2024-05-20 28Hse Editor
When a home owner sells a property, they can choose to sell the property by themselves or appoint a licensed agent to help them sell the property. What are the differences between the two? And what is there to be aware of?
In the past, owners who chose to sell their properties by themselves usually put up posters on the streets or introduced buyers through friends and relatives. However, these traditional methods were ineffective, with a relatively low success rate. Thanks to the ubiquity of the Internet, online listing platforms have become one of the biggest methods for property owners to list their homes.
Owners can upload information about their flats to the online platform, including flat description, asking price, and pictures. If you choose to do this, provide detailed information and clear pictures or videos to help potential buyers have a better understanding of the flat's condition, thus increasing the chances of selling or renting out your home successfully.
The benefit of selling independently as an owner is that there is no need to pay agent's commission fees at the time of transaction. You only need to pay a few hundred dollars to upload the property on the online platform, which gives you high exposure and makes it easy for you to find potential buyers. Additionally, you can change the information and status of the property as you wish.
However, it is worth noting that apart from legal aspects, owners who list their properties on their own will have to do the work themselves. They will have to discuss details of the Sales and Purchase Agreement with the potential buyers directly, and will have to spend time replying to enquiries and making appointments to visit properties, which may be inconvenient for owners with busy schedules.
In addition, the owner can also choose to appoint a licensed agent to manage the listing. According to the Estate Agents Ordinance, before a licensed estate agent sells or rents a unit to an owner, both parties must sign a legally binding estate agency agreement to protect the rights and interests of both parties.
Apart from the commission fee, which is the most important concern of owners, owners should also pay attention to other terms and conditions, including the validity period of the agreement, the form of appointment (i.e. sole agent/non-exclusive agent), and the intended price of the flat for sale or rent.
What is the difference between sole agency and non-exclusive agency? Exclusive agency means that the agent has the exclusive right to sell the property within a certain period of time, whereas there is no restriction for non-exclusive agents. It ‘s important to note that in the case of an exclusive agency, even if you sell or lease the property through another agent, the exclusive agent has the right to receive a commission.
Since there are restrictions on exclusive agents, why choose one? It is because by choosing to appoint only one agent, the agent will provide other additional value-added services to the owner, such as taking high-resolution photos, 360-degree and 720-degree videos of the home, in order to achieve the best sales results.
As for non-exclusive agents, they can release the property through different real estate agents to increase the exposure of the property and chances of property transaction. However, owners need to spend more time to liaise with multiple agents to update the property information, such as the listing price and availability of the property.
Should the owner sell the property by himself or appoint a licensed agent to sell the property? There are advantages and disadvantages to both – ultimately, the owner should assess their money and time.
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