| High School Diploma | ✔ | Not required |
| College Diploma | ✔ | unlikely |
| Minnesota Licensed Attorney | ✔ | unlikely |
| Certified Real Property Law Specialist (only 3% of lawyers certified) | ✔ | unlikely |
| Minnesota Licensed Real Estate Broker (few Realtors hold a broker’s license) | ✔ | unlikely |
| Minnesota Licensed Sales Person (90 hours of training) or broker’s license | broker | ✔ |
| Member of Realtor Association | ✔ | ✔ |
| Member of Multiple Listing Service (MLS) | ✔ | ✔ |
| * | | |
| Services and Advantages | Doug | Realtor |
| Full Service for 1.5%. | ✔ | No |
| Does not split fees with a brokerage. | ✔ | No |
| Fee stays at 1.5% if buyer does not have an agent. | ✔ | No |
| Provides legal advice to clients throughout the entire transaction. | ✔ | No |
| Provides Exclusive Representation (will not expose you to dual agency). Click here to learn more about dual agency. | ✔ | No |
| Can negotiate and advocate for Seller clients all of the time. Realtors will ask you to agree to dual agency which means that they are prohibited from negotiating on your behalf. | ✔ | No |
| Fee agreement can be cancelled. Realtor contracts do not contain a cancellation clause. | ✔ | No |
| Fee Waived if Seller Defaults with Buyer and file does not close. | ✔ | No |
| Reviews closing documents on behalf of clients. Realtors are not lawyers and are prohibited from providing this service. | ✔ | No |
| Markets Property on Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, all MLS member brokerage sites, and other buyer-frequented websites. | ✔ | ✔ |
| Conducts market analysis to determine selling price | ✔ | ✔ |
| Full MLS access | ✔ | ✔ |
| Automated Scheduling | ✔ | ✔ |
| Provides signage and lockbox | ✔ | ✔ |
| Provides marketing brag sheet for showings | ✔ | ✔ |
| Helps Seller with legal requirements and disclosures. | ✔ | ✔ |
| Full access to all Realtor tools | ✔ | ✔ |
| Provides advice on how to prepare home for sale | ✔ | ✔ |
| Provide showing feedback to sellers | ✔ | ✔ |
| Provide MLS statistics on showings to Sellers. | ✔ | ✔ |
| Prepares Seller Net Sheets on all offers received (it’s the law) | ✔ | ✔ |
| Follow up with parties who have seen the property. | ✔ | Maybe |
| Provides “FREE” staging services by a professional staging company. I recommend staging firms. | No | Maybe |
| Provides “FREE” professional photography services (approximately $200 or more depending on services rendered). I recommend professional photographers. | No | ✔ |
| * | | |
| Gimmicks and Tricks | Doug | Realtor |
| Provide “Office Exclusive,” “Pre-listing,” or “off MLS” service. This severely limits market exposure to get the broker a double fee (click here to learn more about pocket listings). | No | ☹ |
| Charges hundreds of dollars in junk fees also called “Admin Fees” or “Additional Commission” | No | ☹ |
| “One-Stop Shopping” (conflicted and overpriced in-house mortgage and title services). | No | ☹ |
| Realtor-hosted Open Houses (Realtors use your house for self-promotion). | No | ☹ |
| Collect double commission with unrepresented Buyers. | No | ☹ |
| Include your listing in a fancy in-house magazine that does not sell houses. | No | ☹ |
| Send mailers to all the neighbors. Ummm why? | No | ☹ |
| Provides free Home Warranties (the most complained about product on Angies List). | No | ☹ |
| Has list of buyers ready to buy your home. This is a gimmick to get the broker double fees and severely limits market exposure. | No | ☹ |
| List Your Home on Social Media, TV and Other Places that promote your Realtor not your house. | No | Possibly |
| Set up a separate website for your home (that directs buyers to the Realtor’s website – helps the Realtor, not you). | No | ☹ |
| “Guaranteed Offer” (low offer with a LOT of fees) | No | ☹ |
| 1% Listing fee when you sell and buy (they collect a hidden 2.7%). | No | ☹ |
| Claims they can negotiate when they legally can not. | No | ☹ |
| Falsely claim they can sell your house for more than other Agents. | No | ☹ |
