Listing Agent Vs. Selling Agent

What is the difference between a listing agent and a selling agent? Here is what listing and selling agents are responsible for and what sets them apart. 

There are various roles in the real estate world. Listing agents represent sellers in a transaction while selling agents represent buyers. When considering buying or selling real estate, it is essential to understand your agent's role and what tasks they are responsible for as they guide you through the process.

This article will help us understand the roles of Listing Agents and Selling Agents in a market of buyers or sellers.

Here are the main reasons for having a listing or selling agent when looking to buy or sell real estate.

1. Listing Agent: Researches Comps and Pricing Strategies

Once you have hired your Listing Agent to sell home, one of the first things they will do is a property analysis. This will begin by looking at the neighborhood's historical data.

They will analyze which homes have recently sold nearby, how much they have sold for, and how long they were on the market before they sold to determine if there is a trend.

Are most homes selling over the list price? Are they selling under the list price? Are they sitting on the market for over 30 days? These are all factors they will consider when researching comps and developing a pricing strategy.

2. Listing Agent: Develop a Listing Strategy

Once the analysis is complete, the Listing Agent will analyze your property. They may come in and offer suggestions on minor improvements, but first, they will want to visit the house on-site to take notes and photos to determine the best strategy for timing, price, and necessary improvements.

3. Listing Agent: Create A Timeline And Home Prep Suggestions

After a proper analysis of your home is complete, your Listing Agent will want to start a timeline. This will act as a goal so you, as the homeowner, know what date you are aiming to get your house on the market for sale.

Your agent may offer a list of home prep suggestions, such as decluttering, repainting, steam cleaning carpeting, adding fresh mulch to your flower beds, and power washing the siding, as a few examples.

At times, upgrading the kitchen and bathroom areas may be beneficial if your agent can determine that there would be a significant return on investment for you. Each situation and financial picture is so unique that these conversations with your agent will vary on a case-by-case basis.

4. Listing Agent: Arrange Professional Photography And Home Staging

As you finish prepping your home to market, your Listing Agent should always hire a professional photographer to take listing photos. According to the Wall Street Journal, real estate listings taken by higher-end cameras tend to perform better than cheaper point-and-shoot cameras.

If you want to maximize your home's sale profit, make sure your trusted real estate agent hires a professional photographer to do the job right.

5. Listing Agent: Input Listing Into MLS (Multiple Listing Service) 

After extensive research on-site and through careful pricing analysis, your Listing Agent will also perform research with the county and city that your home is in and begin inputting it into the Multiple Listing Service. It will take some time to identify the most critical pieces of information your agent will want to be sure is marketed to the MLS.

6. Listing Agent: Market Property Through Social Media And Other Avenues

Once the home is listed on the MLS, many agents will start to market your home through many marketing spheres such as social media, email blasts, and internally within the firm they currently work for to get the most eyes on your listing.

7. Listing Agent: Networking With Other Agents And Host Open House

Many agents have relationships beyond the relationships at their firm, where they will perform some outreach and generate more traffic to your listing. Depending on the sphere and outreach your listing agent has access to will affect the overall result of networking.

Another way of generating traffic will be through open houses. Open houses are a great way to get the neighborhood buzzing, but recent research from U.S. News and World Report states that only 4% of buyers found their house because of an open house or yard sign.

8. Listing Agent: Receive Offers And Negotiate On Sellers Behalf

As your home sits on the market, if your agent has done an excellent job preparing it for the market, the next step is receiving offers. When your offers are received, your agent will pull out the most critical aspects of the offer and share them with you in the order they are received.

As the seller, you'll want to review all offers. Once you have determined which offer seems best, your agent will negotiate some of the terms so you are happy with all terms and get the best overall outcome possible.

9. Listing Agent: Coordinate Showings, Inspections And Appraisals

In addition to coordinating showings, your listing agent will want to continue coordinating with all professionals needing access to your home once an offer is accepted. This includes ensuring the inspectors have easy access to the property when requested and giving access to the buyer's appraiser. 

10. Listing Agent: Handle Seller Documents And Coordinate With Closing Attorney

Some documents must be handled between the seller and the closing attorney to ensure everything runs smoothly in closing. Your listing agent will most likely walk you through which documents need to be completed, and be sure to get those documents signed and returned to the closing attorneys as soon as possible when asked.

11. Selling Agent: Create A Customized Home Search 

As we switch gears to the Selling Agent's duties, one of the first things your Selling Agent will do for you as the buyer will be to set you up with a customized home search. This will often be connected to their local MLS to ensure you will be alerted as soon as a home that fits your criteria hits the market. Your Selling Agent will want to interview you to find out what your absolute "must have" criteria will be so only homes fitting that criteria will populate for you

12. Selling Agent: Show Homes And Run Comps

An essential characteristic of your selling agent is their availability, mainly if you sell in the summer. You will often find that time is of the essence, so it's necessary to understand how available your agent is when it comes time to meet you at a property for showings.

