the Cost of Seller's Real Estate Agents

The price of a selling a $185,000 home through a real estate agent. They listed our home, showed it, advertised it well, arranged all plans for the actual sale, and negotiated well for us.

We needed to get some money out of our home in order to buy a new one. We had researched a few agents in the area and found that most of them charged 6% to sell a home. We found this agent through a professional association that my husband had established with him. They offered to sell our home for 3% plus 1.5% if we wanted to the MLS system. We decided that MLS was the most convenient way to sell and would probably provide the best chance of selling quickly, so we chose to include that option. This gave us about an additional $3000 to put towards our new home. We couldn't have asked for better service. They communicated well, negotiated to make us happy (even when they recommended against it!), and overall really fought to make sure that we were getting the best deal possible. Our house had three showings the first 2 days we had it one the market and sold with the first one. We were highly impressed with the efficiency professionalism of this "discount" agent. Why pay more?

When looking for an agent, it is really important to have someone you trust. Don't just go with the first person in the phone book. Talk to people and see what they have to offer and weigh the advantages each has to offer. Sometimes going with a discount agent can be well worth your while if they are as professional and established as the ones we used.