What are the advantages and disadvantages of entering into an exclusive contract with a real estate agent and what does such a contract mean?

You are considering selling your property and are looking for a real estate agent to help you with the sale. The broker will ask you to sign an exclusive brokerage agreement, so you can ask what the pros and cons are and what to look out for. If you are interested in this issue, we can provide you with a clear explanation. More information may surprise you.

What is an exclusive contract with a real estate agent?

When you decide to sell your property, you can sign an exclusive brokerage agreement with a real estate agent, which allows you to sell only with this one agent for a certain period of time. This means that you cannot negotiate the sale with other brokers and you cannot sell the property yourself. You may think this is not convenient, but we will show you that when you choose a quality estate agent, exclusivity can be a great advantage.

The broker will try to do his best for the sale and will be willing to invest more money in it.

Today, it is no longer possible to successfully sell the property at the highest possible price without investment in presentation and legal security. The broker to whom the seller entrusts the sale bears this investment and is paid only in the event of a successful sale. Our real estate agency has a success rate in selling 89 % properties entrusted to us. To achieve this success rate, we provide various professional services such as high quality photo documentation, homestaging, visuals, video tours and advertising campaigns on social media and search engines. Our goal is to find buyers who are willing to pay top dollar for the property, and we are willing to carry that investment. In the event of a successful sale, this investment will be recouped and the seller will be satisfied with our services.

Brokers who do not have an exclusive contract for the sale of the property usually do not provide any additional services. On the contrary, they will try to minimize their costs and time because they are less certain of recouping these and making a profit. Even if they provide you with excellent service, without an exclusive contract it is still possible that another broker will win the contract before them and all the work will go to waste.

Preparing the property for sale

Strong bargaining position

You may think that if brokers are competing to sell your property, they will be more motivated and you will make more money. Unfortunately, this is not the case. In reality, this means that if a property sells quickly, it probably won't sell for the highest price. A broker with whom you have an exclusive contract has more time to arrange as many viewings as possible and find the best buyer. A broker without an exclusive contract will often settle for the first bidder. This is usually to avoid the risk of another broker getting an offer.

In addition, a broker with whom you have an exclusive contract has a much stronger position vis-à-vis potential buyers. He is the only broker who is brokering the sale of your property, so his word is binding and buyers can rest assured that no one else is interfering with the sale.

Easier communication

You usually use a real estate agent to save time and energy and minimize mistakes during the sale. Working with one broker will be much more convenient for you than having to coordinate multiple brokers who might have different approaches to selling your property.

Prevent discounts more easily

It is important to remember that it is not appropriate to offer a property discount to everyone who asks for one. A broker who works exclusively for you understands that the price of the property must be set correctly and that a discount should not be offered unless there is a reason to do so. On the other hand, if the broker is working non-exclusively, the pressure to discount increases as buyers can simply contact other brokers with the same property on offer and negotiate a discount.

Properly set sales strategy

When you work with a broker non-exclusively, you never have a complete overview of the progress of the property sale, which can be disadvantageous. Unless bidders go through only one broker who has exclusive rights to the sale, it's hard to determine how many people are interested in the property. Uncooperative brokers will not share information about the sale. On the other hand, an exclusive broker always knows how many potential buyers are willing to buy a property and can adjust their sales strategy. If there are many bidders, he or she may suggest an auction, but if the market does not favour the sellers, it may be better to wait for a more suitable time to sell.

Solid offices don't work other than exclusively

All RE/MAX offices work exclusively because we strive to provide the highest quality of service to our clients at a fair price. We believe that exclusive representation is the best way to sell real estate. If you are wondering about the cost of our services, you can read the article we described, how much does a real estate agent commission cost.

Real estate is all about trust, and the best contract is no substitute. If you are not sure that entrusting us with the sale of your property is the right choice, we may be able to help you decide reviews of satisfied clients.

I'll take care of everything around the sale of the property

Save your time, your nervous system and entrust the sale of your property to a professional. I will take care of everything and you will be completely worry-free

You can't sell the property yourself

Sales may be delayed if you make the wrong choice

While some people fear that an exclusive contract may lead to a bad outcome, in practice this fear is unfounded. At RE/MAX we are aware that a good reputation and quality service are the foundation for our business and therefore we strive to offer a high quality service. Should dissatisfaction still occur, our clients have various protection mechanisms available to them, such as the Czech Trade Inspection Authority, office managers or RE/MAX Ombudsmanwho specialises in complaints handling. All these tools are based on RE/MAX Complaints Regulationswhich sets out the rules for dealing with cases of dissatisfaction with services.

Unfortunately, it is still possible to come across brokers who do not put enough effort into selling a property. A poor choice of broker can slow down the sale and you may receive the final amount several months late, or in the worst case the property will not sell and you will have to look for a new broker. Therefore, I recommend that you always check who you want to work with, one of the options are reviews given by the clients themselves.

Sales may be delayed if you make the wrong choice

The contract for exclusive cooperation with a real estate agency is not eternal, it has a certain duration. If the broker convinces you otherwise, he is acting in violation of the Real Estate Mediation Act. A contract can be agreed for a maximum of 6 months, so we do not recommend signing contracts for longer periods. If you need to, the contract can always be extended and for the first contact the contract period can be set at 2-3 months for example. During this time it will become apparent what the estate agency does and does not do for the sale of the property.

Exclusive contract in RE/MAX Horizont - broker Michal Bláha

Our contracts are simple and easy to understand, so they don't have to look at anything complicated. If you like to read through everything carefully, you can download the sample contract below and take your time to see what it contains.

The length of the exclusive contract is limited to a maximum of 6 months and we do not recommend extending it for a longer period of time. If necessary, the length of the contract can be agreed at the first meeting for 2 to 3 months. During this time it will become apparent how the estate agent is working and whether the sale is successful.