Choosing An Agent

Choosing the right agent is critical if you want to get the highest price for your property with the least amount of stress.

Buyers have a choice - your home or someone else's.

You also have a choice - a typical agent who may lose you thousands of dollars, or a good agent who can maximise your sale price

through the right strategy and excellent negotiation skills.

With the right agent and your property looking at its best, you will always get the highest price.

To follow are some things you should consider when selecting a real estate agent. 

Hopefully you will notice that in none of these ways is it suggested that you select an agent based on who quotes you the lowest fee, or on who quotes the highest selling price to you...  this is the most dangerous way to select a real estate agent.

Your Reason

Be sure your reason for selling is confidential.  No-one, other than the agent you trust, should know why you want to sell.

If the buyers know you have a pressing reason for selling, this could be used against you and could weaken your position when you receive an offer.

Too often, poor agents will reveal the sellers reason for selling to the buyers, saying things such as,

"... they must sell because they've bought elsewhere/financial problems/job tranfer/marriage split..." 

Do yourself a huge favour and "mystery shop" the agents you are considering.  Call them pretending to be a buyer and enquire on one of their listings.

Ask them why the property is for sale and how much you could buy it for. If they openly tell you their current clients' personal reasons for selling or indicate you could buy the property cheaper - do not hire that agent.

The best agents would never put their sellers in a weaker negotiation position.

"Do yourself a huge favour and "mystery shop"

the agents you are considering"

Insist on a Guarantee

The best advice to any person thinking of selling a property, is to insist on an iron-clad service guarantee - one that gives you

the opportunity to terminate the agent's services WITHOUT PENALTY if you are not receving the service your agent promised you at the listing presentation.

All agents will ask you to sign their listing agreement before you put your property on the market. Many sellers bitterly regret signing that agreement once they find out they are stuck (often for three months) with an agent they are not happy with.

The best agents will gladly GUARANTEE their services.  Avoid agents who do not offer a written service guarantee.

You can download copy of our guarantee here.

Find an Agent You Trust

If you don't trust the agent, don't hire the agent. A major ingredient in any relationship, business or personal, is trust.

Before you choose your agent, ask many questions, check references, ask for a guarantee, test their negotiating skills and ask yourself a BIG question:

Do I feel comfortable with this person handling the sale of (possibly) my greatest financial asset?

If your answer is 'no', do not hire the agent.

Once you decide on an agent, give them your trust and confidence. Do not interfere.

Allow the agent to make decisions and get on with the job of finding the right buyer for your property.

If the agent later loses your trust, provided that you insisted they sign a guarantee, you can always dismiss the agent and find one you can trust.

The best agents are worthy of your trust. They won't let you down.

Choose Skill, Not Opinions

Be very careful that you do not choose the agent who tells you the biggest lie about how much 'you will get' for your property. This is called 'buying your business'.

Unless the agent is prepared to buy your property, his or her opinion is irrelevant.

Although very tempting, if you choose your agent based on the selling price they quote you, you could be sadly disappointed, and may even wind up in financial difficulty.

If you suspect that an agent is attempting to 'buy your business' with an inflated price quote, insist they give you their estimate in writing.

Insist, also, that they charge you nothing if they sell for less than the price they quoted. This will quickly identify the agents who are enticing you with false quotes.

Choose Skill, Not the Cheapest

Cheap agents get cheap prices.  Be careful choosing an agent based purely on their fees.

Good negotiators rarely give big discounts on their fees to win your business. If they get you the best market price, they are worth a fair fee.

Choose NEGOTIATION Skill

Poor negotiators will cost you a lot of money.

Negotiation skills are vital to ensuring you get the highest possible price.

A good negotiator can achieve up to an extra ten percent on your selling price. This can mean thousands of dollars.

Many sellers make the mistake of thinking that they are the ones who do the negotiating. But the highest price is actually achieved when the agent is face to face with the buyer. 

It is how your agent represents you, your property and what they say to the buyers, that makes the biggest difference.

Please think long and hard about this point.

If an agent can't persuade you to pay them a good fee then they won't be able to persuade a buyer to pay you a good price.

Ask your agent to PROVE their negotiation ability to you. Most won't be able to do so. These are the agents you should avoid.

Choose an agent that has Buyers Waiting

The best agents keep detailed buyer records

Most agents get dozens of enquiries from buyers each month. Some get hundreds. But most don't keep records of these people - names, enquiry details, email addresses and phone numbers.

Usually these agents do not feel the need because their home sellers pay for advertising.

When agents keep records of genuine buyers, there is less need for advertising.

Insist on an agent who keeps detailed and accurate records of genuine buyers. 

One of these buyers may be perfect for your property.

List Exclusively

The more agents you employ the greater your chances of getting a lower price.

Do not place your property for sale with several agents. You may think this will increase your chance of finding a buyer, but it decreases your chance of getting the highest price.

Buyers shop around. They will use the agent who can obtain your property for the lowest price.

Test this yourself. When you see a property with several agents, call them all and ask this question:

"What is the lowest price I can get this for?" You will be told different prices.

As the saying goes: "A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link."

It is hard enough when buyers shop around for properties, but do you also want them shopping around for the weakest agent too?