It’s easy to describe a real estate agent’s job as “selling houses”, but that skips over most of the work involved. Putting a property online and waiting for someone to make an offer is only one small part of a successful sale.
For homeowners thinking, “I want to sell my house Campbelltown,” or considering selling in any other market, understanding what an agent should actually be doing makes it much easier to compare your options. You’re not simply paying someone to advertise your property. You’re hiring them to advise you, manage the campaign, deal with buyers and help negotiate the transaction.
So, what should good service actually look like?
Help You Set a Realistic Price
One of the first jobs is helping you understand where your property sits in the current market.
An agent should be able to explain their suggested price using evidence. That may include recent sales of comparable properties, homes currently competing for buyers and differences in size, condition, location and features.
Importantly, they should be prepared to tell you when your expectations don’t match the available evidence.
The highest appraisal isn’t automatically the best one. You want an agent who can explain their reasoning rather than simply giving you an attractive number.
Tell You What Is Worth Fixing Before You Sell
Should you repaint the living room? Replace the old carpet? Renovate the kitchen? Or simply clean everything thoroughly and put the property on the market?
These decisions can become expensive quickly.
A good agent should help you prioritise. Some properties may benefit from minor repairs, decluttering, improved landscaping or professional styling. Others may be perfectly suitable for sale without significant additional spending.
The goal isn’t to make your home perfect. It’s to decide which improvements, if any, could make it more appealing to likely buyers without spending unnecessarily.
Build a Marketing Plan Around the Property
Marketing should involve more than automatically selecting the same package for every home.
The agent should consider the type of property, likely buyers and local market when recommending how it will be promoted.
Depending on the home, the campaign could involve:
- Professional photography
- Online property listings
- Floor plans
- Video
- Social media promotion
- Open homes or private inspections
- Direct contact with existing buyers
You should understand what each part of the campaign costs and why it’s being recommended.
Manage Buyer Enquiries Properly
Generating enquiries is useful. What happens to those enquiries is just as important.
Your agent or their team should respond to prospective buyers, organise inspections and follow up afterwards. Buyers who initially seem uncertain may become serious prospects once they’ve visited the property or received answers to their questions.
Follow-up can also provide valuable feedback.
If several buyers raise the same concern, that information may help you make decisions about presentation, marketing or the broader sales strategy.
Keep You Informed
You shouldn’t have to chase your agent every time you want to know what’s happening.
Before the campaign begins, establish how communication will work. Some sellers prefer a call after every inspection, while others are happy with regular summaries.
Useful updates might cover:
- Buyer enquiry levels
- Inspection numbers
- Feedback from visitors
- Offers or expressions of interest
- Online engagement
- Changes in competing listings
- Recommended adjustments to the campaign
Good communication isn’t about calling for the sake of calling. It’s about giving you information that helps you understand how the sale is progressing.
Negotiate on Your Behalf
This is one of the most important parts of an agent’s role.
When an offer arrives, simply passing the number to you isn’t much of a negotiation strategy. An experienced agent should understand the buyer’s position, communicate with them professionally and work towards the strongest achievable terms for the seller.
Price isn’t always the only consideration, either.
Settlement timing, finance conditions and other terms can influence the attractiveness of an offer. Your agent should clearly explain these factors so you can make an informed decision rather than focusing solely on the headline figure.
Adjust When the Market Gives You New Information
Not every property sells immediately, and a good agent shouldn’t behave as though the original plan can never change.
Perhaps inspections are busy but nobody is making an offer. Maybe online interest is weaker than expected. Alternatively, buyers may consistently provide similar feedback about the property.
Your agent should interpret that information and discuss what, if anything, needs adjusting.
That might involve changing the marketing, presentation, inspection strategy or price expectations. What matters is that recommendations are based on evidence rather than guesswork.
Guide the Sale Through the Next Steps
Accepting an offer isn’t necessarily the end of the agent’s involvement.
There may still be communication required between the buyer, seller and the professionals handling the transaction. Timelines need to be understood, access may need to be organised and questions can arise before the sale is completed.
A capable agent helps keep the process moving while making it clear when legal, financial or other specialist advice is required.
Ultimately, a good real estate agent should make selling easier to understand and manage. They can’t guarantee a particular price or remove every stressful moment, but they should provide clear advice, communicate consistently and manage the parts of the sales process they’ve been hired to handle.
If all an agent is offering is a property listing and a few open homes, it’s reasonable to ask what else you’re actually paying for.
