Exclusive agency agreement – advantages and disadvantages

You have probably come across several listings for the same property on one portal that nevertheless differed in the details given and the price. That means you were dealing with information chaos caused by the owner choosing an open agreement. Estate agency clients choose it more readily than an exclusive agency agreement (umowa na wyłączność), but is it actually better? We will try to set out its advantages and disadvantages below.

Exclusive agency agreement and open agreement

What exactly is the difference between an exclusive agency agreement and an open agreement? The basis of an exclusive agency agreement is a clause stating that the estate agency to which you entrust the sale and promotion of your house or flat is the sole agent and is entitled to the commission regardless of who found the buyer. You can sign an open agreement with as many as ten estate agencies at the same time – the commission from the sale then goes only to the agent who finds the buyer. What is more, if you find the buyer yourself, the only payment due to the agencies is for the promotion costs they have incurred.

Advantages of an exclusive agency agreement for selling a property

• Commitment of the estate agency – Because the agency is guaranteed a commission if the transaction goes through, it can be sure that the money invested in effectively promoting the property will pay off. That is why, under an exclusive agency agreement, the agent will be fully committed to selling your property.
• Better flow of information – When you choose an exclusive agency agreement, your agent can publish all the details about your property without fear that a potential client, instead of coming to them, will buy it from another agency or… from you. If you have seen an advert that lacks a full address and a clear photo, you have probably come across an owner who has signed open agreements with estate agencies.
• Better promotion – An exclusive agency agreement almost always involves using more promotional and marketing tools than an open agreement. Although only one agency handles your property, this does not mean that the listing will appear on fewer websites. On the contrary, the agency will use the most effective promotion tools to sell your property as quickly and for as high a price as possible, that is, at a profit for you too.
• Priority for your listing – Because the commission from the sale of your property is certain for the agency with which you have an exclusive agency agreement, your listing will be taken more seriously than one under an open agreement. In short: the agency will put it first among all its assignments.
• Security of the property – under an exclusive agency agreement you hand the keys to the property to only one trusted person, who looks after the security of the entire property during client visits, even when you are not there.
• Saving time – Signing one agreement takes much less time than signing several agreements with different estate agencies. Add to this the need to monitor the agencies' activities and the need to inform all of them when the property is sold. In addition, throughout the sales process the agency completely relieves you of all the duties connected with it.

READ ALSO – FLAT RESERVATION AGREEMENT

Disadvantages of an exclusive agency agreement

• Dependence on one agency – When signing an exclusive agency agreement you must check the agency carefully – its experience and results. The exclusivity clause means that the sale depends solely on the actions of that one agency during the term of the agreement – if you choose badly, the whole process may drag on.
• Difficulty in terminating the agreement – Open agreements are usually concluded for an indefinite period and can be terminated at any time. This is because, apart from publishing the listing, most agencies do not invest in promoting it. In the case of exclusive agency agreements, which are concluded for a fixed term, terminating the agreement early involves paying a contractual penalty, which secures the funds the agency has invested in marketing and sales activities for the property.

To sum up, an exclusive agency agreement with an experienced estate agency has far more advantages than an open agreement. Most importantly, it gives us the certainty that our property will be actively marketed and that the agency will do everything possible to complete the transaction as quickly and as favourably as possible.

Dreaming of a quick sale of your property in Katowice, Sosnowiec or another part of Poland? Contact our experts!