Net Listing: Illegal in New Jersey

Hi all,

Recently someone wrote about a form they give to sellers at a listing presentation which shows the seller what they will NET from the sale of their property. I had commented that in New Jersey Net Listings are illegal. Thinking about this, I went back to my training manual so I could explain the term more clearly.

Paraphrasing from the manual, a Net Listing is considered illegal because it can be used to defraud the seller. The way a Net Listing is worded is that the seller agrees to accept any offer as long as he NETS a certain amount. The balance is kept by the broker.

Sellers sometimes try to persuade us to take a Net Listing because they want the amount of commission they pay to be reduced if they have to sell for less than list price. They want to adjust the percentage or amount of commission to protect their Net. In these cases, the law is protecting us real estate agents.

We can certainly empathize with sellers who want to get at least what they paid for the property they now need to sell. But we must explain to sellers that it is in their best interest for us to be paid fairly.

Hope this clears up what I wrote earlier.

Happy Selling!

Veronica "Bonnie" DeCarolis