When an owner signs a sales mandate, he agrees to transfer between 3% and 7% of the final price at the agency — either 12,000 to 28,000 euros on a property worth 400,000 euros. A sum that justifies a specific service, well beyond the simple distribution of an ad and the organization of visits. However, in the field, the gap between the commitments signed in the mandate and the services actually provided has become a recurring subject in sellers’ testimonies.
For Corinne Schieleco-founder of theMosaic agency (Yvelines), the diagnosis is clear, you must require a weekly review, a report after each visit, a shoot with a professional photographer – these elements appear in most mandates, check carefully. The co-founder delivers the grid of six performances that an owner is entitled to demand, before affixing his signature to the bottom of a contract which is binding for several months.
3 elements to require before going on sale
The first service to request is a estimate argued and quantifiedbased on recent transactions and competing goods. “They gave us the figure like that on the phone”summarize the sellers who consult Mosaïc after a bad experience. For a good estimate, the agent comes around, examines the property, presents the comparables which have sold and those which remain online without finding a buyer. Its use value is verified in less than two weeks “If there is no call after 5 days, it is not the right price. »
Second service that an agent must include in his costs, a professional photo shoot. Photos taken on a smartphone by the agent remain a common practice, while only four criteria guide the buyer when searching: location, price, surface area and photos. The co-founder summarizes her rule: “You have to make people want it. Today, everything is visual. » Four reflexes govern a good shoot according to her: purify, depersonalize, remove all plastic (dishwashing liquid, toothbrushes, cups) and hire a professional photographer.
Third service to be required this time is a verifiable distribution strategyand not just announced. The mandate generally specifies the portals used — SeLoger, Bien’ici, Belles Demeures for high-end properties. Have the reflex to check the presence of the ad one month after it was put onlinenot just at startup. Some expensive broadcasts skip quickly without the owner realizing it. It is also at this stage that the advice on work (DPE, surfaces, development). A jump from F to B generally costs between 7,000 and 10,000 euros but streamlines the sale and makes the ad significantly more attractive.
Once online: the three services that make the difference
The fourth benefit that you must obtain is the encrypted weekly monitoring. A good agency has the tools to measure the attractiveness of the ad — number of clicks, inbound contacts, conversion rate — and shares this data with the owner. “Our added value, the job of a real estate agent, is not to open doors”slices Corinne Schiele. This analysis makes it possible to adjust the price at the right time, if the negotiation in France generally revolves around 5%a property without a visit at 5% below the market must change price level, not drop by 5,000 or 10,000 euros.
Fifth service that you have the right to expect is rigorous selection of buyers before visits. Mosaïc systematically works with a partner broker and provides buyers with a preliminary telephone interview to validate solvency and motivation. “It’s a commitment on the part of the agency. » The test is revealing: “If the buyer is reluctant to send the parts, I don’t move forward, because that means I take the risk of having the loan refused. » For the owner, this filter avoids blocking their property, for around six weeks, for nothing.
The sixth service that a good agent naturally offers is support until signature at the notary, negotiation included. Note this little-known tip, you can indicate a suspensive clause linked to an agreement in principle from the bankto obtain within a monthrather than publishing the classic loan offer (six weeks to two months). The property is only blocked for one month; if the agreement in principle does not reach, the owner recovers his property without having lost the best sales season. “Owners put agents in competition, not buyers”recalls the co-founder. A well-maintained exclusive mandate remains, according to her, the best safeguard against loss of service.
