Joint agent fees and experience

[elacsaplau]

I may be putting a house for sale shortly. I'm debating with myself and the boss about the merits of going with joint agents.

Has anyone any experience (good or bad) of joint agents?
Also - how do the fees work? Am I right (or not!) in thinking that ordinarily it's the agent who sells the property that gets the fee? Are fees typically higher for joint agencies? Is there a type of property for which joint agency makes sense?

 

[Leo]

I've no experience with joint agencies, but I doubt any agency will work without the prospect of earning fees.

Even using a single agent, if someone approaches you directly and you arrange the sale yourself without their help, their fees are still due. In fact in most cases, the fees are still due for a period like 6 months if you sell after terminating the contract with the agency.

Looking around Dublin, I've never seen joint agents being used, but perhaps in a more remote area with fewer prospective buyers, or a more unique property it might have advantages. With most agents advertising pretty much everything on sale via Daft & MyHome, more than one agent may not attract much more interest.

 

[Namdos]

Joint agency in residential are normally used for large scale new homes sales or a really large exclusive one off property.

You might see this in out of town locations where a local agent might get paired with a big brand agent. Mind you its not unusual for two big names to be partnered for a city centre scheme either.

I.e local auctioneer in greater Dublin area gets put as joint agent in Dublin City Centre(one of the big names). The big agent will normally have a big fancy marketing team and book of investors. The local agent will know the town, have excellent knowledge local clientele and most importantly be able to get on site for viewing faster.

The big city agent will often pass their enquires for the local auctioneer to meet them for viewings. As such it can be a great arrangement for selling new homes.

Ditto with say a large country house or estate. Traditionally the buyers are overseas big money. An big brand agent would have great links with these customers and throw their "net" worldwide.

Both agents get paid to matter who brings in the deal. Each agents fee is slightly cheaper than it would be if you hired them individually but the combined agents fee works out higher overall

Never really heard of using joint agents for selling a standard house