- Provides Immediate, Maximum & Transparent Market Exposure. According to the National Association of Realtors® 2026 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report, 23 % of those surveyed want “Help seller market home to potential buyers” as the Number 1 function desired to receive from a real estate agent. Tied for second and third on the list, at 19%, are “Help price the home competitively” and “Help sell the home within specific time frame”.
PRAEDIUM believes in a fully transparent and open market of houses for sale. It is self-evident that the more exposure to the homebuying public that your house has when up for sale, the better you can achieve the highest price under the best terms. The best way known, to date, to achieve such transparency is, once listed, the home goes immediately on the applicable Multiple Listing Service (MLS). For Metro Pittsburgh, that is the West Penn Multi-List. Read More
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| Unfortunately, more than a few local and national real estate companies prefer a partially open market, via something called “Private Listing Networks” (PLNs). We refer to PLNs as the “secret stash”. Here, before possibly going onto the MLS, a home is “privately” marketed within the velvet ropes of a particular brokerage, ONLY to be seen by the agents and buyers of that brokerage….to the exclusion of exposure to the ENTIRE market of buyers. |
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| In general, a real estate company is financially motivated to limit the exposure of inventory to a limited number of agents and buyers tied to that brokerage. Doing such facilitates a) keeping both sides of the commission/real estate fees “under one roof” and b) increasing the chances that an “in house” buyer will use the mortgage, title, closing, etc. services, which are also tied to that same company. |
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| It has been reported that if a real estate company keeps the entire deal “under one roof”, not only can it “double dip” the commission/real estate fees, but it can also increase the gross profit margin by 7-8 times if it can also CONvince the “in house” buyer to CONveniently include mortgage, title, closing, etc. “under one roof”. Obviously, keeping it “all under one roof” benefits the real estate company. We at PRAEDIUM do NOT see how all that “under one roof” CONvenience benefits YOU in selling your home. |
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| It is inarguable that LIMITING exposure of your house to the general market does NOT help you in selling your home. Further, there is growing concern that the utilization of PLNs might be a violation of Fair Housing Laws. The U. S. Supreme Court has ruled that, even though the intent behind limiting exposure to the market is not to discriminate, if that limiting exposure HAS a disparate impact AGAINST any protected class of potential home buyers, it can be ruled a violation of the Fair Housing Law. |
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| By allowing PRAEDIUM to guide you in the selection of your listing agent, we will put you in the hands of people who understand and embrace the benefit of full, transparent market exposure. Our list of recommended listing agents is small. We are constantly updating and reviewing who can be on that list. |
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- Provides an Objective Sounding Board in Negotiations. Once you receive an offer, or offers, on your home through the listing agent we recommend, PRAEDIUM can give you objective advice on any offer that you receive. Read More
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| There is no seller half and buyer half of a client. It is not uncommon for the listing agency, to which PRAEDIUM referred you, to end up in a Dual Agency position. How? The buyer may also be a client of the listing company. You, in selling your home, do not have to worry. Time and time again, over the years, we have had selling clients reach out to PRAEDIUM for objective advice on what to counter, etc. We are there, as an objective sounding board…. just as a LOYAL ADVOCATE should be. |
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| Our best example as to how this worked so well for a client was during COVID. Our client, whom PRAEDIUM was representing in the purchase of a larger home, had received significant interest from buyers in the client’s current home. So, the listing agent that was referred by PRAEDIUM did a FABULOUS job in getting many offers. |
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| However, one of those interested in the home happened to be the listing agent’s office manager. Another interested buyer was “represented” by a “buyer agent” from the listing agency as well. Because of the Dual Agency issue, the listing agency could NOT give our client objective advice. |
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| Our client did not have to worry. PRAEDIUM was there to give that client objective advice about ALL 5 (FIVE) offers, to pick the best offer. This is what a LOYAL ADVOCATE can do. |
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- Puts YOU in the Driver’s Seat in Negotiating Real Estate Fees. PRAEDIUM sets you up to have greater control regarding the cost of commission/real estate fees to you in the SALE of your home. Read More
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| For decades, through a listing contract, those selling their homes were CONvinced by listing agencies that they had to pre-commit a certain portion of the commission/real estate fees to cover BOTH the listing (seller) agency AND the buyer agency. In other words, instead of being initially obligated to paying only, effectively, “$X”, the listing contract would have the seller commit, in writing to pay “$2X”. |
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| Why?… 2 reasons: |
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| 1) So the other real estate brokerages would “know” that they would get paid and how much they could get paid, if they brought a buyer. It became known as the “co-broke” fee and was published on the MLS. A seller would often be told that “no agent” from another brokerage with a buyer will bring that buyer to the home without knowing about being paid and how much. |
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| This practice became known as the “coupling” of broker commission fees. |
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| 2) It sets the listing agency up for what is known as the “double dip”. Through Dual Agency, the listing agency is biased to “sell” the home to a buyer who is also using the same real estate company as its “buyer” agency …. even if 2 DIFFERENT agents, in the same real estate company, are involved. This way, the listing (now also “buyer” agency) “double dips” the commission/real estate fees and keeps $2X”, not just “X”. |
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| A series of multi-billion-dollar lawsuits, which have been mostly settled since 2024, have put a HUGE dent in this practice…leading to the “de-coupling” of commission/real estate fees, as a matter of course, through parts of the country. The plaintiff lawyers were able to prove to a jury that the act of CONvincing sellers to pre-commit to paying the buyer agency fee, at the outset in the listing contract, was an anti-trust violation. |
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| De-coupling of fees can save a seller thousands of dollars. However, in Pennsylvania, in general, and Metro Pittsburgh, specifically, that “de-coupling” trend has not taken hold particularly well. |
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| As a result, PRAEDIUM has taken it upon itself to have ANY listing agency, to which we send a referral, sign a contract that requires the listing agency to ONLY list the property for the “seller side” (i.e. “X”). Under the terms of the 2024 lawsuit settlement(s), a buyer agency is to have a buyer agency contract. If the buyer wants to have that amount paid by the seller in any transaction, it can be made in the form of a condition in the written offer itself. |
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| This way, the seller is NOT initially PRE-obligated to pay, effectively, “$2X” in commission/real estate fees. Rather, the seller can have a significant say about the ultimate amount during negotiations. This allows the seller to potentially SAVE “$X” in commission/real estate fees. This can allow you to make your bottom line much higher as you NET even more money! |
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