In the US housing setting, a real estate broker and his accompanying sales team, assists sellers in promoting and selling their property, usually negotiating for the highest price or rate possible, and under the best terms. It is standard practice in the United States that a person is required to obtain a license first in order to receive compensation or a commission for services rendered as a licensed real estate broker.

Unlicensed real estate activity is considered illegal, but buyers and sellers who act as principals in the sale or purchase of real estate are not required to be licensed. In some states however, lawyers are allowed to handle real estate sales, and are paid fees and commissions without the need to be licensed as brokers or agents.

There are quite a few buyers and sellers who are comfortable doing the work of marketing their home for sale by themselves, as well carrying the weight of the work on the buyer's side. Unrepresented buyers or sellers do an equal amount of work as agents or licensed brokers.

An unrepresented seller more than often approaches a listing agent for a property they represent. If somehow the home seller convinces the agent to give back the "buyer's agent share" to him, it is not as if the listing agent is not going to be picking up the slack for the work the seller does not do or is inexperienced in doing at.

The unrepresented seller is at most, directly offering his/her property to a buyer by negotiating deals directly and haggling over the best possible price and payment method. The good thing however with dealing with direct buyers over brokers or agents is that a home owner would not have to cut profits with established brokers agents, and would not find the need to dole over a substantial amount of commission to the agent.

Should a home or property owner decide to sell his asset on his own and not avail the services of a licensed broker, he/she should be ready to prepare all necessary papers describing the property for advertising, pamphlets, open houses, and others. Advertising a property is often the biggest outside expense in listing a property, and a home seller should readily shoulder the expense for this.

In some aspects, holding an open house to show the property would be a rather inexpensive venue for the home seller to show off his property. By being a contact person, the seller should always be available to answer any questions about the property and to schedule showing appointments to prospective buyers.

Posted by Bob Ballard on December 13, 2008 at 12:00 AM

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