In a scenario that repeats itself over and over, across the country, day after day, year after year, home sellers are able to sell their home for more than the asking price.
In a scene that has played-out tens of thousands of times, a seller will list (offer a property for sale) a property in the REALTOR Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for a price of ‘X’. Almost as soon as the house is offered for sale, the offers begin to come in. Soon, as the seller’s real estate agent relays the offers to the seller, it becomes obvious that the property is popular and that the ‘offers’ are more than the listed price.
Simply put, with the MLS system, the seller realizes the maximum potential sales price for their property. They get more $$$ for their property than they were asking.
Unless… the real estate office takes the listing and doesn’t immediately offer the property for sale in the MLS and first offers the property to buyers working with agents within that particular office.
This action does several things. First, it allows that particular real estate office to double their commission. Second, it is unfair to real estate agents in other real estate firms in that they are deprived of the full selection of properties that should have become available through the MLS. Third, it reduces the value of a real estate agent paying to be a member of the MLS.
Most importantly, it can cheat the seller out of thousands of dollars to tens of thousands of dollars.
When selling a property through a real estate agent, ask specifically if your property is going to be immediately offered in the MLS, or if your property is going to go through the in-house ‘filtering’ process that allows the listing agent’s office to double their commission by reducing your potential buyers.