When considering to sell your home many people do their share of research and often come up with information that could or could not be true.  There are many misconceptions about REALTORS in general, but much more about the business itself.  One category is listing your home.  There are two main misconceptions that I have witnessed and before I was licensed, I probably thought the same thing.

The first is who actually sells your home.  Many people think the Listing Agent is the one that comes in, puts a sign in the yard, enters in the MLS and has a ton of buyers that they are just waiting to call to say they have the perfect house for them.    Many sellers think that the only duty is to bring a buyer for the house.  Well, that's true, the Listing Agent's duty is to bring a buyer for the seller, but the huge misconception is that the Listing Agent will find a buyer, when the truth is the Listing Agent is actually marketing the house to other agents.  It is possible for the Listing Agent to sell their own listing, as a Dual Agent, but the odds are against them.  The fact of the matter is that the majority of buyers that are "ready to buy" already have a Buyer's Agent.  In my market, there are over 8,000 REALTORS that I am in competition with to sell my listings.  It is almost impossible that the listing I have will match perfectly with the handful of buyers I currently have.  The odds are enormous that the other 7,999 or so agents will have a buyer that is a good fit.  Again, some agents do have a buyer for their listing, but not often.  Your Listing Agent should be marketing to other agents and making it stand out to them, the ones who have the pool of buyers.

The second misconception is when the commission on the sale of a home is actually earned, at least from the Listing Agent's perspective.  Any agent that is a member in good standing with their local MLS can enter your home for sale in the system.  It is true that when entered, it feeds into many websites that all REALTORS see and more importantly the public.  Houses do need to be marketed, but with technology today, your house listed in the MLS will get exposure and possibly an offer.  The commission is actually earned though, from contract to close.  Once your home goes under contract (which your agent helps negotiate) there is an assortment of things that could go wrong.  Your agent is there to stop and correct those things OR at least stop the bleeding and look at your options and advise.  Once you get through inspections, loan approval and other contingencies, closing day comes.  That is when the commission is earned.

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