The absolute # 1 tip I can offer any home seller to help you get the most money possible for your home is this. Make sure you get full MLS (Multiple Listing Service) coverage. Don't look at any offers until you are sure your home is on your Real Estate Board computer. I will say this again. Don't look at any offers until you are sure your home is on your Real Estate Board computer. In the Edmonton area, an army of 3000 Realtors at your disposal can't be beat. Any agent that tries to tell you to put your house on exclusive (only his/her company) for a couple of weeks, or tells you they have a waiting buyer, or suggests post-dating the listing or wants you to negotiate offers before it gets on MLS, or to let them show it to their buyers first, does not have your best interests at heart. Say goodbye to any Realtor that wants to list your house on a Thursday or Friday and have a public open house the following Sunday. Unless they are going to "brokerload" (descibed below), there is not enough time to get your home on the MLS system. You are not hiring a Realtor to put a sign on the lawn, an ad in the paper and hold an open house. You can do this yourself. You are hiring a Realtor to provide you with maximum exposure to the greatest number of qualified buyers for your home. I do not care how good a Realtors marketing plan is, or how good their promises sound, they are worthless compared to the value of having your home on the MLS system.

Think of it this way:

REALTORŪ + Home on MLS = Most Realtors = Most Buyers = Most Money.

There is a saying in real estate. "The first offer is usually the best one". This only makes sense if all serious buyers know it's for sale and have had an opportunity to act. Real estate surveys I have done showed the owner lost an average of $3000. when their house was sold by the same office/agent. Keep in mind, this was an average. Others lost even more. The reason...the offer was written before most buyers even knew it was for sale.

When interviewing agents, ask them what the order of their marketing plan is. If submit to MLS is not the first thing they are going to do after they leave your home, you are talking to the wrong agent. You also want to know how and when they are going to get it there. "Brokerloading" is an option Realtors have that allows them to load their new listing on MLS themselves. They have the option but many still chose to turn their listings in the old fashioned way. They drop it off at their office. It then sits there until the staff can get around to faxing it to the board. It then sits there until MLS staff have the time to put it on MLS. This all takes valuable time and could mean the difference between one buyer or all buyers knowing your home is for sale. This difference can cost a home seller money. LOT'S OF MONEY.

If you took away every selling tool I had, and said I could only have one of them back, I would choose the MLS service. This is not a commercial for MLS. It is just the best weapon Realtors and the public have for getting maximum exposure on property.. MLS is a strong selling tool,...use it... It will make a big difference to your bottom line.

Don Sutton
The House Doctor
Realtor with Homes & Gardens Real Estate Ltd.