After a successful showing, you will also want your agent to give you professional feedback on pricing once they have reviewed comparable properties through historical data.

13. Selling Agent: Give Offer Recommendations

After your selling agent has reviewed all of the recent comps, your selling agent will need to give you offer recommendations. In addition to the Purchase Price, an offer has many components, so you'll want to talk with your agent to help make your offer stand out. The main goal is to get your offer accepted.

14. Selling Agent: Assist In the Lender Pre-Approval Process

Your Selling Agent will connect you to preferred lenders to help you get a pre-approval to purchase your next home. As a professional real estate agent, receiving kickbacks from a lender is prohibited. However, they could have relationships with various local lenders who they know will do an excellent job for you with competitive rates and, in turn, ensure a seamless closing.

15. Selling Agent: Research Homes And Disclosures

Your agent will need to start researching any home that piques your interest. They will want to review all of the seller disclosure statements available, run a property search with the register of deeds, check the local GIS maps to ensure the property is not in a flood zone, and check for any potential red flags that you as the buyer may not be aware of.

16. Selling Agent: Write Offers And Counter Offers

Once you have selected "The One," your selling agent will prepare your offer and write it up with the terms you have discussed. Through the negotiation process, your agent may also need to prepare your counteroffer and will request your signatures for approval to send over to the Listing Agent.

17. Selling Agent: Negotiate On Behalf Of Buyers

Once your offer has been submitted, your Selling Agent will negotiate to ensure that your interests are met and that you ultimately get the house you want at the most comfortable terms.

18. Selling Agent: Schedule Inspections And Review Potential Repair Quotes

Your agent will get the ball rolling after you've gone under contract and recommend that a professional inspection company evaluate the property for potential defects. Your agent will schedule the inspections for you. Once the report arrives, your agent will request professional quotes to determine how to approach these repairs with the sellers and Listing agent. 

Sometimes, it may make more sense to ask for a credit instead of repairs, which you, as the buyer, would receive back from the sellers at the closing table. Sometimes, buyers prefer that the sellers get the repairs done before closing. Either way, your Selling Agent will review all these options with you, with the inspection report in hand, and develop the best action plan to address these items before closing.

19. Selling Agent: Coordinate With Closing Attorney, Lender And Listing Agent

Throughout the transaction, your Selling Agent will act as a liaison between your closing attorney, lender, and Listing Agent. You must have a prompt agent who will help you get any necessary documents back and signed by the Lender and attorneys to ensure there will not be any delays in closing. 

In turn, your Selling Agent will also be your mouthpiece for communicating concerns or needs to the Listing Agent so that these items can be communicated to the sellers for you.

20. Selling Agent: Attend Final Walkthrough And Closing

It's closing day, and there are just a few more things that your Selling Agent will need to do. Your agent will likely meet you at the property for one final walk-through, typically the evening before or the day of closing. This is the last time you can inspect the property to ensure everything is working and operating as it was on the first day you viewed it.

After the final walkthrough, your Selling Agent should accompany you to the attorney's office for closing. If you have any questions or concerns on closing day, please ensure your agent is there to help guide you through the closing day with the closing attorney before they hand you your brand-new set of keys.

Methodology

We used data from Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, and U.S. News to determine all you need to know about Listing Agents vs. Selling Agents and the difference between the roles.

FAQs

What is the difference between a Listing Agent and a Selling Agent?

A Listing Agent prepares a home for the market and markets it through the MLS to generate interest from potential buyers looking to buy a house. A Selling Agent represents buyers who are in the market to purchase a home.

The Listing Agent has fiduciary duties owed to their sellers, and in turn, the Selling Agent owes fiduciary responsibilities to their buyers throughout the process.

Is it better to buy and sell with the same agent?

There are times when this will be very helpful. Many times, people who want to sell their current home to purchase another will use the same agent to list their current home and then ask the same agent to help them buy the next one.

This will allow you to build trust in the professional relationship and assure you that you will proceed with a second transaction with that agent. Through both processes, the agent will better understand your real estate goals and financial needs.

Is listing the same as selling?

No, listing is not the same as selling. Listing is listing a home for the market, while selling is bringing a buyer to procure the cause of the sale, hence "Selling Agent."

Is it better to deal directly with the Listing Agent?

We at Raleigh Realty always recommend proper representation. While it may be tempting to contact the Listing Agent for information on a home, you want to ensure your information remains confidential when you're a buyer.

In these circumstances, hiring a selling agent to represent you is always best. Your selling agent can answer any questions, and they will reach out to the listing agent for you.

Listing Agent Vs. Selling Agent - Final Thoughts

Listing Agents and Selling Agents are crucial to a successful real estate transaction. If you're considering buying or selling and want to speak with an agent, contact us at Raleigh Realty. Our agents will take great care of you.