While selling a home as is, it is important that your home is marketed well for attracting buyers who are willing to pay top dollars. Listing your home for sale is a good way of promoting your home and will certainly help in attracting the most suitable buyers. However, the type of listing you select will depend on your ability and willingness to carry out the home selling duties and the existing real estate market conditions.

An 'open listing' is a non-exclusive agreement wherein you are allowed to execute open listings with as many real estate brokers as you like. Brokerage is paid only to the broker through whom you eventually sell your home. The amount you pay is usually a selling broker commission, equivalent to one half of what is paid in other type of listings. The broker is paid for representing the buyer and not for representing the owner. Although many full service real estate agents shy away from open listings, these can be beneficial as you will not have to pay any commission if you find a buyer on your own.

Another type of listing is commonly referred to as 'exclusive agency listing', which is similar to open listing. The only one major difference is that the broker is paid for representing the owner. Here also, you are allowed to sell your home on your own. The broker is free to contact other brokers and the amount paid as listing commission to the broker is shared with the second broker, if eventually the home is sold through him.

The most commonly utilized instrument is probably the 'exclusive right-to-sell' listing, wherein the broker has exclusive rights to earn a commission by representing the owner and getting the right buyer either directly or through another broker. In this type of listing, the owner pays both the selling as well as the listing commission. The owner can sell the home on his own but only after paying the requisite amount of commission to the broker.

The amount paid as commission varies depending on the existing demand and supply scenario. For example, when the markets are full with listings and buyers are relatively fewer, you may decide to pay more to the selling office for generating more traffic. If the listing broker wants to offer 2.5 percent to the selling office out of the total commission of 6 percent, you may insist on paying 3 percent instead.

The duration of listing is usually negotiable and can extend for a period of 30 days, 90 days, six months, one year or more. Conditions regarding cancellation of the listing agreement need to be set beforehand, so that you can cancel the contract if you feel dissatisfied with the services offered at anytime during the contract period. Any broker who allows you to cancel a contract is actually giving you a guarantee and in such cases, the duration of contract does not matter. In cases where the listing agreement expires without mutual renewal, the listing broker may still provide the owner with a list of names of prospective buyers. If the home is sold to any of these buyers within the specified time period given in the agreement, the owner is required to pay the requisite amount of commission to the broker.