The Limited Service Listing on a Million Dollar Home in Sacramento 
I just came across a newly listed home for sale in the high-end neighborhood of Sierra Oaks in Sacramento. This house, by anyone’s standards, is a 10. It also has a price tag to match, $1,725,000. But what really struck me about this listing was the TERRIBLE pictures. I’m talking dark, slightly blurry, and even a couple with fingers in the way. I’m not joking….this beautiful home had the WORST photos I’ve seen on any house in many years.
Upon closer inspection, I realized this was a “limited service” listing. Well that explains a lot! Limited service can mean a range of things but it often means that the listing agent does no other marketing except submit the house to the MLS.
There are pros and cons to listing your home with a limited service agent. The big pro is that you’ll be paying less in commissions. Often times limited service agents and companies charge a flat fee. That means that no matter if your house is $150,000 or $1.725M the agent gets the same amount, thus treats any price home with the same amount of (low) service.
There are many cons to a limited service listing. We’ve already discussed the lack of marketing but the bigger issue has to do with the buyer’s representative/agent. When a buyer comes along, they will have an agent. Sellers in almost ever case pay the buyer’s agent commission. In the case of this Sacramento home, they are offering 2% to the buyer’s agent. 2% is definitely on the lower side than what is usually acceptable but because of the high value if this home, it’s passable. The REAL issue is that the buyer’s agent represents the buyer only, not the seller. But, the seller has NO agent to negotiate on their behalf. The buyer’s agent is put in a highly liable situation of trying to negotiate with a seller without representation. They are not allowed to give advice or suggestions yet the seller will undeniably be looking for answers. It’s a legal pitfall that many agents don’t want to get involved with!
I’m sad to say that this GORGEOUS Sacramento home has little chance of selling with it’s limited service listing. There are several other homes in the same neighborhood that are marketed in a MUCH more appealing way. Buyers are going to be attracted to those homes. They can pretty much forget about the buyer’s agents talking this home up. Experienced real estate agents will NOT want to to be liable for negotiating with a seller who does not have any representation.
In limited service listings, you get what you pay for. It’s sad really, that this beautiful piece of property (or any property for that matter) is not shown in its best light. There are some GREAT, hard working, and experienced Sacramento real estate agents who would do a terrific job marketing and selling this home for the most money possible and in the shortest amount of time. This seller, I’m sure, thinks they are saving money in commissions but they are actually losing money but not attracting buyers willing to pay for a nice home and holding this property longer than they want to while they play the waiting game.
The Limited Service Listing on a Million Dollar Home in Sacramento
Leave a Reply