How to pick an agent

Although it might make perfect sense for you to pick the agent that is clearly popular with the rest of the suburb, Mr Tarbey thinks there’s another factor you should be taking into consideration.

“You go for the agent that has the most ‘sold’ signs out in the field,” Mr Tarbey said.

“Again, perception will tell you, ‘Oh gee, that agent's got a lot of ‘for sale’ signs out there’ — well, that scares me because an agent that has a lot of ‘for sale’ signs out means if I'm going to give them my home, I'm putting my home in the mix with a dozen of other people that haven't sold their properties,” said Mr Tarbey.

What you should actually be doing is focusing on the number of ‘sold’ stickers, particularly properties which have sold recently and are similar to yours.

“You go and tap on the door of the people who've got a ‘sold’ sticker on their door and you ask them, ‘What was the agent like?’ that’s what you need to do,” he said.

Speaking to a seller who still has the ‘sold’ sticker on their sign will mean their dealings with the agent that sold their home are still fresh in their mind, and they will be able to give you an accurate portrait of how well the agent met their expectations.

Putting your property in the mix with a large amount of other properties which haven’t been sold is just putting yourself on the back foot from the beginning of the selling process; something you may not be able to recover from.