Hello

This is a question that potential vendors wouldn’t think of asking as you would think that the answer should be obvious. However, it is a question that is imperative that you ask your potential real estate agent. The question is, will you be attending the open houses? I guarantee you that almost every vendor would expect that the person pitching for the business would also be the person attending the open houses.

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So, here’s the situation. There is a local real estate agent that seems to have his name on every second for sale board in the area, you’ve probably briefly met him once or twice and there’s a good chance he drives a European car. (ok, I’m being a bit cheeky there) The time has come for you to sell and you sign the dotted line, he is now your real estate agent. He’s very impressive and you are sure that buyers will react well to him. Before too long you are put onto one of his assistants, but that’s ok, it’s just the set-up phase and you are sure that your chosen agent will be back once you go live on the market and start open houses. Then the open houses start, and the assistant is there but your chosen agent that “could sell sand in a desert” isn’t there. Why not? Well, remember he has his name on every second sale board and there is only so many hours in the day. Plus, part of the reason that he has such a high profile is that he is in fact an auctioneer as well as an agent. This is very common. The day of your first open house he called 6 auctions. (3 were his listings and 3 were his colleges) He gets paid $800 per auction so he has just earned $4,800 on top if the commissions that he makes. (no wonder his car is so impressive) Be honest with yourself, you would probably do the same thing. Plus, he’s a pretty good auctioneer so he deserves to be paid well, not many people can do it.

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I hear of this situation from many disappointed vendors, they chose an agent but someone else seemed to do all the work. On many occasions the complaint is that the person doing all the work seemed very inexperienced and certainly not in the same league as their preferred agent as far as negotiation skills goes. So, I say “do the math!” If your agent has 16 properties on his/her books, how can they be present at all the open houses? On a Saturday an agent is capable of attending around 8 open houses depending on how early they start or how late they finish. The best times are between 11am and 3pm. If they are also an auctioneer, then they will always give priority to these auctions as they get paid extra for that work.

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It's not that every personal assistant is incapable of running a good campaign but have a look at their reviews. There is probably a reason that they have under 15. They are new to the industry and don’t really know how to put a good sale together yet. I’m not saying that the auctioneer is not important, they are and some of them are really skilful and deserve to be paid well. However, a great auctioneer looks like a dud if the agent that has done the previous 4 weeks work with the buyers gets it wrong. I think the best advice is ask the question, “who will be attending my open houses?”