How big is your agents pool?

02 Dec 2013| Posted by: Geoff Baldwin

One of the biggest mistakes being made by sellers is to focus solely on their property as a single commodity rather than ensuring it is marketed in the largest possible listing pool to attract maximum buyer enquiry and competition according to Geoff Baldwin, Managing Director of RE/MAX Western Australia. “Often sellers will choose to list with a small or home office agent for a perceived saving in selling commission but what they miss out on is the massive increase in enquiries the bigger, better marketed and resourced agents can bring through their larger stock holdings”, Mr Baldwin said. “When a seller chooses their agent based on a perceived saving of a few thousand dollars in fees it can and often does cost ten times that through a lower sale price because maximum exposure, enquiries, viewings and competition are not achieved. “The property may still sell but too often the result, unbeknown to the seller, is at sale price that is well below what could have been achieved had the property been in a larger listing pool where the agent is attracting multiple buyer inquiries each day because of a larger listing stock. “Simple maths depicts that an agency carrying marketing a hundred listings will attract 20 times more enquiries than an agency carry five. “There is no argument that the smaller the agent, the less stock that agent carries and hence it stands to logical reason that less listings will attract less inquiry. “An agency carrying a large pool of listings would conceivably attract hundreds of potential buyers each month and, it is often the case that those buyers call about one property, view several and invariably buy another one of that agents listings. “It is not unusual for the collective property marketing spend of a successful larger brand to be tens of thousands of dollars per month directed solely at attracting buyers. “Personalised service is obviously extremely important to a seller however the records will show that the larger agencies became so through providing great service and achieving exceptional results for their clients”, Mr Baldwin said.