The HomeOwners Alliance guide to:
How many estate agents should I
use?
When you sell your home, you have to decide how you want to use estate agents. In
particular, should you get one, two or more to work for you? What you decide will affect
how much you pay in fees – and how much you get for your home
The basics
You can have one, two or more agents working for you, as:
 sole agent
 joint sole agents
 multiple agents
Generally, the more agents you get working for you, the more potential buyers you will reach, and
potentially the higher the offers you will get – but you will pay higher fees. The best approach depends on
what type of property you have, and the state of the market:
 If there is a glut of properties on the market, with few buyers, it can make more sense to have multiple
agents
 if there are few properties on the market, but lots of eager buyers, then a sole is probably best
Sole agents
 Appointing a “sole agent” means that just one agent will be acting for you, and they get all the
commission
 Having a sole agent can save you money, since sole agents will generally agree to act for a lower
commission (typically 1% to 1.5%) because it is more certain they will get it than under a multiple agency
agreement
 They will reap the rewards of any marketing they do, but also they might become complacent because
they know they will be the ones to get the commission in the end
 It is likely to take longer to sell your house if you have a sole agent, than having multiple agents
competing with each other. You shouldn’t go for a sole agent if you are in a desperate hurry
 You will clearly reach a more limited number of buyers with a sole agent, which matters if it is a weak
market, and you are not confident about selling your property
 If you have a hot property, or the market is particularly hot with lots of buyers and few properties for sale,
then there is less downside to having a sole agent. The eager buyers will find your house whoever you
put it on with
 You should only appoint a sole agent for a specific length of time – such as six to eight weeks - so you
don’t get trapped into the agreement. If you don’t sell your home, you want to be free to go elsewhere
reasonably quickly
 Appointing a sole agent means you cannot go to another agent. If you do then sell through another
agent, you will be in breach of contract, and liable to two sets of fees, since you will still have to pay the
sole agent
 During the term of a sole agency agreement, the agent might accept you renegotiating it into a joint sole
agreement
The HomeOwners Alliance guide to:
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How to afford to buy your home
Joint sole agreements
 Under a joint sole agreement, you appoint two agents, who then split the commission between them
 This usually only makes sense if you want to appoint a specialist agent who acts nationally, and a local
agent – for example, you might want a national agent who specialises in expensive properties, as well as
a local agent for your area
 Joint sole agreements usually involve higher fees – more typically 2%
 Going for a joint sole agency will mean you cover different markets
 There is less sense in doing a joint sole agreement for two local agents, since they will cover the same
market, but won’t be competing with each other to seal the sale
 There is a risk the two agents might try and free-ride on the efforts of the other one
 Like a sole agency agreement, the joint sole agreement should only last for a limited period so you are
not trapped into it.
 If you sell the house through a third agent, you are then in breach of contract, and will have to still pay the
joint sole agency fees
Multiple agency agreements
 Appointing “multiple agents” is the big-bang, quick-sell option
 Under a multiple agency agreement, you have three or more agents all acting for you at the same time.
Basically, you are putting on the house with everyone
 Only the agency who actually makes the sale gets the commission, and the others get nothing – so they
are all competing with each other. This can make the sales process quite frenetic
 Multiple agency agreements attract the highest fees – typically 2.5% or 3% - since the agent faces a big
chance of fruitless effort
 You will have to deal with many pushy agents, who will be particularly keen for you to accept a low offer
so they get the commission, rather than risk a slightly higher offer with all the commission going to
someone else
 You have to give out sets of keys to many different agents, and the viewing process is likely to be more
intrusive
 Estate agents often claim that selling a property on a multiple agency basis smells of desperation, and
can put potential buyers off
 In a hot market with lots of buyers looking for property, there is little value added in going for a multiple
agency agreement
Switching tactics
A good strategy is to hire an estate agent for six to eight weeks as the sole agent, before opening business
up to other agents on a multiple agency basis. This will give the agent you choose an incentive to sell as
soon as possible
Can I change estate agents?
This will depend on your terms and conditions; you may not be able to change at all during the period of
your agreement, or you may be liable to pay some fees. It is important that your agreement with the agent
is only for a limited period – the normal period is 12 weeks with two weeks’ notice, but you should aim for a
lower period such as six weeks, so you can change reasonably quickly if you are not happy with them.
Links:
How do I choose an estate agent?
How much should I pay the estate agent?
See what other people are saying about estate agents in our forums - http://hoa.org.uk/forums/
The HomeOwners Alliance guide to:
How to afford to buy your home
Contact
If you’d like more information contact:
T +44 (0)20 8292 0361
M +44 (0)7947 240293
E [email protected]
HomeOwners Alliance Limited
www.hoa.org.uk
Legal disclaimner: The information contained in this guide should not be regarded or relied upon as a complete or authoritative
statement of the law. HomeOwners Alliance makes every effort to ensure that the information is accurate; but it accepts no liability
for inaccuracies, or the consequences of following our advice. If you think that you have a legal problem, you should get advice.
© HomeOwners Alliance 2012
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