What Is an Exclusive Right To Sell Agreement?
Trying to sell a house can be extremely stressful. How stressful? Well, one recent survey found that it’s so stressful that almost half of home sellers cry at some point during the selling process.
If you want to avoid breaking down in tears while selling your home, you should bring a reputable real estate agent on board to assist you. You can sign an exclusive right to sell agreement with them and then let them get to work.
Before you do this, though, you should make sure you understand what “exclusive right to sell” means in the context of real estate. You should also see to it that you understand the importance of an exclusive right to sell listing agreement.
We’re going to work to make selling your house slightly easier on you by breaking down what an exclusive right to sell agreement is and how it’ll benefit both you and your real estate agent. Here’s what you need to know.
What Is an Exclusive Right to Sell Agreement?
An exclusive right to sell agreement is a contract that is signed by both someone who is selling a home and a real estate agent who is being brought on to try and help them find a buyer. This contract will state that a real estate agent will have a certain amount of time to sell a home in exchange for an agreed-upon amount of compensation.
When you’re attempting to sell a home, you’re welcome to hire whichever real estate agent you would like to help you do it. You should search for one who is very familiar with your local real estate market and ask them for assistance.
More often than not, a real estate agent is going to ask you to sign an exclusive right to sell agreement before getting to work. It will make sure they’re compensated properly for the work they’ll have to do. It will also give you peace of mind by guaranteeing that you’ll have an agent who is going to do everything in their power to sell your house for you.
What Makes an Exclusive Right to Sell Agreement Important?
An exclusive right to sell agreement is important for both home sellers and real estate agents for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it ensures that both sides are on the same page when it comes to selling a home.
But it goes beyond just that. For home sellers, an exclusive right to sell agreement will provide them with these benefits:
- It puts someone else in charge of creating a listing for their house and putting it up on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS)
- It passes on the responsibility of marketing the sale of a home to an agent
- It allows a seller to direct phone calls, emails, etc. about a home sale to an agent
An exclusive right to sell agreement will also benefit a real estate agent in many ways. Here are several of the benefits they’ll enjoy:
- It gives them the exclusive right to work on selling a home for a seller
- It prevents someone else from swooping in and collecting their commission by finding a buyer for a home
- It lets them know how long they’ll have to work on selling a home
As you can see, an exclusive right to sell agreement is going to work for both home sellers and real estate agents. It’s why they’re used in the first place.
How Long Does an Exclusive Right to Sell Agreement Last?
Every exclusive right to sell agreement comes with slightly different terms and conditions. But the average agreement will last for right around six months before it expires.
That means that a real estate agent will get six months to sell a home without having to worry about any other agents poaching a house from them. It also means that a home seller will have to stick with an agent for six months before they can back out of a deal with them and find a different agent if things don’t work out.
You should check to see what your specific exclusive right to sell agreement says so that you know how long it’ll run for. Some last for as little as three months, while others can top the six-month mark.
What Happens When an Exclusive Right to Sell Agreement Runs Out?
Once an exclusive right to sell agreement runs out, you will have a few options. If you like the real estate agent you’ve been working with, you can go ahead and sign a new agreement with them.
If, however, you haven’t been thrilled with the work that your agent has done, you also have the ability to find a new agent to help you. They might be able to do a better job when it comes to selling your house.
Do You Need to Sign an Exclusive Right to Sell Agreement?
One thing worth noting is that you don’t have to sign an exclusive right to sell agreement with a real estate agent if you don’t want to. You can also choose to go with an open listing for your home.
In this case, you can have as many real estate agents working on trying to sell your home as you want. It might be an effective way to unload your house fast.
But if you have multiple real estate agents trying to sell your home, it can also create confusion and make things more stressful than you want them to be. You might wish you had gone with an exclusive right to sell listing instead.
Speak With a Trusted Real Estate Agent About Selling Your House
Now that you know what an exclusive right to sell agreement is and how one works, you should feel more comfortable with the idea of signing it. It’ll be one less thing that will stress you out when you’re selling your house.
Find more useful home-selling tips and tricks by browsing through some of our other real estate-related blog articles.
