What is an Exclusive listing? 

The term “exclusive listing” can be scary term to a seller, especially when in includes signing a contract.  In Israel the term “exclusive listing”, simply means that you have chosen a particular agency to represent your interests in the sale of your property “exclusive” of anyone else for the period of time agreed upon in the listing contract. SInce most real estate agencies work in cooperation with one another, by signing an exclusive listing you are in no way limiting the number of potential buyers that will have access to your home, in fact you will be increasing them exponentially. 

When you sign an exclusive listing with a particular agency, the agreement obligates that agency to market your home, and represent your interests in the sale of your home. 

Your responsibility to the listing agent through this contract is that you agree to pay commission to the agency in the event that any prospective buyers who see your home during the timeframe that agreement is in effect, decide to purchase your home.

Why, you may ask do you not simply keep your options open and have many agencies try to sell your property, won’t that give you the most exposure? 

It is simply a misconception that the more people you have working to sell your home the better the results will be. The reality is that although you may “feel” that you have many agents working for you, since you have not “limited yourself” by agreeing to an exclusive listing, the opposite is actually true. In fact no agent will be working for you. No agent will invest his times, effort and resources, nor will they take responsibility for promoting your property. Ask yourself, why would an agent invest time, effort and money into marketing and selling your home when the property can be sold tomorrow by another company or by the owners themselves with no compensation to them?

Agents are willing to give it their “all” if there is some commitment on the side of their client as well and since most professional real estate offices do cooperate with one another and allow access to other agents to bring their clients to see their listed properties, you are in no way limiting yourself to just the buyers of a particular agent by agreeing to allow the agent the freedom to properly promote your property and bring it to the wider market. 

In summation, don’t hesitate to sign that “exclusive” listing agreement with a reputable company. Exclusivity with a company ((if your home is in Israel preferably one with international presence that can expose your property to international buyers) will ensure full exposure of your property to all potential buyers and full cooperation with other agents who will be able to bring their buyers to your home. At the end of the day, you will end up with more money in your pocket in a shorter period of time and best of all a wonderful experience!