Listing, Selling, Pricing, and Transaction Coordination
Listing agreements and marketing
Know the four listing types: exclusive right to sell (broker earns a commission no matter who sells), exclusive agency (seller may sell without paying), open listing (non-exclusive), and net listing (creates a conflict of interest and is restricted or prohibited in many jurisdictions - avoid recommending it). Compensation is negotiated and not set by law; offers of cooperation are negotiated among brokers and disclosed to the client. Modern practice requires a written buyer-broker agreement before touring homes with a buyer in many markets, and buyers should be told that commissions are negotiable.
Pricing with evidence, not hope
Use a CMA built of active, pending, and sold comparables, then compute the absorption rate: months of inventory = active listings ÷ monthly sales. Roughly six months is balanced; under four favors sellers, over seven favors buyers. Watch list-to-sale ratio and days on market. Overpricing usually produces a longer marketing time and a lower final price, and it risks an appraisal shortfall.
Worked example: a subdivision has 96 active listings and 16 sales per month → 96 ÷ 16 = 6 months of inventory, a balanced market; a pricing strategy should be supported by recent closed sales, not by the seller's needed net.
Contract to close
Coordinate earnest money deposit, contingency dates, inspections, appraisal, title commitment, loan approval, Closing Disclosure review, final walk-through, settlement, and recording. Prepare a seller net sheet and review prorations (often on a 365-day basis) and payoffs. Remember lead-based paint disclosure for pre-1978 housing and FIRPTA/1099-S items at closing.
Traps: an exclusive right to sell pays the broker even if the seller finds the buyer; earnest money is not the broker's money; the walk-through is for condition, not renegotiation.