Transcript:

Many sellers think that the best way to sell a property is to list it with as many agents as possible. The logic there is… the more agents = more exposure. Right? Not necessarily. There are several ways for you to list your property for sale. Now the method I’ve just described is called open listing. And here is how agents will look at the top of listing – all clear no responsibility.

You see with an open listing no one is responsible for giving you the feedback, generating excitement amongst buyers or even putting in meaningful effort to find the right buyer. All the effort that’s required to do that by an agent could result in another agent taking a buyer through and securing the sale. All that work for nothing. So why would they do it? Well the answer is – they simply want.

You need someone to take responsibility. Not just responsibility for selling your property but also for ensuring that the security is there during the sale process. Now when you list your property you need to give the agent, or in this case agents, access to your property. I don’t know about you but I certainly would want to know who’s wandering around my place especially if I’m not there. When it comes to selling your property it’s very much the case that less is more.

When you decide to sell your property there are two critical decisions you need to make at the point of listing. That’s the method of sale and the agent you use. Not the price – that comes later. Believe it or not, the other two (that is method of sale and the agent) are very closely aligned.

Agents can’t afford to spend time and money co-ordinating a tailor made marketing campaign if the property could end up being sold by another agent through sheer fluke. The same work done on an exclusive listing is more likely to achieve a win/win because the agent knows the listing is worth putting in the time and effort because it will achieve a result.

With more than one agent working on your property which one do you hold responsible for what is happening? Who is accountable? Who is responsible for ensuring the property is left secured after inspections? Who is going to be thinking about the strategy? The likelihood is, that the answer to those questions is going to be…you – the seller. Do you really want that?

Presented by Kevin Turner of Real Estate Talk – the only place where you hear all Australasia’s leading property experts.