You may have heard the term listing agent or even selling agent or seller's agent and while they might sound the same, they are slightly different. The term "listing agent" is the agent that actually takes on the listing contract from a homeowner or seller. They write up the listing, advertise it on the local MLS, and facilitate the transaction on the seller's behalf.
A "selling agent" or selling broker, represents the interest of the buyer but is more frequently referred to as a buyer's agent. It is technically the agent that brought the buyer, so in a sense, "sells" the property. Hence the term selling agent as they are the ones that actually did the selling of the property even though the listing agent is representing the seller and offered the property for sale.
Yes, this can be confusing but these the terms when you're dealing with real estate, all the more reason to use a qualified real estate agent to help you facilitate the transaction whether you're on the buyer side or the seller's side.
A buyer's agent gets paid from the sale of whichever home the buyer chooses and while you might think that the buyer's agent has a hidden agenda on selling one property over another, 99.9% of us don't. Our goal and ethical duty is to our buyers first. It is imperative that we look to the interest of our buyers first rather than the seller or homeowner of any one particular property. Our goal is to get the right home at the right price and to the right terms for our buyer.
A listing agent serves the seller or homeowner of the property being put up for sale. They will contact the seller and determine a price, commission, which gets split between the buyer's agent and the listing agent, and how the listing agent will facilitate the transaction and market the home.
At Realty One Group Goldmark, we offer a variety of selling options.If you'd like to sell a home "as-is" we can absolutely help with that but to get the most profit from the sale of your property, we can offer a listing presentation on how we would market and sell your home the traditional way.
As a Southern Utah listing agent we supply properties throughout the Washington County area in places like St. George, Hurricane Valley, Zion Park and We can help you sell your home, property, condominium, townhouse, or even vacant land for top dollar.
Can the listing agent be the selling agent?
Yes. But then you are getting into a sticky situation of dual agency. This is where the same agent facilitates the transaction on the same property between the buyer and the seller. You can probably already see the conflict of interest. The listing agent is employed by the seller first and the buyer second. While this can be a muddy situation, it's almost impossible to complete fiduciary duty for both the buyer and the seller. The agent will know the buyer's motivation and the goal is to sell that house for the seller. This is why it's always a good idea to have your own real estate agent.
For more information on selling your St. George home or area property or buying the perfect home in Southern Utah, contact us at any time.
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