Why work with a listing agent

Hi. I’m Scott Rubin, your New York City Real Estate Broker. 

And this is; Why work with a listing agent?

In NYC, Almost all of the listings you’ll come across in your search are listed by a real estate broker, as most sellers realize that it’s necessary in order to sell your home quickly, effectively, and for the highest price.

The ONLY real reason that sellers sometimes try and list without a broker is the commission.

Typically the amount is 6% and it’s a lot of money, but it’s worth it.

Even before I discuss why, Ill use myself as an example.

I’m a very experienced broker and I recently sold my own apartment in Williamsburg. 

I could have just listed it online as owner to try and avoid paying a commission.

But I understand and respect the power of listing my apartment as a broker, so I listed through my brokerage and paid a commission both to my company and to the buyer’s side. 

I did pretty well too!

And I think that in and of itself, says something. 

So let’s get started with the theory that Maximum Exposure equals Maximum Value.

A broker has the marketing power to give your home maximum exposure.

The more people that get in to see your apartment, the better. 

If your listing doesn’t have a large enough audience, there wont be too much interest.

When someone IS interested and there’s no other competition, THEY will have negotiating power.

The longer the apartment sits on the market, the more desperate you will look and feel. And if you NEED to sell, you may need to take less than you would have liked to.

However, If you have maximum exposure and drive lots of interested parties in right away, YOU will have the advantage and hopefully there will be multiple options for you to choose from, giving YOU the leverage.

Personally, When I list an apartment for my sellers, I make sure that the listing looks as beautiful as possible with professional photos, floor plans, and descriptions.

I make sure it’s on every relevant website and appears without any flaws and I feature the listing everywhere it needs to be.

Another very important step is marketing the apartment to other brokers, through the broker database, broker eblasts, and maybe even a broker open house.

The majority of serious buyers are represented by brokers and it’s foolish for sellers or the listing agent to think that buyer’s agents are not important. 

I can’t stress enough that most serious buyers in NYC are working with a buyer’s agent.

Since the seller pays the commission, a buyer’s agent is free for the buyer to work with and a no brainer.

So if you list on your own and intend to get a buyer who isn’t represented by a “FREE” buyer’s agent, it’s going to be difficult.

Because those buyers working without an agent tend to be at the beginning of the process and agent that serious.

You will end up limiting your audience severely.

Plus, if zero brokers are involved, it’s going to be hard to put together a deal between both sides for various reasons.

Negotiating can also get very emotional and without brokers providing a barrier between the two parties, it’s very easy for a deal to fall through.

Many owners who try to sell on their own will offer to pay the buyer’s broker a commission if they end up doing a deal. But how crazy is that? The seller has no representation but is paying the buyer’s broker to represent the other side? 

And that of course brings me to the most important point. Negotiating. 

Even if a seller or broker attracts a good amount of buyers to your home, you need to close the deal.

This is where many brokers who aren’t good negotiators will fail.

I don’t think there is anything more important than having a closer as your listing agent.

Someone who is very good at negotiating and deal making. 

There are deal makers and deal breakers and you certainly don’t want to miss an opportunity that is right in front of you.

Happens all the time.

Agents like myself will do everything possible to make sure to capitalize on every single situation and make sure that your listing ends up as a closed deal. 

In addition, listing your own apartment can easily drive you crazy!

First of all, be prepared to get barraged with 100’s of phone calls from brokers who want to list your apartment.

They will be cold calling you non-stop, setting fake appointments to get in front of you, some even bring fake buyers.

So many aggressive brokers will be wasting your valuable time. 

Even with the serious inquiries, you need to be constantly scheduling appointments, showing your apartment, holding open houses, etc.

In addition to your already busy lifestyle, you will now need to work as your own broker as well, which is very time consuming. 

So I think thats a good amount of reasons to work with a listing agent. There’s plenty more to discuss so feel free to reach out to me if you would like to continue the conversation.

That’s it for now.

I’m Scott Rubin, your New York City Real Estate Broker

Thanks for reading!