Should I list my home with a large brokerage firm?
That's a question that comes across the minds of many home sellers. This post is to answer that. Read the comments as the real estate professionals generate them. I will provide my answer in my blog.
As smaller and locally owned brokerage firms are coming into the marketplace to provide consumers more choices, this is a burning question a home seller may ask. Some do, and some just wonder. Today, we'll take this question head on.
Should I list my home with a large brokerage firm?
What does a Large Brokerage Firm do, that a small (locally owned) does not?
Will my buyer come through that large brokerage firm I list with?
Will my home be shown more if I list with a large brokerage firm?
Let me first disclose, this is not a post to dismiss a larger or smaller brokerage firm. Known or not known. Recognizable or not. Every size business and name has its own position and influence in the marketplace. I've never been sponsored by a large brokerage firm in part of my personal experiences. I've always been with smaller, locally owned, independent brokerage firm. By the time it was time for me to open shop, that was the natural position I gravitated to.
A listing agent is only as good as the agent's knowledge and skills. The logo on the sign or business card does not necessarily mean a home will sell or not. The event lies within employing the best agent for the job - be it a large or small firm.
A listing agent - at a large or small brokerage firm operates as small business owners. Each of them put in their own effort in driving their self-employment. Again, it lies in the work ethics of the agent, not necessarily the sign or logo it carries.
In any size firm (large or small), the 80/20 rule typically applies. 20% of the agents generate 80% of the business for the company.
As long as the property shows up on MLS, it's free for all. The listing brokerage agrees to co-broke (ie. to share the listing and commission fees). Any buyer's agent who has a buyer that meets your property profile will most like show the house. After all, the buyer's agent is also to make the sale. S/He will not not show your home because it was NOT listed by his/her brokerage firm. As Realtors(R), we cannot do that anyways.
A single listing agent can be just as powerful in networking as one in a bigger firm. Again, the power depends on the individual him/herself. Since all real estate agents are self-employed professional anyways, they may not necessarily choose to come to the office. At least, not all 300 who are associated with the agency come into the office everyday. Some choose to office out of their home. Some want the synergy while others are much more productive at the office.
Coming from a small agency buyer's agent standpoint, my buyers that I work with do not care the business name I'm associated with, just as long as they feel they have been treated fairly and their interests were taken into consideration. They care about how I can bring value to the transaction.
The way buyers operate have changed since the Internet became a dominant home search tool. In the past, the buyers show up at the agent's office and the agent display a list of 10 homes they will see that day. Today, the buyers show up telling the agent the list of homes they want to see that day.
The home buying process has changed and so is the home selling process. It has always been an individual sport but with the Internet, it has become even more dominant.
I hope this post can help answer some of your doubts about listing a home with a large or small brokerage firm. It's not the company but the individual.
The comments and feedback from this post will be just as interesting. I hope you will read it.
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Loreena Yeo
Frisco TX Realtor(R)
Realtor®/ Broker of 3:16 team REALTY
(214) 783-2210
loreena@loreenayeo.com
Super-serving Frisco, Plano, Dallas, McKinney, Allen, Little Elm, & North Dallas area communities.
Copyright © 2010 by Loreena Yeo (3:16 team REALTY)
Should I List my home With a Large Brokerage Firm?
