An important part of successfully selling your home is choosing the right agent.
Before deciding on an agent, we recommend you talk to three agents and follow these steps:
- Make sure they have a valid licence by doing a licence check online.
- Get a list of all their fees.
- Ensure they are covered by a professional indemnity insurance policy.
- Find out if they have a good knowledge of your area.
- Ask if they adhere to a code of ethics.
- Get quotes from them regarding their commission, fees and charges.
- Ask what their fees, charges and services cover - these usually cover the time they spend promoting and selling your home, advertising and promotion costs, and administrative costs.
- Ask how they plan to promote your home - newspaper advertisements, letterbox drops, open houses etc.
There must be a written contract between the seller and the agent, called an agency agreement.
More information about the rules of conduct that apply to agents can be found here.
Be a wise consumer
Referral services and vendor advocates
Referral services and vendor advocates are new business models in the real estate market. They help homeowners make decisions about the marketing and sale of their property.
Vendor advocates offer a range of services to help sell a property. This often includes advice on choosing a real estate agent and negotiating an agent’s commission.
These services often appear to be ‘free’ but can hide the fact that the service is being paid for by the agent who receives the referral.
The referral service must tell you if financial arrangements such as commissions or referral fees exist.
It is against the law for the licensed agent who sells your property to share a portion of the final sale commission with any unlicensed person. This includes referral services and vendor advocates.
Ask the real estate agent who will sell your property what their financial arrangement is with the referral service or vendor advocate. If they are sharing a portion of the sales commission, that's against the law and you should find another agent. If they are not willing to be open and transparent with you, find another agent who is.
Read more about the NSW consumer laws that apply to referral services and other types of agents.