This Exclusive Right Of Sale Listing Agreement ("Agreement") Is Between: Fill & Download for Free

Based on the NYC median sale price of $1.7 million, home sellers in NYC pay an extra $73,100 in real estate commissions compared to home sellers in London. For such comparable cities to have vastly different real estate commission structures is simply astounding!Furthermore, it’s common in London for real estate agents to actually charge a lower commission for more expensive properties. This is clearly not the case in NYC, where more expensive units may even have higher commission amounts!We've compared NYC vs. London real estate commission rates in detail here: Why are New York City real estate commissions so high?The truth is that NYC home sellers don't need to pay 6% commission.NYC FSBO Sellers can save the full 6% by using a NYC flat-fee MLS service like Hauseit's NYC FSBO - Sell By Owner Broker Free in New York NY.Busy sellers who don't have time to sell FSBO can still save 3-5% in commission by using an Agent Managed Listing - Full Service for 1% - Save TimeNYC vs. London - Real Estate CommissionsAre you looking to sell your NYC condo, coop or townhouse and find yourself asking why New York City real estate commissions are so high?You’ll likely be both surprised and disappointed to learn that New York City is home to the highest residential real estate commission rates in the world – both compared to commissions charged in other comparable countries and compared to commissions charged in the rest of the USA.Since you may be in the process of considering your options as a home seller in New York City, it is helpful to know exactly why NYC real estate commissions are so high compared to cities like London, and what you can do about it to save your home equity and avoid paying 6% in NYC real estate commissions.Types of Full-Service Real Estate Representation in London vs. New York CityThe United Kingdom does not have the traditional ‘listing agent’ and ‘buyers agent’ like we have in the United States. Instead, UK sellers who are considering working with a full-service real estate agent must choose between the following options:Sole AgentHaving a Sole Agent represent you in the UK means that you will have just one agent acting on your behalf who will earn 100% of the commission being offered alongside your property. Because the likelihood of the agent earning your commission is higher (since there are no other agents in play), the real estate commissions charged are generally lower and in the range of 1% to 1.5%. Having a sole agent also means that you are not able to transact through a buyer represented by another agent. The concept of “co-broking” which is so strong in New York City (splitting the 6% commission between listing agent and buyers’ agent) does not exist in the UK under the sole agent listing agreement.Joint Sole AgentThe Joint Sole Agent structure in the UK is the closest thing to the traditional NYC listing agent under an Exclusive Right to Sell Listing Agreement with co-broking. Under the Joint Sole Agent arrangement, the seller hires two listing agents and agrees to split the commission equally between them. The idea behind this structure is to hire two agents who traffic in different buyers’ circles and have differing marketing strategies. With this setup, unlike the NYC Exclusive Right to Sell listing arrangement, if a buyer is found by either agent the commissions are split equally between both agents no matter what. NYC Listing Agents under an Exclusive Right to Sell agreement do not split the commission with buyers’ agent if the buyer was procured by the listing agent.Multiple AgentsA Multiple Agency Arrangement in the UK is just like a NYC Exclusive Right to Sell listing agreement with one minor difference: instead of there being a listing agent and a TBD buyer’s agent (if buyer is not found directly by the listing agent), there are 3 predetermined agents. Only the agent who finds the buyers gets paid any commission. Under this arrangement, all three agents are fiercely competitive with one another since it’s an all-or-none situation with regards to earning the real estate listing agent commission. The typical real estate commission under a multiple agency arrangement setup is 2.5%-3% of the sale price.Full-Service Listing Agreements in London vs. NYC Listing Agreements:Sole Selling RightsThis type of UK listing agreement binds the seller to pay the listing agent a commission even if the seller finds the buyer on his or her own. In that sense, it’s very similar to the commonplace NYC Exclusive Right to Sell listing agreement. A key difference between this agreement and the NYC Exclusive Right to Sell is that no other agents are allowed to sell your home. UK listing agents who have “Sole Selling Rights” keep the entire commission and have no obligation to share it with a buyers agent.Multi AgencyThis type of agreement is used for ‘multiple agency arrangements’, whereby a UK home seller offers to pay one commission to whichever of the agents finds the buyer. This is comparable to a New York City ‘open listing’.Ready, Willing & Able vs. Sole AgencyFor either a “Sole Selling Rights” or “Multi Agency” listing agreement, the document can be either a “ready, willing and able purchaser” or “sole agency” subtype. In the case of the former, this obligates the seller to pay a commission to the real estate