What to Do Before You Choose a Real Estate Agent
Most vendors spend more time researching a new appliance than they do selecting the agent who will handle the most significant financial transaction of their lives.
It is an easy trap to fall into. Agents are visible, persuasive and experienced at winning listings. By the time you have sat through a couple of proposals, it can feel like the decision has already been made for you.
It has not. And the difference between getting this right and getting it wrong can be measured in tens of thousands of dollars.
Here is what we recommend doing before you sign anything.
Walk your property with a critical eye
Before any agent sets foot in your home, walk through it yourself as though you are a buyer seeing it for the first time. Look for what buyers will use against you in negotiation: deferred maintenance, dated finishes, anything that feels unresolved.
This is harder than it sounds. Most homeowners have lived with these things for years and stopped seeing them entirely. An independent set of eyes almost always picks up blind spots the owner has long since tuned out.
At PROPOHOLIC, this is one of the first things we do with a client. A small investment in preparation – a fresh coat of paint, a lightbulb replaced, a garden tidied – can quietly remove a negotiating tool from a buyer’s hand before the campaign even begins.
Research agents independently before you shortlist
This is where most vendors go wrong, and where it tends to cost them the most.
Agent-finder websites present themselves as an objective comparison tool. They are not. They are paid advertising platforms that promote agents who subscribe to their service. A strong review on one of these platforms tells you very little about whether the agent is the right fit for your property.
What actually matters is whether the agent has a demonstrated track record of selling your specific type of property, in your specific location, to the buyers who are currently active in your market. An agent who performs exceptionally well with apartments in one suburb can be the wrong choice entirely for a family home two streets away.
We conduct independent research on every agent we recommend – including their actual results, their days on market, their list-to-sell ratio, and how they behave once a campaign is underway.
Understand what “conditioning” is, and watch for it
This is something the industry rarely talks about openly.
Conditioning is when an agent gradually shifts your price expectations downward during a campaign – often beginning with subtle comments about buyer feedback, then becoming more direct as the weeks progress. It is a common practice, and it almost always benefits the agent’s need for a quick result rather than your need for the best price.
Knowing it exists is the first line of defence. Having someone independent in your corner who can separate genuine market feedback from strategic pressure is the second.
Match the agent to your property, not the other way around
A common mistake is selecting the agent with the most impressive general track record, rather than the one with the most relevant experience. These are not always the same person.
The agent who sold the most properties in your suburb last year may have built that volume on a very different type of stock to yours. The buyers they know, the way they market, and the language they use may not connect with the people most likely to pay a premium for your home.
Specificity matters. The right agent for your property will understand your buyer instinctively, know how to position your home within the current market, and have relationships with the people most likely to compete for it.
What happens when you get it wrong
A client came to us after a long and unsuccessful sales campaign. The property had sat on the market, attracted limited interest, and the offers that had come in fell well short of expectations. By that point, the campaign had done its damage – days on market accumulate quickly, and buyers notice.
We went back to the beginning. We identified an agent with direct experience in this property type, arranged some targeted improvements to address what buyers had been reacting to, and restructured the marketing to reach the right audience at the right price point.
The property sold in three weeks. The result was $300,000 above the highest offer from the first campaign.
The difference was not the property. It was the preparation and the agent.
The decision before the decision
Choosing a real estate agent is not where the process starts. Getting your property and your information in order before that conversation is what gives you the best chance of making the right call.
If you would like an independent view before you commit to an agent, we are happy to help. There is no obligation, and in most cases no additional cost to you.
