RES Articles

What is a high volume real estate agent?

A high-volume agent is simply a real estate agent that lists a lot of properties. On the surface of it, this can be a good thing. It’s important to deal with somebody that has a lot happening in your marketplace. However, you need to be very careful as a lot of high profile real estate agents do list a lot of properties but you have to look at what is behind them. In my opinion it’s very hard for an agent to adequately manage more than 7-8 properties on their own at any one time. So that an agent can manage more than that they may work with a personal assistant or a less experienced agent within the office. This can be fine as the PA might have 10 years of successful selling behind them or the less experienced agent may already have a good sales record and importantly time to devote to your home.

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Having said that real estate can be a transient occupation and you could be left with somebody that is new to the industry and ill-equipped to be dealing with the sale of your home. When you think about it, the most important real estate day of the week is Saturday and most of the action happens between 10am and 3:30pm. That is the time for auctions and open houses. It’s when most buyers are looking. That time frame leaves an agent time for 1 auction and 5 open houses. So, if an agent has 15 properties on their books how does he/she have time to be at them all? Also, what if the agent that you choose is an auctioneer as well and he/she calls 3-4 auctions every weekend? This is quite common, as a lot of the high profile agents call auctions and it’s part of their income. In general, they get paid between $400-$800 per auction so you can see why they would prioritise that. Potentially where does that leave your house on the list of priorities?

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I prefer it when an agent has an assistant or works with another agent as it can make for a good structure. Having said that, it is important to know before signing an authority how the process will work. When push comes to shove will your chosen agent be negotiating with the buyers, will they be at your open houses and buyer appointments, will they personally be providing you with buyer feedback?

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You pay a lot of money to sell your home, so in turn agents are well paid. You deserve to know who will be negotiating on what is likely you most valuable asset and not be pushed off onto somebody that you only met after you have signed an authority. Most high-volume agents are good real estate people but unfortunately like us all, they only have so many hours in the day.