How to Find a Trustworthy Real Estate Agent?
This is probably the most important question you should ask yourself. But it’s also the most challenging.
A trustworthy real estate agent meets 5 main criteria. They should be:
- Competent, meaning they know their profession and can provide you with sound advice
- Effective, meaning they have a good network and use the right communication channels
- Committed, meaning they make every effort to sell your property quickly
- Integrity, meaning they align their interests with yours and adhere to an ethical code
- Sustainable, meaning they have a solid financial situation.
By choosing Homexperts, we guarantee that you will work with such a trustworthy agent! We are 100% neutral and objective, and we only select agencies for our portal that have successfully obtained “The Broker Certificate” certification. Learn more about “The Broker Certificate“.
How to Find the Agency Best Placed to Sell My Property?
Even among the best agencies, there can be significant disparities. Some specialize in a particular region, while others focus on specific types of properties. Therefore, a good agency for selling a villa in the city center may not be the best for selling an apartment in the south. To assist you in choosing among our certified partner agencies, we can objectively assist you in an initial selection and provide you with all the necessary information to facilitate your decision-making process:
- You will have access to the main certification results of the agencies, as well as the number of properties they sell per year in your region and by property type.
- Since human connection is essential, you can meet the agencies in person, but you will also have access to a video presentation of each agency’s owner, which will give you a good idea of the person and the unique advantages of the agency.
- In addition, regarding your specific property, the agencies must answer three questions that you can ask them through our platform.
How to Ensure My Property is Priced Correctly for Sale?
This question is indeed crucial. Setting the right price is fundamental to optimize your gains. A price set too low means you won’t maximize your profits, while a price set too high can result in waiting too long to sell and potentially devaluing your property in the market.
On average, a property takes more than 16 months to sell in Luxembourg, mainly because prices are not accurately determined from the beginning. Our unique and highly effective estimation method saves you valuable time and prevents the devaluation of your property.
When we submit your property to certified agencies, each one is invited to provide an independent evaluation based on the detailed information about your property. We collect independent estimates from several experienced agencies in the country. From this data, we can determine the best price range for your property. Naturally, we will consider the price agreed upon with you.
How to Ensure the Agent Remains Committed?
Too often, agencies rely on their close network when they receive a new mandate but quickly lose interest if they don’t find a buyer within that network.
In addition to their professional ethics, the certified agencies selected on Homexperts all have a significant and regularly updated database of potential buyers, substantial subscriptions to major real estate portals, and significant communication budgets. Furthermore, we ourselves ensure regular follow-up with the agency during the process of selling your property.
Finally, we grant an exclusive mandate limited to 3 months to the agency you have chosen. This exclusivity is crucial because an agent logically invests more effort into exclusive mandates. However, limiting exclusivity to 3 months and allowing the possibility of involving a second agency after this period provides you with an additional double guarantee.
What If the Sale of My Property Doesn’t Progress as Expected?
Firstly, we personally monitor the agency you have chosen. If things are not progressing as they should, we are here to intervene quickly.
However, if the results are still not conclusive after 3 months, we reserve the right to assign a second mandate to another certified agency.
This way, we ensure the highest possible motivation from your agent while maintaining the option to involve an additional agency if necessary.
Wouldn’t it be Better to Entrust My Property to 2 or 3 Agencies?
At first glance, this may seem tempting. But put yourself in the agency’s shoes…
Would you be more motivated to give your all if you were sure to reap the rewards of your efforts, or if you risked working for nothing?
Generally, motivation and performance are much better when an agency has exclusivity.
However, this exclusivity should not last too long or provide too much comfort to the agency. That’s why we guarantee exclusivity for 3 months to the agency you have chosen. Beyond this period, if necessary and with your agreement, we can involve a second certified agency.
What is “The Broker Certificate” Certification?
“The Broker Certificate” is an independent, 100% neutral, and objective certification created to evaluate real estate agencies based on four themes:
- Professional competencies
- Ethics and compliance
- Customer listening and satisfaction
- Continuous improvement.
The label itself has been validated by ESCEM (European Society for Certification of Management Systems), a private and independent certification body established in 1997 and accredited according to the ISO 17021 standard for ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and OHSAS 18001 certification activities by the Luxembourg Office for Accreditation and Surveillance (OLAS), the national accreditation body of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
The Broker Certificate is open to any interested agency, but on Homexperts, we only select a very strict selection of what we consider to be the best trustworthy agencies that have passed the certification.
Are the Typical 3% Agency Commissions Worth It?
It depends on the competence and commitment of the agency, of course.
A quality real estate agency brings you many advantages that more than compensate for the commission:
- They help you determine the right price, which is essential for selling your property within a reasonable timeframe, instead of the average of 17 months for apartments and 16 months for houses (2016 statistics from the Housing Observatory). However, determining this “market price” requires great expertise and, most importantly, honest and transparent advice. Otherwise, you risk falling into the fatal (but all too common) trap of the agency accepting any price to secure the mandate, which will discredit your property in the market, ultimately leading to selling it—at market price—after more than a year.
- They provide guidance on how to present your property effectively to increase its value. They can also identify opportunities to achieve a significantly higher price, such as if your house can legally be converted into an investment property.
- They can provide legal and tax advice.
- They have a large network of potential buyers, which they keep up to date andcan easily activate.
- They invest substantial budgets in advertising your property on major real estate portals and more widely on the internet. They also ensure that your property is presented professionally with high-quality photos and comprehensive, appealing descriptions in multiple languages.
- They handle visits and, most importantly, negotiations with buyers on your behalf.
What Does Homexperts’ Service Cost?
We work with the typical commission rate of competent agencies, which is 3%.
We then share this commission with the certified agency that finds the buyer for you.
Using Homexperts is not more expensive than working with a good agency, but it provides you with numerous advantages:
- We ensure that you work with a top-notch, competent, experienced, and reliable agency.
- Thanks to estimates from multiple certified agencies, you have the best possible guarantee of determining the right price.
- With this “market price,” you will sell your property within a reasonable timeframe instead of the average of over 15 months.
- You quickly find a trustworthy agency without any worries through our portal with our assistance.
- The agency you choose will be committed and motivated because they have a 3-month exclusivity period.
- After 3 months, we can decide together to involve a second certified agency.
- We monitor the activity of the agency you have chosen until the sale is completed.
- We accompany you until the sale, ensuring that you always have two trusted partners: your certified agency and us.
What if the Agency Ceases Operations During the Process?
It is true that every year, around a hundred real estate agencies close in Luxembourg… So the question is indeed important.
If such a closure were to occur during the sale of your property, you would have lost valuable time.
However, rest assured that the certified agencies selected on our portal have been assessed for their financial health. Therefore, you do not run any risk.
