Your REALTOR®’s Role

Your navigator throughout the home selling process is your REALTOR®. It is his/her job to represent your best interests throughout the entire process. You should hire a REALTOR® who is familiar with your local market are, including sales prices in your neighborhood and home sales trends in your area. He/should must understand of real estate contracts, financing options and advertising venues. In addition your REALTOR® should have good working relationships with other agents as well as allied services (title companies, escrow companies, serviced vendors).

Your REALTOR® should give you advise on “setting the stage” for prospective buyers. This might even include consulting a professional “staging” designer”—an investment that can reap you many thousands of dollars in sales price.

Your REALTOR® may not necessarily be the agent who actually sells your home (that is, represents the buyer as well as you), but the buyer you get will come as a result of his/her efforts.

Cost of Sale

Most REALTORS® charge a fee that is a percentage of the sales price. Until your home sale has closed, you, the seller, usually pay nothing. Therefore the real estate fee, usually called a commission, must cover the REALTOR’s® assumption of risk. In addition, the commission covers many other costs, including advertising and the cost of expertise.

There are also numerous transaction costs once you have executed a home sale contract with your buyer. However, like the commission, these costs are usually not charged unless the sale closes. In California the sales traction and costs are handled through escrow (not closing attorneys). While your escrow officer will handle much of the paperwork, your REALTOR® should stay actively involved.