What is a Vendor’s Advocate?
Selling your home is a stressful time – corresponding with real estate agents, preparing your home for inspections, and navigating through a changing market can all be overwhelming.
Enlisting the assistance of a vendor’s advocate to help you through this time can be a way to reduce some of your stress, as well as help you get the best price possible for your home.
While they can help take a huge weight off your shoulders when it comes to the selling process, there are some things you need to be cautious of when finding the perfect vendor’s advocate for you.
Here’s how a vendor’s advocate can help you throughout your selling journey and how to find one.
What is a vendors advocate and what do they do?
A vendor’s advocate is someone who works with the vendor of the house and is essentially the project manager for your property sale.
1Group Property Advisory Director, Julian Muldoon says, “They take on the role of overseeing the sales campaign while working closely with the sales agent to make sure they deliver the best price along with a seamless process.”
A vendor’s advocate works independently alongside your real estate agent to assist with everything in the lead up to putting your house on the market, right down to settlement day.
Vendor’s advocates will also make sure you’re selling through the best real estate agency based on your type of property, area and requirements, and will ensure you’re putting your house on the market for a good price that’s reflective of the current market.
“Vendor’s advocates are highly experienced and well networked in the region in which you’re selling,” says Julian.
They are a great service to have on board as they work independently of real estate agents, meaning they don’t show any bias when selecting an agent for you – they are purely searching for the best deal for you.
Pros and cons of enlisting the help of a vendor’s advocate
Enlisting the help of a good vendor’s advocate will give you a range of benefits.
Julian says, “Having an experienced professional on your team to ensure the right agents are interviewed, marketing campaigns are assessed, fees negotiated and keeping the real estate agent accountable throughout the process are some of the main benefits. Other pros to having a vendor’s advocate include:
- Assistance in preparing your property for sale, including coordinating decluttering, cleaning, painting, etc
- Getting real estate agents to compete for your listing
- Helping you choose which method of sale works best for you, whether that be an auction, private sale, or off-market listing
- Arranging the staging of the property for inspections
- Negotiating terms with buyers and other agents to get you the best price
- A wealth of knowledge of the industry and current trends
- Reducing your stress by managing the end-to-end sale of your house
There are some things to be wary of when reaching out to a vendor’s advocate for help and it’s important to do your own research before choosing one.
Some things to be careful of when searching for a vendor’s advocate can include:
- Hidden fees and charges
- No official qualifications
- Lack of experience in the industry
- Unethical practices
While these things aren’t openly stated on websites, conducting your own thorough research can help you uncover some of these things.
Who should use a vendor’s advocate?
Vendor’s advocates are available to anyone selling their house.
While not everyone chooses to use a vendor’s advocate, some people benefit from using one.
Those who are time poor often use a vendor’s advocate to take care of the sale of their property, as they correspond directly with the real estate agent to arrange aspects of the sale.
Some people may choose to hire a vendor’s advocate because they own multiple properties, therefore, relieving an element of stress.
Other people may engage in these services if they need advice on what they should do to get their house ready and presentable for the market and any changes they should make including any painting that can be done to make the house more desirable.
When deciding whether a vendor’s advocate is the best choice for you and your situation, it’s important to conduct your own research. Ask around friends and family members who have used one before, to fully gauge their opinion and experiences.
If they had a negative experience, was it because of the person they’d enlisted to help or did they realise they didn’t like handing over control to someone else?
Speaking to people may also help you find someone trustworthy and reliable.
Julian recommends anyone who finds the selling process daunting or time-consuming to use a vendor’s advocate.
“Like the outsourcing of any services, you may be able to do it yourself – but are you the best person for the job?” he says, making the point that just because you can do it, doesn’t mean you should.
Be sure to investigate the reputation of the company, making a note of poor reviews and how they were handled as well as if there are any recurring complaints about the credibility of the company.
Ask questions of the vendor’s advocate before deciding to go with them too, including how their fee process works.
A lot of vendor’s advocates don’t charge a direct fee but rather, take part of the real estate agent’s commission and it’s important to have this information upfront.
Choosing to sell your property can be stressful – especially if you’re time-poor or manage a large portfolio of investment properties.
Enlisting the support and expertise of a vendor’s advocate allows you to relieve stress during the selling process as well as provide advice on how you can get the best sale price.
For more advice and to see whether a vendor’s advocate would benefit you, get in touch with one of our mortgage broker team members today.
