Sole vs Multi Agency?

Sole vs Multi agency?

When you are instructing an estate agent you will need to sign a contract which will set out some details on the agreement between you including fees and other terms and conditions.

One of the most important things to consider is the Sole vs Multi agency element, in essence if you want just one agent working on your behalf or more than one.

We would also offer a discount to our fee on this basis.

Because we work on a no sale no fee basis, we would normally ask for a period of exclusive sole agency in order to be able to have the opportunity to recoupe our marketing costs. We would also offer a discount to our fee on this basis.

When a property first comes to market having it listed with multiple agents can give the appearance of desperation which may result in potential buyers thinking they can make bigger offers.

When a property is new to the market we would recommend a sole agency agreement in nearly all circumstances. The main thing to consider here is the length of the sole agency period, some agents will try and restrict a seller to sole agency terms as long as 6 months.

In our opinion

No reputable agent confident of selling your home should ever ask you to sign a sole agency agreement longer than 12 weeks.

Multi agency may be considered if a property hasn’t sold during it’s initial marketing phase, but we would recommend restricting the number of agents to 2 or a maximum of 3.

Consider that multi agency fees will be higher and you may want to restrict only one agent’s board at the property to avoid a negative impression from the road.