agent who finds a buyer even if the seller decides not to go through with the sale. In the case of “sole agency”, the seller is permitted to procure a buyer on his/her own without being obligated to pay a commission to the agent.Quirks of London Real Estate Agents vs. NYC Real Estate AgentsSliding ScalesIt’s not uncommon in the UK and London for the real estate agent percentage commission rates to be on a sliding scale based on the sale price. If the property sells for a higher amount, then the commission rate steps up in bands. Conversely, if the property sells for a price on the lower end, then the real estate commission rate would bracket down. This is not common in NYC, however we think it’s actually a great idea because it incentivizes listing agents to maximize proceeds for the seller.The real problem with NYC full-service listing agents is that they have no real incentive to sell your home at the best possible price. NYC agents with 6% Exclusive Right to Sell listing agreements would prefer a quicker sale at $1.5 million to a sale at $1.55 million which takes 3 months longer.Why? Simply put, the agent prefers to get paid 6% ASAP on $1.5 million (earning $90,000) than spending an extra 3 months and risking the expiration of the listing agreement just to earn an extra $3,000 in commission for himself or herself.Commission based on Asking PriceBelieve it or not, in the UK some real estate agents attempt to charge a commission based on the asking price instead of the listing price. This nifty little trick is definitely not something we’ve heard of in NYC or ever want to see!Sales TaxCommission rates in the UK may be quoted either inclusive or exclusive of VAT (value added tax, or the rough equivalent of sales tax in the UK). Since the current rate of VAT in the UK is 20%, it’s critical for UK home sellers to know how their commission rate is being quoted. Otherwise, 1% could turn into 1.2% and 2% could turn into 2.4%, etc.!Why are Real Estate Commissions lower in London than in New York City?No MLS / Commission SplittingSince the custom in the UK is to have one agent represent both buyer and seller, there is no commission splitting. If only one agent needs to be paid for each transaction, then it somewhat makes sense why commission rates in the UK are roughly half of those which are charged in the US, where both listing agent and buyers’ agent split the commission. However, the quirk here is that under a NYC ‘Exclusive Right to Sell’ listing agreement, the listing agent has the potential to earn the entire 6% commission if he/she finds a buyer or if the owner finds the property by himself or herself. The opportunity to earn such a huge real estate commission on a residential property deal does not exist in London or the United Kingdom.

So you’re thinking about selling your home without an agent and want to know what the FSBO success rate in NYC is…The FSBO success rate in NYC varies dramatically depending on how you are approaching the home sale process. Are you going it completely alone and listing your home For Sale By Owner on Zillow and StreetEasy? Or are you listing it via an Agent Managed FSBO and offering a commission to buyers’ agents on RLS (i.e. equivalent to the NYC MLS)?FSBO Success Rate in NYC for Traditional FSBO Home SellersThe FSBO success rate for traditional FSBO sellers in NYC is absolutely abysmal. This is due to a combination of factors, primarily because the FSBO sellers loses confidence in their ability to properly market the home and succumbs to broker solicitation and harassment.The traditional FSBO seller also inadvertently ignores the vast majority of home buyers who are represented by agents, thereby losing out on over 75% of potential bidders for his or her home.Hauseit Tutorial: What’s the FSBO Success Rate in NYC?In NYC, there are approximately 5,000 real estate transactions closed per year. 90% of those transactions are done between two agents (buyer and seller). As a result, traditional FSBO home sellers miss out on up to 90% of all home buyer traffic. By this metric, only 10% of home sales in NYC succeed in having less than two agents involved. However, you must factor in the percentage of cases where the listing agent sells a home to a buyer who chooses to remain unrepresented. After accounting for this scenario, we estimate less than 1% of all home sales are successfully sold FSBO.Who are the buyers for the less than 1% of sales that are sold FSBO in NYC? They will be split evenly between the occasional direct buyer and brokers who dared to negotiate a one-off commission agreement with a FSBO seller. Because inventory in some markets can become very tight, desperate home buyers may often demand to see a property regardless of whether their buyer agent sent it to them or recommended it to them. As a result, a buyer’s agent will occasionally be forced to try to negotiate with a FSBO seller and get a commission agreement negotiated and signed before introducing the buyer.FSBO Success Rate in NYC for Agent Managed FSBOAn agent managed FSBO will have a success rate equal to a traditional for sale by agent listing assuming the home seller doesn’t make the top 3 mistakes and reasons why NYC FSBO sellers fail. There are two types of discounted listings where you will avoid paying 6% in broker commissions.The full service for 1% option is the only way to completely avoid broker