Which real estate agency should I use to sell my flat?

There are those who prefer Android to Apple, Mango to Zara, BMW to Mercedes, Idealista to Fotocasa... Why then do so many consumers choose any real estate agency instead of choosing the best? If you're wondering "which estate agent to sell my flat with", you've come to the right place.

How to find a trustworthy estate agent to sell my flat: why do we choose anyone?

We receive many calls with the same question: "Which real estate agency should I sell my flat to? These FIVE KEYS will help you understand why choosing just any real estate agency is not a good idea:

Too many real estate agencies (boutique vs. warehouse model)

The absence of entry barriers (economic and training) and proportionally low structural and operating costs allow a multitude of estate agencies to survive based on the indiscriminate accumulation of product and sales by probability. Many are neighbourhood agencies, but also franchises and large traditional agencies, which together make up the bulk of an undifferentiated business ecosystem, where they compete door to door with poorly trained sales teams and high staff turnover.

If, for the purposes of simplification and clarification, we take all the real estate agencies in the country and take their commercial strategies to the extreme, we can divide them into two large groups: agencies-boutique y agencies-warehouse. You will be able to easily understand which type of agency you will feel more comfortable with as a client based on their way of working and objectives.

The agencies-boutique manage a small portfolio of properties, establish close relationships with their owner-clients and generally have small and stable commercial teams. Their commercial strategy of small portfolio / high turnover forces them to reduce risk as much as possible and therefore:

1. They capture housing in good demand.
2. They capture at appropriate prices.
3. They capture exclusively.

In contrast, the agencies-warehouse accumulate huge amounts of properties whose owners they know little or almost nothing about. Consciously or not, this type of agency trusts its sales to probability ('If I manage a lot of properties, probably some will sell') and therefore:

1. They capture everything.
2. They are catching at any price.
3. They do not demand exclusivity, even if they prefer it.

Let us forget for a moment about owner-occupiers and accept that they can choose one type of real estate agency or another. It is not a question here of determining which agency model is preferable for their interests, but rather of to understand the virtues and risks of each model and to develop a reflection that will allow active real estate agents or those who are considering starting this activity to choose one model, the other or their own mix of both.

Undemanding customers

The traditionally undemanding domestic consumer opts for supplier diversification - "multi-agency sells faster" (a pre-digital mantra) - rather than informed choice of the best agency available. It may be time to explain to the consumer of real estate brokerage services that they have the industry they deserve, and that ignorant and uninformed consumption is to their long-term detriment.

Institutional paralysis

Professional associations and professional bodies have given up the roles that justify their raison d'être: to regulate practice, to encourage sectoral modernisation and to promote an enforceable quality standard among consumers.

At the same time, the forums for reflection on the real estate sector, some of which belong to the country's most prestigious business schools, have focused the debate on macroeconomic and financial analysis, ignoring a much more necessary and urgent reflection on technology, marketing, innovation or human resources, and centred on areas where they can have an impact.

Messianic marketing

Finally, sectoral training has succumbed to the new-age rhetoric of trainers/coaches/if-you-want-it-you-can gurus and, in the best of cases, to cut-and-paste versions of operational marketing extracted from some CRS course. Thus, real estate marketing is reduced to a combination of sales materials and negotiation techniques designed to compensate (with two balls, of course) for the absence of positioning, value proposition or competitive advantage; real strategic marketing tools.

Characteristics of a good real estate agency

Given the current practices in the sector, you may still be wondering "which estate agent to sell my flat with". Most of the agencies that I know (including our Monapart franchises) who work on an exclusive basis, have no more than twenty properties in their portfolio. Obtaining exclusivity is hard work and involves recruitment and marketing costs that should only be assumed when the property has a high probability of being sold.

Those who have experience working in exclusivity capture well and at a good price because they know that the cost of failure - ending the exclusivity without selling and without being renewed - is very, very high.

However, what happens if you opt for a model in which you capture absolutely everything without setting conditions or barriers to access? And if you do not invest in achieving the sale but wait for the property to "sell itself"? Well, the costs of attracting and marketing are infinitely lower than attracting exclusively and therefore the cost of loss (that an owner does not renew or goes to another agency) is much lower. Much more is attracted, in less time and with fewer demands.

The traditionally undemanding domestic consumer opts for supplier diversification - "multi-agency sells faster" (a pre-digital mantra) - rather than informed choice of the best available agency.

So what does it depend on whether an agency works with one model or the other? In my opinion, it is a question of values.

There are sales-oriented and customer-oriented real estate agencies.. The former are those that prioritise closing deals in the short term over any other indicator. They set annual sales and/or turnover targets and reward their agents (if they do so) for meeting sales targets. These are often agencies with large sales teams and high staff turnover.

In contrast, customer-oriented agencies tend to focus on building long-lasting relationships, working on after-sales and laying the groundwork for future customer referrals. They are agencies that reward their sales team based on sales and customer satisfaction. The nature of their model requires a much more artisanal process based on small, intensively managed portfolios. You might be thinking: "Which real estate agency to sell my flat with then?

Contrary to what it may seem, it is reasonable to think that the net profit per house sold may be very similar in both types of agency. (one for efficiency, the other for volume), although the two models are so different and polarised that it is difficult to believe that companies belonging to one and the other can share similar values. And nothing highlights this difference like human resources policy.

Any agency that wants to build a stable, motivated and happy team knows that it cannot eternally subject its sales people to the drudgery of cold-door canvassing, weekly mailings and sporadic, low-intensity customer contact.. Companies immune to high staff turnover can do all this and more. Companies capable of making the incorporation and training of their new agents profitable in a short period of time.

The agencies-boutique need a consolidated and motivated team to be able to implement their model. customer-orientedHow can we work well on loyalty and after-sales if we change sales teams every six months? The agencies-warehouse They need to constantly acquire large numbers of properties, but their uncomplicated and unconditional approach to property acquisition allows them to have a constantly rotating sales force. Generalising, I would venture to say that there is a relationship between staff turnover and the size of the housing portfolio under management.

Post scriptum

We owe the difference between Spanish gastronomy in 1970 and today's gastronomy to some guys from Donosti who forty years ago invented the "new Basque cuisine" and catalysed the revolution of an entire industry. People who, with audacity, study and technology, turned a simple trade into one of the most innovative industries in the country.

I don't know if I'm making myself clear...

In any case: if you want a free valuation of your property, without obligation, reasoned and without generating false expectations, ask for a free valuation. here.