How to Negotiate Real Estate Listing Agreements

With most real estate purchase contracts, everything is negotiable. This is also true of listing agreements you may enter into if you decide to use a real estate agent to list, market and sell your ho...
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Finding a listing broker can sometimes be like searching for that needle in the haystack. If you take the advice of most real estate professionals, you’ll ask friends, family and colleagues ...

Commissions always are negotiable, no matter what a broker may tell you.   That said, how successfully you can negotiate the commission on selling your apartment often depends on technique and circumstance.   Here's the deal: 1. A good place to begin the discussion is to ask for a summary of the work that the broker promises to undertake. Be sure to express an understanding of the time, expertise and added value involved, and only then ask whether the broker would be willing to accept somewhat less the proposed amount.  

Most commercial real estate brokers will not object to adding language to the listing agreement requiring that the sale close before the broker has earned its commission. Further, it is in the seller’s interest to expand upon this concept so that, except for specific carveouts, no other fee, compensation or reimbursement is due to the broker unless the sale closes, says Robert Scher, chairman of Ober Kale Grimes & Shriver PC's real estate practice.