CCH Vs Low Commission Independent Agents
Are CCH Agents Worth the Extra Money?
Consumers are always looking for ways to save money, and paying real estate commissions can amount to tens of thousands of Rand. Not an insignificant sum to most people.
Is it worth it to hire an estate agency such as CCH over a discount service?
Type of Marketplace
- If you are in a seller's market, homes will sell much easier due to the greater demand by sellers. The discount or smaller estate agencies could therefore find a buyer. There are two questions you still need to be sure of - will it be the highest price you could get & will your home be introduced to at least most of the buyers in the market at the time?
- Buyer's marketsexist when inventory exceeds the supply of buyers. In these markets, some homes are not selling at all.
This is where expertise and extra work pays off. Listings that sell at top price are typically those exposed to the most buyers, which are priced well, marketed well and introduced to as many of the buyers in the market as possible.
The Internet
It is sad to see new property listings coming onto the market without any real internet presence – or even worse, being listed on a website by an independent agent out of reach of the Google / Yahoo & MSN search engines (that is not even on the first 5 pages of the search engines). CCH guarantees that your property will be on Google’s first page for generic search or key words such as “property for sale in …..”. CCH agents are also obliged to list a property with a minimum of 6 photos and most of the times shoot more than double the photos required.
The CCH agents spend considerable time sorting through photos to select those with the most light, the best angles, sharpest contrast & color.
Signage
Lots of smaller estate agencies and discount brokerages do not spend money on professional signs because they do not believe in it or they can not afford it. Good signage is free advertising. CCH boards are unique in the SA property market – as it has been designed to attract attention and are in the form of a house.
Marketing Materials
Full-service companies tend to project quality. The days of hiring neighborhood kids to drop photocopies on neighbors' front steps are gone.
Show Houses
Not all homes are right for a show house, but those that are require finesse. This means working the buyers who come through by pointing out impressive features of the home without making the buyer feel oppressed or hounded, and that in itself is an art. It requires the service of an experienced sales person.
CCH agents counsel sellers. They find out what made the seller decide to buy the home and how that moment happened. Then, they employ that knowledge at open houses. For example, suppose a seller said that moment came when she first stood gazing out at the pool. When she turned to her husband and gasped, "I can not believe we can afford to buy this home." Good sales people at an Open would ask buyers to stand in that same spot by the pool. Then, they'd share the seller's first experience verbatim.
Negotiation
Real estate is an extremely competitive business, and there are many agents fighting for the same property listings. An agent who wins the mandate is probably a good negotiator, a person you want on your side during offer negotiations. Think about it. Agents who can persuade you to pay what they feel is reasonable, will probably persuade a buyer to pay your price. Ultimately, that means more money for you.
Final Sales Price
Sometimes agents lose listings because the seller was promised a higher price based on hot air and a lower commission. It is these listings that often show up a month later with reduced prices. The amount of the price reductions, not surprisingly, tends to exceed the difference in commissions between the dueling agencies! In these scenarios, sellers received fewer services and ended up losing money on the sale as well.
If you can not decide between an agent who charges 1 or 2 percent less than another, think about how you would feel if you had to reduce your sales price, say five percent, to get the house sold. Ask the agents to show you their last 24 months of price reductions and compare them.
