We live in busy and dynamic times in real estate mediation in Portugal, for better or for worse. And hustle is not always a friend to pondering when you decide that: "I want to sell my house"!
I want to sell my house, now what?
It is rare for the owner who, as soon as he announces his intention to sell his house, is not immediately covered with proposals for help and "hunches": from friends and acquaintances who suddenly become his friends, from the door of the building that even has a few contacts, real estate consultants from companies you've never heard of and who swear to have a queue of interested clients, etc. etc. A real hell and an ordeal that prevents the reflection and lucidity necessary to make the right decision.
The influx of tens of thousands of new professionals who have arrived in the real estate industry in the last 5 years has brought a commercial aggressiveness that does not always respect the values and suitability necessary to do a good job and deserve respect from clients. In 2019 , 50,000 professionals linked to the real estate activity were registered with the INE ! Without a professional certification (which in Portugal does not yet exist) and many of them without training in the area! As I usually say: there are many consultants but there are few top ones!
The question that the owner must first consider is: "Do I want to sell through a real estate company?" As with everything in life, there are advantages and disadvantages to each option. Despite being an interested party on one side of the issue, I will discuss some of them, trying to be impartial. As much as possible ;)
Advantages of using a real estate agent
These are just some of the most relevant. Hope I didn't forget any ;)
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An experienced professional makes all the difference
when it comes to leading a complex sales process especially because of the high values normally associated with this type of transaction. As I usually say, if you are going to hire an amateur or someone inexperienced, then take care of the whole process yourself ;) What should motivate you when choosing to hire a real estate agency is the possibility of having the help of someone who has experience, who knows lead the entire process and smooth the edges, who knows the legal intricacies of this type of transaction, who knows the area, the average sales time, the prices charged, who has the ability to invest in the promotion, who has the know-how to negotiate and dealing with legal and tax procedures, in short, transforming a bumpy journey into a peaceful and rewarding journey! -
Greater visibility in the promotion of your property
is one of the advantages highlighted when we talk about real estate mediation.Gone are the days when "writing on the windows" or signs with the telephone number and the message "sell by yourself" were used. The modern customer is too comfortable to look for his own feet. He wants to sit in front of his computer or cell phone and "flip through" the opportunities, compare prices, read reviews and suggestions on the Web, observe the surroundings or ask a consultant to do it for him. It goes without saying that digital visibility is critical for this type of customer. Therefore, whoever invests the most in digital platforms is "who wins the game".
The increased visibility that a property can benefit from when promoted through a real estate agency, which has some dimension in the market, is one of the factors that make the difference. A private owner who advertises on the same sites as other professionals in this field is left with the illusion that he competes at the same level. Now that's not true!Nowadays, the number of portals and platforms whose effectiveness is truly relevant is small (Casa Sapo, Imovirtual, Idealista and BPI Expresso Imobiliário), hence the number of properties that appear on these sites, when someone performs a search, can be very big. On the other hand, these platforms have agreements with real estate agencies and other professionals to highlight their properties that are not accessible to individuals. Thus, those who advertise in particular are left with the idea that they compete at the same level, but after a short time of their ad going on the air, it is sent to the end of the listings, gradually losing visibility and requests for visits. In addition to all this, there is the visibility achieved through the mediation company's own website, which is greater the greater the size of the brand. -
The network of connections of a Top or Mega Producer
(Successful Consultant) Matters! And when he has a good internal sharing network with other colleagues, this will be an additional positive factor. A good network of contacts, by itself, often allows closing deals even before a property " goes on the air ". But have no illusions, only in about 10% of cases does this happen, in the rest it is digital promotion, marketing or close relationships that count! -
Choosing the right sale price to sell your home
it is neither an easy nor an elementary task. Even good professionals in the field have difficulty in advising the right price and there is sometimes a need to correct it throughout the promotion process.But, for a real estate consultant with great experience in a given area, it is easier to consider the different variables: location, typology, age of the property, state of conservation, architecture, average market price, type of demand in the area, etc. On the other hand, when an individual estimates the price, he is often influenced by:- the price you heard a neighbor talk about for a property that was recently sold in your area;
- of the average market values that the real estate portals show and that do not reflect the final values of the deed (they only use the so-called asking price as an indicator);
- simulations coming from all over, just a phone call away, and which are based on the same sources as the previous point, etc. etc.
