Listing
This type of home listing is where an agent can list and market a home, which guarantees when the home sells, they will earn a customary commission. In this case, a seller can seek out his or her own buyers as well as depending on the services of the agent. The exclusive agency listing is not very popular since it offers no incentive for the agent and their company to spend any money or time marketing.
For instance, if you were to come up with your own buyer and the listing agent and company had put in significant money and/or time then they did all the work for nothing, meaning no commission for their efforts. In addition, the exclusive agency listing is somewhat considered unethical in that sometimes, buyers and sellers will try to cut the agent out of the picture. In other words, if the buyer located information on the house through advertising paid and done by the agent, but decides to make a deal with the seller pretending they found the house direct, they the agent is cheated out of a sale.
One-Time Show
Finally, the one-time show is an option used many times by real estate agents showing a “for sale by owner” home to one of their clients (potential buyer). In this case, the seller would sign an agreement identifying the potential buyer, thus guaranteeing the agent a commission if that buyer purchases the home. With this, both the seller and buyer would be prevented from negotiating directly or trying to skip the agent’s commission.