Not a cent. This information and education on choosing the absolute best real estate agent in your area is provided by AgentChoice.org completely free of cost or obligation.

He or she may be right and they may be the expert and certainly they may BE the expert that AgentChoice.org would recommend. If so they will be able to demonstrate the criteria outlined in this Consumer Guide with skill and diligence.

But the statistics say that 9 times out of 10 they are either completely NOT the expert, or they are exaggerating and embellishing their skills.

The industry fall out rate is a staggering 90% over two years in this state*, so without AgentChoice.org, chances are you are dealing with a person with less than two years experience (barely finished their apprenticeship), or about to leave the industry because of a lack of sales.

AgentChoice.org is a relatively new service, and was prompted by Consumers DEMANDING a guide for treading the minefield of clutter and overstatement in the real estate industry.

The experts contributing to the education of consumers through the AgentChoice.org service are meticulously chosen based on their unwavering expertise, wealth of experience, and their simple ability to know what it takes to achieve the most desirable outcome for consumers.

Like any service, that is like asking, ‘How long is a piece of string?’

Your expert will go through all the elements of what it may cost should you choose to sell your home. It will never cost more than any real estate agent will charge, because here in Queensland, commissions are regulated and capped, so you truly can have the best of the best, for the same price as the ordinary, or even the ‘not so good’ ones.

Essentially though, the cost is broken up like a trade service is, the agents require ‘parts and labour’

‘Labour’ is completely ‘pay only on result.’ You don’t pay a cent for labour until they deliver for you a finalised sale, and in fact, you won’t pay their ‘labour’ bill until you are in your new home, should you be moving.

‘Parts’ are the tools the agent uses to complete their job, and is an investment that is very negotiable, and your expert will advise you on how to invest as little as possible to get the job done, whilst not sacrificing your final sale price by not investing enough in exposing your property to the buyers in the market.

As boom conditions have driven an influx of new people into the real estate industry, now that we are no longer in those insane boom conditions, many agents are resorting to cost cutting just to be competitive.

As discussed in the booklet, ‘seven mistakes sellers potentially make,’ considering a discount agent is fine, if all the agents were the same, but often a discount of a few thousand dollars, can result in many tens of thousands of dollars difference in your final sale price, so don’t use the commission level as your criteria, but follow the tips given on how to drill your agent on their negotiation skills, and if they stack up to those criteria, then consider that when considering the ‘value’ of the agent in question.

Buyers should follow the property not the agent. While this may be controversial, you probably should not buy a property through your AgentChoice.org agent. They are working for their seller and MUST negotiate for their seller.

In fact, you probably should buy through the worst negotiator you can find in your area.

Not many people are honest enough to give this advice, but in the end, be aware that the agent negotiates for the seller, so if you are buying, ensure you are negotiating with this in mind, and focus on the property you want and the price you’re willing to pay for it, and don’t let the agent selection process influence your buying decision. I’m sure no one would buy a house they didn’t want to buy just because they ‘liked’ the agent.

If the above steps haven’t worked, then your options are to wait out the agreement, and instruct the agency to withdraw your property from the market, to remove their sign and remove all advertising of your property, and not to contact you again. (they are legally required to follow your instructions in this regard per the PAMD Code of Conduct.)

Then you can list with whoever you choose as of the day after expiration date of the agreement.

The only other remedy is to contact the Office of Fair Trading but it shouldn’t get to this if you follow these steps.

If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be a very helpful service. AgentChoice.org strictly monitors the agents it recommends and ensures they are of the highest standards, and if they fail short of the standards you expect, then AgentChoice.org will pay their commission for you, so you have absolutely NO RISK in an otherwise very risky situation.

Board Members of AgentChoice.org all have successful careers in and around the real estate industry and training of agents in sales skills, negotiations, legal compliance, best practice and all matters relating to the industry, so are not remunerated solely from AgentChoice.org. They are involved in AgentChoice.org to raise the standards in our industry that has been lacking in some areas for decades, certainly, considerably lacking since the property boom of the first decade of the 21st century.

AgentsChoice.org may however, receive a small referral commission from the agents in question, but this is in no way coming out of your pocket, because the agents are legally bound to charge no more than the amount regulated by the PAMD Act.

Absolutely. The AgentChoice.org service is a free of obligation service so you certainly can avail yourself of the information, and you’d be insane not to if you are on the market and your property is not sold.

Should you choose to change your agency because after educating yourself, you realise that your agent is not living up to the standards you now demand, you may have some options.

If you are listed as an ‘Open Listing’ then you certainly can engage another agent as another open listing or any other type opf listing, because an open listing is completely non binding.

If you have an Exclusive Agency and it is more than 60 days old, then it has possibly now reverted to an open listing (or it’s completely finished), and you can take whatever action you feel appropriate.

If you are currently involved in an Exclusive agency, this becomes a little more complex, as you may have signed a legally binding agreement giving your agent 60 days maximum to exclusively market your property.

As long as it takes for them to able to display extreme value to the consumers. Some AgentChoice.org approved agents have 30 plus years experience, and some have only a few years experience. They are chosen on their skill as your representative and not based on their experience alone.

As a high profile sales trainer once said, some people may think they have ten years experience, but really they have one year experience ten times over.

I trust after reading this Consumer Guide, in particular the ‘Seven Mistakes’ and the ‘Secret Shop’ sections, you are much closer to a through understanding of the differences, but I encourage you to undertake the secret shop exercise if you are still undecided (including your AgentChoice.org recommended expert !!)