The short version
- Interview at least two listing brokerages with the interview scorecard set to selling.
- Check each license and the brokerage it is held under.
- Read the listing agreement: fee, term, the end date, and what happens if you cancel.
- Decide whether you will offer anything toward a buyer’s agent, and put it in writing. See how agent pay works.
- Estimate what you keep with the commission and net calculator.
For Lumpkin County owners
Want your home featured here? List with Gold Peach Realty.
Homes listed with Gold Peach Realty are featured in the listings on this guide and on the brokerage’s other North Georgia community sites, next to the questions sellers are already asking about choosing an agent.
Timing a sale against a purchase is its own question; this guide stays on the agent and the paperwork.
Questions people ask
What is a listing agreement?
It is a brokerage engagement: a written contract under which a seller becomes the broker's client. GREC's rules list exclusive listing contracts and open listing contracts among the examples.
Source: Georgia Rules and Regulations
What must a seller's broker do for me?
A seller's broker must seek a sale at acceptable terms, timely present all offers, disclose material facts the broker actually knows, advise you to get expert advice where needed, account for money, and keep requested information confidential.
Source: O.C.G.A. 10-6A-5(a)
Who approves a payment to the buyer's agent when I sell?
You do. A listing agent must disclose to the seller in writing, and get the seller's approval for, any payment or offer of payment to a buyer's broker, stating the amount or rate, before it is made.
Can a seller still pay the buyer's agent?
Yes. A seller may still offer to pay a buyer's agent, but that offer cannot be shared on a Multiple Listing Service.
Do I need an attorney to close in Georgia?
The Supreme Court of Georgia held in 2003 that only a licensed Georgia attorney may prepare a deed of conveyance for another or facilitate its execution.
Source: Supreme Court of Georgia
Laws, forms and practices change. Every rule on this page links to the office or statute that sets it; confirm with that source, or a Georgia attorney, before you rely on it.
