WRONG!

THE TRUTH:
The large, 'chain' real estate agencies who spend fortunes advertising their services and who bombard you daily with all kinds of mailings touting the superiority of their services are often, in reality, NO MORE QUALIFIED NOR ADEPT at better-representing you than any other competent and qualified licensed-agent who knows your market (and who indeed may have proven expertise-and-sophistication that far exceeds that of the hordes of beginner, 'inexperienced' agents who often work for these 'large-chain' realtor-conglomerates).

And the fact of the matter is that all the advertising-dollars spent by these big-name agencies for 'self-promotion,' end-up benefiting YOU, THE SELLER, in NO WAY at all! Because the inside scoop in the real estate industry is that being a seller/listing agent is very lucrative. So all stops are often pulled-out to get you to sign-on with them--before you sign-on with someone else--so that they can secure for themselves the typical 3% commission that'll immediately be due them as your 'listing agent' BEFORE they do one stitch of work (and BEFORE a buyer is even solicited!).

And what happens after you do sign-on with them?. Well, the truth of the matter is that in the vast majority of cases, it's NOT the listing agent who finds your prospective buyer! It's usually a DIFFERENT agent from a competing real estate office or agency who brings the buyer to your home (after seeing the 'listing' on the MLS). This is MUCH MORE COMMON than for the 'listing' agent to doubly serve as the 'buyer's agent' as well (regardless of how, when trying to induce you to sign-on with them, they'll undoubtedly and typically claim that they have vast access to a great number of buyers). And beware too the agent who 'inflates' the value of your home--with promises that there will be no problem in getting this higher-than-you-expected price--as a means of pushing you to sign-on with them. This is one of the most frequent 'angles' agents use to nab a seller.

Bottom line: an MLS-listing is usually the best way to REACH potential buyers (which in turn is accomplished through agents OTHER THAN THE LISTING AGENT who are continually checking the MLS for their buyer clients).....so it really matters little WHO posts that MLS-listing for you to begin with!