In short, the lure of a speculative price is great, and so is the disillusionment that awaits the owner.The less realistic and out-of-market the sale price is, the lower the number of visit requests and the longer it will take for your home to sell. A competent real estate consultant seeks to sell as quickly as possible and for the best price, which is what they say: the fair market price . It's not an easy equation to solve! Above all, it is important to avoid the devaluation of the property when subjected to a price drop over time that will give a wrong perception of that property and will contribute to a devaluation of it.
In my personal case, in each fundraising visit, I am always accompanied by a market study tailored to the property in question and within the expected margin, I advise the best price depending on the characteristics of the property and the surrounding area. In this article you will be able to consult some of the topics that I consider relevant in choosing the right sale price for your home. -
The qualification of a property
part of a consultant's tasks. Through its intervention and the teams that accompany it, the property gains "value":- Photo, video, drone and 360º reports when produced by good professionals allow you to mirror the best that the property has to offer, instead of scaring buyers with cell phone photos that often give the wrong idea of space and light.
- An expert advisor in the area of your home knows the properties in the neighborhood and can assess your property's weaknesses when compared to others. These can contribute to inducing a negative feeling in visitors and can often be easily resolved with small improvement works.
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Qualify buyer customers
is one of the tasks of a real estate consultant.Opening the door to any potential interested party who contacted you directly to visit your home involves risks, especially in terms of the security of the owner and the property. An experienced professional tries to mitigate these risks: scheduling the visit for when the owner is absent, qualifying the customer through a questionnaire or a previous interview, asking for his identification, or having a team accompany him during the visit, if not feel confident enough. But in addition to customer qualification for security reasons, the financial profile of the interested party is also scrutinized, thus avoiding exposing the property to unnecessary visits and wasting time with the so-called "tourist visitors". -
Prepare and carry out a visit
to your property is a task for an experienced professional with training in the areas of communication / negotiation and who knows how to avoid unnecessarily exposing the weak points of the property, focusing on the characteristics that benefit it in the eyes of the visitor . Its mission is to advise and enhance the moment of the visit, unlocking the buyer's resistance and suggesting solutions to the problems perceived by the interested parties. It is your duty to refuse the visit when the property is not tidy or in a condition to be visited, to avoid the presence of the owners or occupants , ensuring that the visitor's experience is made in the most pleasant and "noise-free" way. -
price negotiation
it is a subject in which you only win when it is done by a professional and not by the owner himself.When the customer interested in buying, negotiates directly with the owner, the negotiation focuses on lowering the price, asking for compensation, etc. and the owner's resistance to not giving in is put to the test. As a general rule, in direct negotiation the owner has fewer assets, less arguments and less coldness to negotiate. The consultant "functions" as a buffer between the buyer client and the selling client, which allows him to filter and separate emotions and articulate a more objective and rational negotiation.On the other hand, the consultant is an expert in negotiation (if not, he will never be successful) and can counter-argument more effectively and play with the different competing proposals to try to raise the final price. This negotiation is one of the advantages that is mentioned by several studies that conclude that properties sold through a real estate agency are transacted at higher prices compared to the situation in which the owner does it.You can take a look at this article of mine that refers to some of the Negotiation Techniques adapted to Real Estate Mediation.
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Mediate and Facilitate
is one of the tasks of a real estate consultant. Only an experienced professional can guarantee that all entropies will be resolved, as he has access to a group of professionals of the most different valences (architects, decoration and Home Staging professionals, construction professionals, lawyers, solicitors, notaries, etc.). A consultant has to be more than a mediator or a salesperson, he has to solve problems and smooth a path that can be tortuous until reaching the final goal. -
Save work and headaches
because no one who ventures to sell their house directly can imagine the workload they are getting themselves into nowadays, the promotion and transaction of a property - due to being part of a highly regulated, supervised and bureaucratized activity - is an operation subject to great legal, fiscal and economic complexity and involves several very laborious steps that entail risks. From the promotion, to obtaining the mandatory technical documentation to enable the promotion and transaction of the house, energy certificates, communication with all parties involved (sometimes with lawyers and attorneys), inspections, appraisals of the property by the bank, payment of taxes, information on money laundering, notaries and solicitors, contracts, powers of attorney, deeds, etc. etc. Managing all these steps at the right time and ensuring that nothing fails is already a challenge for a professional, let alone for a well-meaning but unwary individual. -
business protection
is one of the advantages of using a mediator with established credits.The sale of a house is too important to take legal and other risks that the owner's lack of know-how can give rise to. Real estate mediation, when carried out in a professional way, defends the owner and gives him security, using his knowledge and legal support, taking care of the various risks from the moment of the CPCV - Promise of Purchase and Sale Agreement until the moment of the Deed of Purchase and Sale, as well as after-sales in case of future complications or complaints. -
The after-sales service
of the business is another of the advantages that the option for a mediator provides. Facilitating post-sales communication between the buyer and seller customers and finding solutions to problems that always arise after the deed, helps to establish a bond of trust between the parties and mitigate the entropies inherent to the business.
