N a v i g a t i o n

Select A Real Estate Broker

Full Service Broker - provides full service for a negotiable commission to list and sell your real estate. The typical commission in Connecticut is 5 to 6 percent of the selling price of the real estate for a full service broker. Most people look at real estate brokers and want to know how much is this sale going to cost me ? This is the not the correct question for a seller, but they should ask is how much money am I going to net from this transaction ? If a real estate broker can bring more buyers from a wider network of available buyers to your real estate then you will probably get more and more attractive offers. If you are paying a higher commission then more buyer agents will be attracted to your real estate. The lower the commission the fewer buyer agents will attracted and hence fewer and lower offers most likely could follow.

Discount Broker - will provide a number of services to sell your real estate for a lower commission fee some starting as low as 2 percent. Discount brokers have smaller buyer networks and some reduce their costs further by using their own version of the MLS, which typically attract only a faction of the interested buyers in a market. Be sure to ask what services are included in their fees and what services have additional fees associated with them.

Transactional Broker - will provide services to assist you in selling your real estate on an ala carte basis. Transactional brokers usually help with the required paper work in a real estate transaction, but do not represent either party in the transaction.

Which Broker is right for me ? - First, one size does not fit all, so some people will be best served by a full service broker, while a smaller number will benefit from a discount broker and still fewer can successfully use a transactional broker. For most people the question becomes time and effort needed to sell their real estate, which can be considerable. If you are selling your home and buying another home then a full service broker is probably the best bet. A buyer does not pay for the services they receive from a full service broker (some buyer exclusive brokers do charge for services) ,so not having a full service broker for the purchase of the new home is foolish. The service is free so take them. If the broker is handling the sale and purchase they can help write the sale and purchase agreements, so you and your family do not end up without a place to live for some period of time. A full service broker can assist and recommend area professionals for services such as financing, attorneys, home inspection, appraisers, moving services and insurance.

    For those knowledge of selling real estate and who have the time required to market and sell their real estate then a discount broker may serve their needs just fine.

    For those interested in a transactional broker services the best advise is retain to local real estate attorney and ask them to advise you as to the best course of action take in selling your real estate. An objective professional third party is sometimes the best course of action just like getting a doctors second opinion.

After Selecting A Real Estate Broker

1.) If you have not gotten a CMA ( Competitive Market Analysis ) you should get one now. This is what your broker / agent believes you should list your house for on the current market. This is not an appraisal, which is done by a trained and state licensed professional, who uses defined methods to reach a likely market value for your real estate. A CMA may be more accurate because an appraisal uses past sales as a basis for its value, whereas a CMA may use pending offers or not yet recorded sales on neighborhood properties as its basis for value. Real Estate can be a fast moving market especially if mortgage rates change the value of your property can change overnight up or down.

2.) If you have a full service agent get them to come in and help you stage your property for sale. If you have a discount agent then you made need to hire someone to assist you in doing this. This is very important because the attractiveness of your property will help determine whether you will get an offer to buy and how much they are willing to offer for the property.

3.) If you want to make the property more attractive and move the process along get a home inspection before you have people look at the property. This way you can address problems before they become deal stoppers. Also, someone will find a current home inspection an attractive disclosure and could invite a better offer.

4.) Ask your broker if they offer home warranties. If you are selling your home this may be an attractive incentive to a prospective buyer.

5.) Ask you broker for information about closing costs, so when you are considering an offer you can estimate how much the sale will yield to you after all the expenses are covered.