31/08/2026
NOT ALL AGENTS GET THE SAME RESULTS
I believe one of the challenges facing the Johannesburg property market today is not simply the market itself. It’s the way some properties are being represented, marketed and sold.
The right agent, properly appointed on a sole mandate, will make a significant positive difference to the result.
Over the years, I think too many real estate companies have become recruitment-driven, obsessed with recruiting more agents. The more agents, the better. But in the process, some have lost sight of our responsibility to the property market and, more particularly, to the clients who entrust us with their homes.
One of the biggest mistakes we have made as an industry is creating the false impression that an estate agent can sell successfully anywhere.
They can’t.
Property is an incredibly local business.
To an inexperienced agent, being able to list properties all over Johannesburg might sound appealing and may even seem like a strong advantage.
It isn’t.
The real advantage is a deep understanding and intimate knowledge of a particular area and its market. An agent who is not familiar with the area lacks a meaningful understanding of the streets, the different pockets within a suburb, the buyers the suburb attracts, what has actually sold and what it sold for. Importantly, a genuine area specialist knows and understands the pricing of all the other properties on the market that their seller is competing against for a buyer.
A genuine area specialist understands where value lies and where it doesn’t. They know the difference between an asking price and a selling price. They know the history of properties in the area, the prices they have traded at, and very often, the people who own them.
That knowledge isn’t acquired by merely downloading a property report. It is built over years of working in an area, speaking to buyers and sellers, doing valuations, negotiating deals and completing sales.
And selling a property is certainly not simply a matter of putting it onto Property24 and waiting for somebody to make an offer. If only it were that easy.
Selling well means understanding the buyer journey and knowing how to manage it. It means recognising genuine buyer interest. Knowing when a buyer is testing the seller. Knowing when to negotiate, when to push and, sometimes, when to stand firm.
It means understanding pricing psychology and positioning a property correctly from the outset. It means creating competition where possible and, above all, protecting the seller’s interests throughout the process.
Which is why I believe sellers should think very carefully when choosing an estate agent.
It can be tempting to appoint the agent offering the lowest commission. It is equally tempting to appoint the agent who gives you the highest valuation or makes the biggest promises. But the cheapest agent is not necessarily the agent who will put the most money into your pocket. And the agent who promises you the highest price is more than likely not the one who will achieve it.
The question I would ask is much simpler:
“What are you going to do differently to get the best possible result for me?”
And then:
“Why should I choose you?”
A difference in commission becomes irrelevant if a better agent achieves a substantially better selling price, negotiates more effectively, manages the transaction properly and gets the deal all the way through to registration with fewer complications.
Real estate is a performance-based business.
Agents do not all have the same experience. They don’t have the same knowledge, the same network, the same negotiating ability or the same understanding of the markets in which they operate.
And they do not all get the same results.
I have worked my area for 25 years. I know it. I know its properties. I know its buyers and sellers. I know its history. And I know that experience enables me to achieve better results for my sellers.
There is nothing arrogant about saying that, it’s what 25 years of specialising in a market should qualify a professional to say.
So, the next time you appoint an estate agent, don’t make your first question:
“What commission do you charge?”
Ask:
“Why you?”
Because choosing an estate agent isn’t about finding the cheapest person to sell your home.
It’s about finding the best person to maximise its value.
James Christelis 2026
