Advice to property sellers: build a trusting relationship with your estate agent - failing to do so

Stefan Engelke, one of the front-running estate agents at the Cape Town northern suburbs estate agency, Alexander Swart Property, went on record recently saying that in his experience of property marketing and selling, ONE MISTAKE by sellers has often been the major challenge that estate agents have had to learn to overcome and put right: this is a hesitancy on the part of sellers to engage fully, and build a relationship with the agent. In the worst cases the sellers are never anywhere near being 100% open and honest with the agent.

Engelke said this is completely understandable and he has every sympathy with sellers who find it difficult to open up to what may well be a new business colleague but unless the seller IS totally open, the agent will have a great deal of trouble in serving his client as effectively as he should.

"Quite often," said Engelke, "the sale of the home has become necessary because events in the seller's life have made it difficult to carry on as before: financial problems, severe ill health or broken relationships make it essential to get rid of the home and start again, but the seller will be loath to talk of these difficulties or other confidential matters not widely known, even to his friends. He may well fear that the agent will use this information for his own good e.g. in going for a quick sale at a price lower than the home's true value; or he may discuss his situation with potential buyers. The agent should understand and respect such fears and should be wholly discreet and sympathetic to even a hint from the client that he is in a crisis situation. Sadly there are agents who are so goal and cash orientated that they can never be of much help to the client with difficulties. One of the big advantages of a firm like Alexander Swart is that their agents are taught to be of real service to all, and not to work just for their own benefit."

Engelke added that those sellers who shy away from forming in depth relationships with their agents and being open with them, often also fall into the trap of becoming too emotional about their properties. They lack the coolness and objectivity that a good agent will bring to the negotiating table and this can have disastrous results.

Similarly, said Engelke, many sellers, in failing to engage fully with their agent, quite often go into a sale without fully recognising their own financial constraints. He has had cases where the seller suddenly became aware that in selling, he would not make enough profit to buy the next home he had in mind and had taken the home off the market. Some sellers, he added, have had completely naive concepts of what their home is worth. "Had they been open with me and let me and our in-house bond originator go through their figures, this would not have happened. Together we could have made a plan."

Symptoms of a lack of trust and openness with an agent, said Engelke, are an unwillingness to accept his valuation and/or to overprice the home, despite expert advice to the contrary. Deciding to opt not for a sole mandate with ONE agent but to go the multiple mandate route, is another indicator of a lack of trust. Those who do this, he believes inevitably end up with the agent working for the buyer, not the seller; because fearing his opposition will get in ahead of him the agent will allow his buyers to make offers below the true market value.

Rowan Alexander, Director of Alexander Swart Property, said that one of the best ways of fostering a wholly trusting relationship with an agent is to be in contact with him (or her) long before you are even thinking about a house sale or property investment. A good agent, he said, will with the help of electronic media, widen his circle of business "friends" to the point where he will be passing on information about the property market and tips on how and where to invest and he will make it absolutely clear to his circle that they can discuss these matters with him at any time.

"If I have to give advice to ten people a day without getting anything from it, that's alright. As long as people are finding me trustworthy, I know our business will grow," said Alexander. "It was because we realised that the public has a real hunger for information of this sort that we initiated the property investors' and buyers' workshops. Now we will be arranging similar sessions for property sellers - not in the hope of selling more homes but simply to build up more informed property owners and foster better relationships between ourselves and the clients we serve."

For further information, contact Stefan Engelke on cell phone 082 381 0687 or by email: engelke@asproperty.co.za or Rowan Alexander on cell phone 082 581 3116 or by email: rowan@asproperty.co.za