By listing your home on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) as a 'by owner' sale, new rules announced by the Canadian Real Estate Association to remove some of the constrictions of the Multiple Listing Service enable you to sell your home privately without paying any commission to a real estate agent. All you have to pay is a flat fee to get your property listed on the MLS in your own area. So how does this work?
It is really quite simple. You only pay a realtor a commission if they sell your home, so if you sell it yourself by what is known as a 'by-owner' sale, then you don't pay the commission because no realtor sold your home for you - you did it yourself! It is basically a no-fee property sale, other than the listing fee.
All you have to pay is the listing fee for the Edmonton Real Estate Agent service, and real estate agents are obliged to provide you with the details of any buyer that is interested in your property so that you can go it alone. You can sell your home yourself and pay no commission to a realtor: With a 2.5% commission that amounts to $9,000 on a $360,000 home. That's sure worth thinking about, particularly when around 90% of homes are sold through the MLS system!
You can still choose to have a broker find a buyer for you if you wish, in which case you pay that broker the commission, but you can also choose to do it yourself and avoid any payment other than the listing fee. In the past, when you went it alone, you would be unable to get your property listed on the MLS, but now you can without having to use a real estate agent to make the sale.
That offers you the benefit of the Multiple Listing Service without the cost of the commission. You simply pay for the flat rate for the listing and nothing else should you choose to sell your home yourself. You can keep your cash to yourself and save thousands of dollars on the sale.
