Even if the Agent is advertising free of charge, don't let them do it.

If an agent is advertising 'Properties for Sale' in this week's paper, it's obvious that they didn't get any enquiry from the last week's advertisement. Let's assume advertising does find buyers and the agent found 30 buyers from last weeks ads. Lets assume they have sold 4 properties during last week. So why do they need to advertise again if they have a huge back log of buyers in the waiting queue. Surely there must be a reason behind advertising week after week. If it is not for finding buyers than it must be to find sellers as there is no one else involved in real estate transaction? Or is it to be used as a material proof to condition the seller to lower the asking price of their property down the track? Surely it requires a bit of discussion and thought.

If an agent still insists on advertising your property doesn't it mean that they don't have a buyer on their books? Why do you need such an agent? You can place an ad in the local paper and save thousands of dollars in commission.

Attracting the Buyers.

Competent agents know how to attract buyers. They make it easy for buyers to buy. These agents will make themselves readily available to genuine buyers. They attract buyers to their offices and then they discuss the homes they have for sale.

The best agents maintain records of buyers. Many times, the agents will find the right buyer very quickly because the buyers are already "on their books". This is intelligent marketing, the opposite of what most agents do.

Keep your Home Special.

Do not let your agent show your home to non-buyers.

One of the worst things agents do is allow homes to lose that special appeal. Freshness attracts buyers. Homes that have been rejected by many buyers are hard to sell. The same principle applies in most selling situations - fresh stock always gets the best price. Old stock gets the lowest prices.

Advertise to Buyers Only.

Do not advertise your house for sale to people who are not ready to buy in your area now.

To protect the value of homes, an agent should only discuss a home with buyers who are likely to buy it. This is the opposite of the 'hit and miss' method typically used by agents who allow anyone to inspect homes.

Knowing that all buyers come into the area - and most spend weeks looking for that special home, here is what the best agents do: Attract buyers by appealing to them all. The agent then tells the buyers about homes which may suit each buyer and then the buyers inspect the homes at times which suit them. The buyers buy homes that suit them, the special homes. Everyone is happy - the sellers who got the best price, the buyers because they found an agent who found them a special home. And the agent then gets paid for doing what the sellers want. It's honest business where no-one gets hurt.

Agents advertise to promote themselves, to pocket kickbacks, to attract more sellers and then to condition their sellers down in price. More and more sellers are now realising that typical advertising damages the value of their homes and leads to lower prices. Please check our gallery of sold properties [Sold Properties Image], none of these properties was ever advertised in the local paper.