Broker for owners - benefits / advantages?

I have just sold my old house through an agent. I travel a lot for work and then have a few days off in between. I didn’t want to spend those with sometimes strange people. Besides, I don’t think I am the optimal seller. One person even stopped my wife at the door and wanted to bypass the agent. Personally, I think we scared off some "lowest price" interested parties by doing that.

In the end, we all conducted a viewing together. One after the other with the serious interested parties. I could then ultimately decide to whom I would sell.

Yesterday was the notary appointment.

Overall, it was simply absolutely comfortable for me. I didn’t have to take care of anything. And since it’s currently a seller’s market anyway: so what? I also had to pay an agent for the new house.

However, only reluctantly. Because he didn’t work well.

But the contact was quite professional and you could rely on what was said.

Yes, what kind of hourly wage is that?

I am by no means a fan of brokers and tend to agree with you, but such a property is clearly more work than handling Immoscout for 3 hours. And not every broker sells 5 properties at 300,000 EUR each per month. At the moment, brokers admittedly have it easier than, for example, in 2009. But brokers have to deal with at least 10 unsuccessful sales negotiations and 40 other interested parties for every successful sale. The consenting buyer does not have to be the very first visitor.

If I now calculate an average of 120 hours per property for preliminary work, follow-up work, answering inquiries, whether by mail or phone, viewings, and everything else (and for some properties that is probably an underestimate), I end up with an hourly wage of 110 euros before trade and income tax, health insurance, operating costs, etc...

I definitely consider that to be a decent income, but we are far from the income you seem to imagine.

I don’t want to defend anyone here, but at least put things into perspective.

Hourly wage is not a factor in sales anyway. If the broker is good, he is successful and has many sales and a lot of income. No one asks the kitchen salesperson about hourly wage either. Hourly wage is for factory workers. Karsten

Personally, I later didn’t pay much attention to listings where a broker was involved.

That was quite a while ago. In very good locations and the current situation, many properties no longer appear in listings or the usual internet sites.

The brokers often have more than enough seekers on their list... (last year we were offered 4 properties before they appeared on the internet)

I have to agree with tox: I also photograph properties for the exposé on the side and meanwhile talk to them or the owners. Documents are requested with meticulous work so that the offer then has no gaps. I also take my fee, etc. The whole sales folder, which does not only consist of an exposé, sometimes takes 6-7 weeks. Good brokers will not embarrass themselves.

Regarding the sale price: Owners either imagine moon prices or are below value because they only know the market from the offers, so they have no real knowledge of their property. The targeted price by the broker is usually estimated more realistically.

A few years ago, I sold my first house (in Switzerland). There was also the question of whether to sell it myself or through an agent. I then created a very detailed exposé – also with many photos and a really very detailed description. When I compare this with that of the agents here, it was not really worse. There were three viewing appointments (due to inquiries), so not too many people trample around who are just curious. Within a short time, there were two interested parties who definitely wanted to buy the house. I then sold to one of them. When I see the effort involved and compare it with the commissions sometimes charged, I had a really good wage for my work. At the moment, properties practically sell themselves. In good locations, I would always sell myself (of course, analyze the market beforehand – you need a feel for price setting). For special properties – often labeled as “Liebhaberobjekt” on Immoscout – they are usually not for the broad customer base: either due to the property itself (small, huge, special color choices, “impossible” tiles and fittings...) or due to the location (“in the absolute middle of nowhere”). The demand is then rare – such things can perhaps be sold better through an agent (they can easily sell obvious disadvantages not as bugs but as features).