Answers by Ann Breen

Hi Li. Reilly gave you some great advice here-connect with a local agent. He also pointed out that buyers do well in the winter months which as a seller, I'm not sure you wanted to hear. He is right that the buyer pool tightens so less competition with other sellers may not make a difference. All real estate is local and again a local agent will advise you on the best time to sell in your area. I'm in the Northeast and sellers with turn-key homes do well in the 'traditional' spring months-attributable somewhat to nice weather, families needing to be in homes for the next school year but mainly low inventory here in this area.

While the whole point of the NAR lawsuit was to emphasize commissions are negotiable (and always have been), the whole 'seller pays 6%' thing is not necessarily dead and certainly legal. It is your choice to make but as a seller you want the most eyes on your property and specifically the most qualified eyes (ie buyers). In order to ensure your property attracts the buyers that are well qualified and highly motivated (ie best offers), you will want to likewise make sure the agents working with those well qualified good buyers are compensated.