Stick with your exclusive mandate for best results

One of the worst moves that property owners anxious to conclude a sale can make is to switch from an exclusive or sole mandate to an open one.

It has been shown time and again that more is definitely not better when it comes to estate agents, and that such a switch is actually likely to lengthen the listing time of a property rather than shorten it, because much of the marketing done by the original sole agent will probably go to waste and the newcomers will have to start from scratch to build up interest in the property.

This, of course, will also mean an increase in the seller's holding costs, as well as a real risk of the property becoming overexposed.

It is also important to note that home sellers who change from an exclusive mandate to an open mandate are also increasing the risk of a "double commission" claim that could severely affect the profitability of their sale.

Such claims can easily arise when the eventual buyer of a property has viewed it with one agent and concluded the sale through another.

Consequently, it is essential that sellers award their mandate in the first place with great care - and those who select an agent or agency solely on the basis of the highest sale price estimate are setting themselves up for disappointment.

Their properties will stick in the market as more competitively-priced properties sell and they will end up getting only what buyers are willing to pay anyway - and only after a costly delay of several weeks or even months.