Selling by Exclusive Listing

The appointment of an “Exclusive Agent” establishes responsibility for that agent to work on behalf of the vendor.  In the right hands, “Exclusive Agency” can effectively eliminate many of the draw backs that accompany “Open Listing”. However there are still several disadvantages:  The property must still be listed at a nominated price and there is a direct relationship between the volume of buyer inquiry and the asking price. Obviously the less you ask, the more inquiries you get. The more you ask, the less inquiries you get.

The Price of an Overpriced Property

Some points for you to consider:  Too high a price is costly because it causes a property to miss its market:  Those buyers for whom the property WOULD be right won’t see it because it is out of their price range.  Those buyers who are in the price range of the over-priced property won’t see it as good value.  Agents will be reluctant to show the property except as a comparison to more saleable properties.

Testing the market at a higher price

A property receives the maximum exposure in the first three to five weeks of being on the market.  Buyers in the market TODAY will see it and reject it. Thus the best of the potential buying prospects are turned away.  As the vendor, you may be tempted to believe in the exploratory price and refuse a genuine offer which may seem low in relation to the asking price, but which turns out to be the best offer. Many vendors have declined such offers, only to sell for less quite some time later.

With Exclusive Agency there is no deadline and therefore no urgency for buyers to complete their pre-purchase investigations by a certain date. You are therefore waiting in hope that a buyer may sooner or later make an offer.  Regrettably, in most cases, this lack of urgency causes most buyers to ‘cool off’.