1. AGENT LISTINGS - TIPS
Ok… if you’ve reviewed all the information, you’ve talked to us about the right balance of
product/price/exposure and you still feel that listing with an agent is the best course of action for your
situation, then we absolutely support you. Here are some tips to help you negotiate with the agent
before you sign the agreement:
• Sign a maximum 2 month listing agreement with the agent as this will ensure they are
extremely motivated to try and sell your home. If you are happy with their efforts but you still
aren’t sold after the 2 months, you can easily extend the agreement a month at a time but there
is no reason to sign a longer term agreement up front. Make them prove that they are as good
as they say and keep your options open.
• Tell the agent that you want to keep your online listing on the PropertyGuys.com site active
(with your direct contact information) even if they insist the lawn sign comes down.
• Lower your price on your PropertyGuys.com listing by the amount you will pay out in
commission (don’t forget to add HST in BC or GST in Alberta). This way you keep your agent
working hard to truly bring you that magic buyer they promised. If your buyer finds you directly
and is now interested in your property at the lower price, they can deal directly with you and
you still come out with the same amount in your pocket since you don’t pay commission. Don’t
forget that if your property still doesn’t sell with the agent and they start suggesting that you
need to lower your price, that you also further lower your price on the PropertyGuys.com listing
by the calculated commission amount you would be responsible for at the revised price.
• If you don’t keep your PropertyGuys.com listing active and want to put it on hold while you list
with the agent, then stay firm on the initial price they suggest. If they ask you to lower it,
ensure they aren’t having you lower it below the lowest price you attempted as a private seller.
Otherwise you are really taking a hit since you would now be selling lower than you tried on
your own AND you have to take the commission out of the net proceeds of the sale. A better
approach would be to stay at the original suggested price from the agent (hopefully higher than
the price you tried on your own to take into consideration the commission) until the short listing
term expires then try again with us (see next bullet – no cost to come back) at a much lower
listed price.
• Your PropertyGuys.com agreement is still valid even if you decide to put it on hold while you list
with an agent. You can always try with the agent and if it doesn’t work, come back to us at no
additional cost. (If you have a full serve agreement with us)
• Finally… one last attempt to try convincing you that price is the most important variable in the
successful sale of your property. Before you sign on with an agent, try lowering your
PropertyGuys.com price by the amount of commission you are willing to pay the agent (don’t
forget to include HST in BC or GST in Alberta) and give it a couple of additional weeks with us.
What do you have to lose? If you don’t sell then you can always raise the price back up and list it
with the agent. And don’t forget to review the Story of the Cellers Family!
If you have any questions, be sure to talk to us about any of these scenarios. We really do want the best
outcome for you and we have nothing to gain financially from keeping you from moving from us to an
agent. We’ll support you however we can.