Do Harcourts Really Charge More?
There are lots of different commission structures
The reality is that real estate companies are all different and will charge differently for our services, which is great from the perspective of the vendor, as it gives you huge choice. Price should of course be a consideration when you list, but there are lots of other things that are important too.
After all, if for example a sales consultant who is pitching for your business, is prepared to immediately discount just to ensure they get the listing, should you ask yourself, what else will they be prepared to cut back on when the time comes to try and get a sale on paper? Will it be your price? Or might it perhaps be the amount of time and effort they put in to sell your property.
But let’s take a step back. The good thing about New Zealand is house sellers have options. You can choose to sell your property yourself, choose a low fee company, choose someone who discounts quickly suggesting they don’t believe they are worth their ‘rack rate’, or choose a full fee, full service company or consultant.
What are your options?
You could of course sell your own home and take on the paperwork and legal advice all on your own terms, but this is not a common thing in our market as so often people feel that trusting a network of property experts and legal professionals is the best way to gain them the results that they need.
This brings us to the answer to the original question about why some real estate companies charge more than others. It comes down to the time, effort and opportunity a good sales consultant working within a large full-service company can bring to the whole sale process. A good consultant will be working hard with a whole network of potential buyers available from within their company rather than just the one or two they know themselves.
Do you choose a genuine low-fee real estate company? It may well be the best choice. Ask some hard questions about their buyer network and how they operate. Ask yourself, ‘will other consultants within their company spend the time and energy introducing buyers to your property when there is a much smaller sale fee to split? It is possible that as a low fee operator they may only be selling their listings to the one or two potential buyers they might know, not to the larger market.
That brings us to full fee operators like Harcourts who some see as more expensive
Harcourts has around 460 consultants working in the Christchurch market currently. Full details of any listing in the Harcourts system is available to all those consultants immediately. More than that the details are also available to approx. 2500 consultants nationwide. Our system is designed to enable cross selling between offices and individuals and as a result approx. 40% of sales we do, are done by a 2nd consultant. To put it plainly your property listing is available to any buyer working with a Harcourts consultant anywhere across the city and potentially across the country.
Quite simply at Harcourts we believe we get our vendors more money for their property by a combination of the sheer volume of consultants who all have buyers (pt. 1), who can then access your property information. This creates competition for your property which can produce excellent results for you, either by auction, multiple offer situations or just simply because of the superior and trained negotiation skills in our people.
Getting the best price
Yes, you may pay more for a Harcourts consultant than you do for some other consultants, but you only get one chance to sell your most valuable asset, so you need to be sure you got the best price not just any price.
While the costs of selling your property will -and should – always be a factor in deciding which real estate company to choose, selling should not be about the commission factor alone. As with any product or service, value is not the same as cost. It should, at least in part, be about the company itself, and its reputation, It should be about the skills and experience of the sales consultant, as well as the buyer network they have at their fingertips but ultimately about getting the best price for your home.
Finally, If you are still unsure trust in all the people who have voted Harcourts the most trusted real estate brand for the 6th year in a row.
There is an old saying in Christchurch – “when you’re selling, sell with Harcourts. When you’re buying, hope your new home is listed with another company”.
