Page 20 - Selling your Home - The CommFREE guide to all you need to know

b) Since the estate agents are effectively competing against each other to get the sale
first, a property agent who finds a potential buyer will be so keen for you to accept
the offer that he or she may put pressure on you to accept the price offered, even if

it is lower than what you would have wanted. So, an open mandate creates a
situation where the estate agent ends up working more for the buyer, not for you,
the seller.

c) You will have to co-ordinate home viewings with a number of different estate
agents, which can be quite inconvenience since each agent will need a key, alarm
access etc. or you will need to be available at all times.

d) Each agent will put up a For Sale sign outside your home. This can create the
impression that your house is less exclusive or that there is something wrong with it
and/or you are desperate to sell. None of these impressions will help you secure a

sale at the right price.

e) Once a sale happens there is a risk that you might have to pay commission to 2
estate agents, each of whom may have had a claim as to why they were the
“effective cause” of the buyer purchasing your home because they both brought

the same buyer to your home.

OPTION TWO: MULTI-LISTING MANDATE (MLS) WITH AN ESTATE AGENT

Some estate agencies have a multi-listing
(“MLS”) arrangement with other agencies.
What this means is that after you sign the multi-
listing mandate with the “listing agent”, your

property details will be sent to the other
member agencies in the multi-listing group.

These other estate agents can then also market
your property and will approach you directly if
they think they have a potential buyer. If one of
these other agents does find a buyer, then the
commission is shared (usually equally) between
the listing agent and the referring or “selling”
agent who found the buyer. The multi-listing
mandate may be called a “letter of

authorisation” and is technically a shared sole
and exclusive mandate (see explanation of sole
mandate in the next page)

2 20 The CommFREE Guide to Selling your Home
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