I think it’s a fair statement to say that every property owner wants an agent to understand their needs and act in their best interests when they decide to sell.

Many agents talk a big game but once the agent is selected and engaged, do you have someone that follows through on their commitment to achieving you the highest possible price?

And how can you be sure that you’re engaging an agent that will ‘walk the walk’ and do the right thing by you?

I’m often fascinated at how many sellers choose an agent based upon a difference of anywhere from 0.1 to 0.5% in the commission rate (which in most cases is a dollar value of $500 – $2000) but in their apparent saving, chooses an agent that can short-cut the process and cost the seller $20,000 – $30,000 in how they approach the sale.

In saying this, it’s a hard choice to make and when the average person sells a property every seven years, it’s hard to differentiate one agent from another at times.

A wrong choice can be very costly…we’ve seen homes sell for as much as 10% less than what they should have achieved had the sale been handled differently.

So how do you minimise the risk of making such a costly mistake and what checks can you put into place before you make the choice?

You’d be surprised to know that there are some basic steps you can take to ensure that you’re engaging an agent that’s truly on the your side through the process…

1. This is a really simple question to ask any agent you are considering – “If I engage you as my agent, what will you do if the home isn’t sold within the first two weeks? Will you be asking me to reduce my price? If so, by how much? What tools do you have at your disposal to bring more buyers to the table other than adjusting the price?”

You’d be horrified to know that some agencies have a written company policy to ask a seller to reduce their price by at least 5% if the property doesn’t sell within the first 14 days. Do they disclose this at the time of listing? Of course they don’t.

Only yesterday, we met a couple who had their home on the market a couple of years ago (at a price that seemed quite reasonable for the time) and the agent asked them to reduce the price by more than $50,000 after it was listed for less than two weeks. At this point, the owners withdrew the property from the market as they felt that the revised price suggestion was far too low for them to consider.

What I’ve learned over 18 years of selling property is that the selling price is far more important than the time frame for the vast majority of sellers but many agents continue to run their own agenda by attempting to earn a quick commission at the expense of the owner.

So ask the right questions upfront and if you feel you need to, obtain a written plan of how the sale with evolve if your property doesn’t sell quickly.

2. Here’s another easy check – Ask your proposed to agent to provide the contact phone number or some of their current sellers (or even past sellers) for properties that haven’t yet sold or were even withdrawn from the market.

Every agent has great testimonials and at times, some of these sellers thought they achieved a great result but were merely a product of a strong market or perhaps, sold for a price that they thought was very good but in fact they could have achieved more in they’d engaged someone else to sell their home for them.

But what would the clients say if their properties hadn’t sold? Would it be a tale of the agent working on their best interests or would it be a horror story of the agent doing anything and everything they could to get the price down low enough to move it on with minimal effort?

This step may seem a little extreme but again, a wrong decision can cost you tens of thousands of dollars so it pays to do your research carefully. Oh…and by the way, if the agent tells you that they owners don’t consent to releasing their phone number, go and knock on the sellers’ door and find out if the agent did actually ask this seller if they could release the phone number.

If not, you’ve already exposed the agent as a liar and you can cross this one off your list quick smart if this was the case.

Next week, I’ll share with you some more ways to determine if your agent is one that is worth considering or merely a wolf dressed up as ‘Little Red Riding Hood’.

In closing, please take the time to remember our fallen war veterans tomorrow on Anzac Day. We take our freedom for granted and it’s hard to imagine what these men and women went through around one hundred years ago. Like most Australians my age, I’ve heard the stories from my Grandfather as he watched his best mate die from a bullet as they fought together in the trenches. It’s hard to imagine how horrific this must have been when many of these men had young families at home…and many of their wives had little to no communication and would have had sleepless nights wondering if their husbands, brothers and sons would ever come home alive.

Indeed…Lest We Forget.

Until next week, Happy Listing & Happy Selling.