I always ask home sellers how they are going to choose their agent, and it blows me away the number of people who come back with "we're going to choose the agent with the lowest commission rate".

It is completely natural that as a seller your main priority is achieving the best result, but this does not necessarily come from the agent with the lowest commission rate. As a seller you want to be looking for the agent who will give you the most money in your hand following the sale.

It's a common misconception that all agents are the same - yes we all advertise on the same websites and in the same newspapers, but it is when your agent is talking to your buyers where the premium result is either won or lost.

Let's say your property is on the market for $500,000 and a buyer asks your agent "what do you think I will get it for" - this is usually the first question a buyer asks once they have some interest in your property. You would be surprised at the number of agents who will come back with a figure that is below the asking price. Something like "well, I'm pretty sure they will accept $480,000"

This answer is completely unacceptable as now your buyer is thinking that they will pick it up for $460,000 and your agent has cost you tens of thousands of dollars!

A good agent would answer this question with something along the lines of "well, I feel that the property presents great value in today's market. What do you think?" This turns the question back onto the buyer and you would be surprised at the number of people who say "yeah, you're probably right" and they go on to make offers much closer to the asking price…

We all want to work with someone we can relate to, and feel comfortable with, and the commission rate is important too. But the difference in a commission rate is minuscule compared to the amount your agent can either LOSE, or MAKE for you when they are talking price with your buyers.

So how do you choose an agent? Get out into the marketplace and do some secret shopping.

Test the local agents at open homes and ask them this crucial question: “What do you think I would get it for?”

I think you would be surprised at some of the responses you hear!