solicitation as you will have a full service agent conducting all showings, handling all inquiries and negotiations on your behalf. Your full service agent would be from a reputable, full-service REBNY Member Firm with good relationships with the wider broker community.The FSBO success rate for a 1% for full service listing is equivalent to a traditional for sale by agent listing because you will be listed by a traditional, full service broker. The only difference will be the lower rate of commission paid to the listing agent of 1% vs. a traditional 6% exclusive right to sell listing agreement. Moreover, the listing agreement you will sign will be highly favorable in comparison to traditional exclusive right to sell listing agreements because you will NOT be required to pay commission if you decide to back out after a “ready, willing and able” buyer is found at your listing price.A more economical method is the agent assisted FSBO listing option. You would be listed in RLS and over a dozen other major real estate search websites such as StreetEasy, Zillow, Trulia and Brownstoner by a reputable, full-service REBNY Member Firm. However, you would be responsible for any private showings and much of the coordination, scheduling and negotiation. Assuming you understand the top three reasons why NYC FSBO sellers fail and have had professional photographs taken, selected a reasonable listing price and maintained your confidence in spite of any broker solicitation, then the FSBO success rate should be 100% of that of a traditional for sale by agent listing.Why are FSBO success rates so low in New York City?FSBO success rates for people who attempt the traditional for sale by owner route are low primarily because they lose confidence and lack basic knowledge about the home sale process in NYC.Example of an actual client who lacked understanding about the sale process and almost got confused by broker solicitation:A question, actually: A broker would like to send a professional photographer to the apartment, take pictures, and list on his website and the New York Times but only take a commission if he brings a buyer (the same buyer commission we offer to anyone). Would there be an issue with accepting his offer and maintaining my listing with Hauseit?Here is the response from our customer service team:Hi Sarah – To minimize the chance of you having to pay a buyers agent commission, would it not make the most sense for you to hire your own photographer (can be done for a few hundred dollars via Hauseit) so that we may refresh your listing’s photos and also post to NYT on your behalf? That way you retain full control of unrepresented buyer inquiries without having to fork out a buyer’s agent commission.You would almost certainly benefit from changing out the current photos on your listing with professional ones! Unfortunately it would not be permissible for another broker to post your listing on a public website like the NYT while we are under an exclusive.We’d also suggest not accepting solicitation from agents who do not have direct buyers for you. In addition to it being against REBNY rules for brokers to solicit owners who are under existing exclusives, these agents are almost always out to lower your confidence and rattle you to the point where you hire them. At which point they stick to a very simple formula – lower your listing price and invest in professional photos while charging you a commission once a buyer inevitably appears!Ready to sell your home without paying 6% in commissions?Submit your listing details online in under 5 minutes! We’ll pair you with a top rated, affiliate REBNY Member Firm who will list you in RLS, StreetEasy, Zillow, Trulia and over a dozen major real estate search websites within 48 hours or sooner.

A NY Disclosure Form, more formally called the New York State Disclosure Form for Buyer and Seller, is an agency disclosure form that real estate agents are required to hand out to home buyers and sellers. The form explains various types of real estate agency fiduciary relationships and clearly marks in whose interest the real estate agent serves.It’s important to know that you can refuse to sign the NY Disclosure Form even though real estate agents are required to present it to you. Moreover, even if you were to sign it, it is not a contract or binding agreement of any sort, but simply a NY State mandated disclosure form.When will sellers be presented with the NY Disclosure Form?Sellers will usually be asked to sign the NY Disclosure Form at the same time they sign their Exclusive Right to Sell Listing Agreement. For example, Hauseit sellers are able to conveniently e-sign both the NY Disclosure Form and their Flat Fee or Full Service for 1% listing agreement within the same document.The most common agency relationships between listing agents and sellers are: Seller’s Agent, Dual Agent or Dual Agent with designated sales agent. Meanwhile, the two most common agency relationships between a buyer and an agent are Buyer’s Agent or Dual Agent.Read the rest of the article here: NY Disclosure Form – What is a NY Disclosure Form | Hauseit NYCVideo tutorial: Buyer’s Closing CreditWhy would you agree to dual agency when you can have someone exclusively represent your interests as the buyer? Why would you turn that down when the service is not only free, but you can earn some of the commission back at close?