Many home sellers, says Tony Clarke, Managing Director of the Rawson Property Group, are wary of giving their estate agent a sole mandate and the reason for this is that they have ‘somewhere out there’ picked up reports of sellers who, having committed themselves in this way, have found themselves stuck with a non-performing agent who has failed to live up to his marketing promises – and who might even resort to legal action if the seller tries to cancel a sole mandate.
“This fear in sellers’ minds,” he said, “placed us at the Rawson Property Group in a quandary because if there is one thing of which we are all absolutely convinced in the marketing of residential property, it is that with a good agent the sole mandate system will give the best possible price in the shortest possible time with the least inconvenience to the client.”
“The public,” said Clarke, “has to realise that if a good agency or agent is entrusted with a sole mandate, they will devote far more of their time and resources to advertising and promoting it – because, quite obviously, they know that so long as the mandate is operating, they cannot be pre-empted by another agent who comes in with a rival offer which the seller may be persuaded to accept even though it is not as high as might have been achieved.”
To overcome this difficulty, the Rawson Property Group management have now inserted in their sole mandate contracts a clause which states unequivocally that should the agent or the agency not live up to the marketing promises made at the outset (in writing), the client has the right to cancel the mandate.
“Obviously,” said Clarke, “the system might be exploited by an unscrupulous client, even if the agent has performed well. This very seldom occurs and it does have the advantage of giving the seller peace of mind and ensuring his co-operation.”
To implement such a mandate system, added Clarke, it is absolutely essential to underpin every agent’s activities with thorough, on-going training and to know that this is proving effective. However, he said, it is just this aspect (good training) of their operations that in his view is the Rawson Property Group’s great strength.
“The net result of having this clause in a contract,” he said, “is that countrywide we are now handling a higher percentage (± 17%) of sales contracts on the sole mandate system and the popularity of the system grows month by month.”
For further information contact the Rawson Property Group on (021) 658 7100.
