When you want to sell with more than one agent.
We are sometimes asked by vendors and occasionally by builders’ agents if we will market a property as a dual-agency agreement or multi-agency contract.
We are not fans of these methods of sale and for several very good reasons.
As a selling agent, our priority is to obtain the best offer we can for our clients. For most clients the best offers are the highest offers, followed by taking into account the buyer’s position with regards ‘ability to purchase’. This is either, First Time Buyers, or a buyer whose home is Sold Subject to Contract, has a Cash Buyer, or Living in rented accommodation. Flexibility on time-scales can be as important, if not more so, than the eventual selling price and is why the accepted offer is not always the highest offer.
When a property goes up for sale with more than one agent, both or all of these agents want their ‘For Sale’ board erecting at the property so that they each have an equal chance of getting that all-important phone call that a board can achieve.
This is where the first issue arises, as potential purchasers sometimes take the view that the more boards there are – the more desperate the home owner is to sell. Hence, lower offers are achieved on the property. If the seller is indeed, keen to sell at any price, then this is not a problem, but for the majority of sellers there are mortgages to be cleared or there is an onward purchase from the proceeds of the sale. Secondly, under the Town and Country Planning Act only one ‘for sale’ board is permitted at a property. This was introduced to limit the numbers of boards and to prevent streets of terraced properties becoming nothing more than ‘sign lined’ and the houses barely visibly beyond.
Legislation states that only the first board erected is the permitted board.
Some agents are unaware of the rules regarding boards and others choose to ignore the legislation.
When sellers decide to go down this route, it is usually in the mistaken belief that they are doubling their chances of achieving a sale on their property.
The truth is, there is only one ‘pool’ of buyers looking to purchase at any one time, with new buyers jumping in and others climbing out as they find the home of their dreams.
If your home is being correctly marketed then your agent should be able to find that buyer on their own and without the assistance of another.
In the past, before the Internet and Rightmove and Zoopla etc., you had to rely solely on the estate agents list of applicants and this is where being on the market with more than one agent originates and had its’ advantages.
Time has moved on and if you are trying to sell with more than one agent, then you may be doing your home more harm than good.
If you would like to sell your home with JP Harll and would like to discuss why we only market properties with Sole Agency Agreements, please call us on 01757 709955 or call in to our office for a chat.
Until next time,
Charlotte