Why Experience Matters When Choosing a Real Estate Agency

An experienced agency with a long history in the local area brings advantages that can ultimately translate into a better sale price, a smoother campaign and greater confidence throughout the selling process.

Experience Creates Better Negotiators

Selling a home isn't simply about putting it online and waiting for a buyer. The real skill comes when offers start arriving.

Experienced agents have negotiated hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of property transactions. They have dealt with hesitant buyers, multiple-offer situations, difficult negotiations, auctions, changing market conditions and buyers who insist they have reached their absolute limit — only to find more when properly negotiated.

Negotiation is a skill developed over time.

An experienced selling team knows when to push, when to hold back, how to create competition and, importantly, how to recognise when there may still be more money available from a buyer.

Even an additional $10,000 or $20,000 achieved through better negotiation can make the difference between simply selling your property and achieving an outstanding result.

The Strength of an Experienced Team

It is also worth looking beyond the individual agent sitting at your kitchen table.

Ask about the experience of the entire sales team.

An agency with a larger number of experienced selling agents potentially brings many more buyer relationships to your property. Instead of relying predominantly on one salesperson's contacts, your home can benefit from the combined knowledge, relationships and negotiating experience of an established team.

Experienced agents also recognise buyers.

They may know who recently missed another property, who needs to move into the area, who has already sold, who is financially ready to purchase and who has been waiting for exactly the type of home you are selling.

That knowledge can be extremely valuable.

Longer in the Area Means a Bigger Database

An agency that has operated successfully in an area for many years has had considerably more time to build its database.

Every appraisal, inspection, enquiry, auction, sale and past client creates another potential relationship.

Over many years, those contacts can develop into a substantial database of homeowners, investors and active and prospective buyers.

Importantly, the value isn't simply in having thousands of names in a computer. It's knowing those people, understanding what they are looking for and having an established relationship that encourages them to answer the phone, open an email or attend an inspection.

When your property comes onto the market, an established agency may already know the buyer.

Local Knowledge Cannot Be Manufactured Overnight

Long-term local agents understand the subtle differences that can influence property values.

They know why buyers may pay more for one pocket of a suburb than another. They understand local estates, school zones, streets, land sizes, floorplans and the features buyers regularly request.

They have also experienced different property cycles.

An agent who has worked through booming markets, declining markets, interest-rate changes and periods of low buyer confidence has a much broader toolkit than someone who has only sold property when conditions were easy.

When the market becomes challenging, that experience becomes particularly important.

Past Sellers Can Become Today's Buyers

There is another often overlooked advantage to longevity.

An agency that has been selling locally for decades has potentially helped thousands of people buy and sell property.

Those past clients don't simply disappear.

The first-home buyer an agency helped years ago may now be looking for a larger family home. A family who purchased locally may now want to downsize. A previous homeowner may have become an investor.

This creates a network that continues to grow.

A long-established agency isn't starting from scratch every time it lists a property.

Marketing Attracts Buyers — Negotiation Determines the Result

Most agencies today can advertise on the same major property websites. They can organise professional photography, floorplans, videos and social-media advertising.

The difference often comes down to what happens after the enquiry arrives.

Who follows the buyer up?

How quickly?

What questions are they asked?

How is their level of interest established?

How are competing buyers managed?

And, most importantly, who negotiates the final price?

Great marketing can create opportunity. Great negotiation converts that opportunity into the best possible result.

Look Beyond the Cheapest Fee

When selling what is likely to be one of your largest financial assets, choosing an agent based primarily on the lowest commission can be a false economy.

The difference between two agents' fees may ultimately be relatively small.

The difference between their negotiating ability could potentially be tens of thousands of dollars.

The better question isn't simply:

"What will you charge me?"

It is:

"Who gives me the best chance of achieving the highest possible net result?"

Experience Is Difficult to Replicate

Technology has changed real estate enormously, but it hasn't replaced experience, relationships or negotiation.

An established local agency brings together years of market knowledge, a substantial buyer and homeowner database, experienced negotiators and a track record built across different market conditions.

When interviewing agents, therefore, don't just ask what they think your home is worth.

Ask how long the agency has operated locally, how experienced its salespeople are, how many active buyers are in its database, how those buyers will be introduced to your property and how the team will negotiate to maximise your result.

Because when you're selling your home, the agency you choose shouldn't simply be capable of finding a buyer.

It should give you the best possible opportunity of finding the best buyer — and extracting their best possible price.