Disadvantages of using a real estate agent
Now here's a place where I feel uncomfortable as a real estate consultant :) But I'll try to list the main objections I hear from my clients, when I try to raise a property.
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Exclusivity, always exclusivity
Exclusivity is a contractual clause that some brokers demand and that "scares" some owners. They feel that they may be trapped in a forced relationship and that, on the other hand, the probability of selling their home increases when they place it under an open contract, involving more than one mediator at the same time. It is a natural feeling of fear fostered by the high number of contracts with loyalty that nowadays "bind" consumers. I wrote an article where I reflect in more detail what I think about this topic, and where I describe the advantages and disadvantages of an exclusive contract . -
Pay for the mediation service.
In the distant past, this cost did not even exist! The buyer customer met the seller customer at the village café, they worked out the details, had a few drinks, shook hands and we had the deal done.Yeah, but in the meantime the "village" grew. It is no longer easy to find anything among millions of properties, owners, tenants, interested parties, etc. This is how a new industry emerged: that of real estate mediation, which serves to facilitate, speed up and establish the bridge between the seller and the buyer. And since everything that involves work comes with a cost, mediation is also no exception. However, I usually say that if the owner manages to sell more quickly and for a better price, thanks to my intervention, he will already have earned enough to pay for our work. -
Privacy is at stake.
The modus operandi of mediation companies is based on the strategy of promoting the property and, for this purpose, exposes it as much as possible, in all available marketing channels. However, it is possible to publish only one photo of the exterior of the property, or of the surroundings. Or, do not disclose the price and promote the property under consultation.That is, it is always possible to reduce exposure, at the expense of some penalty in the promotion. As a last resort, it is possible to sell without advertising, as long as the consultant has access to a network of potential buyers and thus preserves the confidentiality of the business. But this is not easy, nor accessible to most professionals. -
Choosing the right realtor and professional
It's a headache and one of the reasons that drives some owners away from resorting to this form of selling, as an alternative to direct selling. It is not uncommon to come across homeowners who have gone through 3 or more brokerage firms during the process of selling their home, with no results and with a growing feeling of disappointment and disbelief! Whereas there are more than 7,000 mediation companies and more than 50.000 professionals, it is not difficult to imagine that some of them do not have adequate training, have little experience and little rigor in terms of ethics, especially because in this professional activity there is no certification to be a real estate consultant! Contrary to what happens in other countries.
What is the best realtor to sell my house?
This is the next question that many ask when they decide to sell their home. The easy answer: it's Keller Williams! If only because it's the real estate company I work for ;)
But in a more serious tone, the advice I can give you, if you don't intend to request my services ;), is to seek information from friends and acquaintances, prefer larger real estate companies that have more and better resources, etc. In this article I give some tips on how to choose the right real estate agent and consultant.
Talking a little about myself, it was not for nothing that the beginning of my real estate career was delayed, despite the fact that I have considered it for a long time. The emergence of KW Portugal, about 5 years ago, was the click that boosted the success of my career as a real estate consultant.This is how I would summarize the reasons why I chose to work at KW Portugal and what I consider to be the right real estate agency to sell your home:
- A different way of being in its 23 Market Centers and more than 1800 associates, which is the result of its own culture based on values and mutual respect for its customers. For us, honesty, loyalty and commitment placed in the relationship with the customer are part of the brand's DNA;
- At KW, business sharing with other real estate consultants is encouraged, whether among professionals in our network or with any other real estate agency.That is why our exclusivity contracts are not a disadvantage, contrary to what you might fear, as they only impose exclusivity in the promotion of the property and not in relation to its sale and sharing with any professional with an AMI license;
- Because for 40 years KW has been promoting a business model different from the other competitors, where the focus is on the real estate consultant , paying him more than the rest of the industry and encouraging its professionals to take advantage of this advantage to increase investment in the promotion of your properties. For a KW real estate consultant to be successful and qualify as a Top Producer , he must be an entrepreneur;
- A company in permanent innovation, which thanks to its billion-dollar turnover has the human and financial resources to invest heavily in tools that help its real estate consultants to improve the service they provide.Keller Williams Internacional has invested over 1,000 Million Euros in the last 3 years, in new technological tools, which are now arriving in Portugal;