Selling guide
First steps when working with an agent: what to expect
Here’s what your agent should be up to.
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If selling a home was one of your resolutions for 2025, one of the first steps might be finding and working with a real estate agent (unless you decide to sell privately).
Choosing the right real estate agent is a key decision in this process, and we’ve got some great advice on how to get this right. But let’s say you’ve made your call and selected an agent to help you sell your property, what should you expect to happen first in this relationship?
Here, we’ll run down the things that a real estate agent has to do (they have a bunch of legal responsibilities) and the things that ideally they should be doing to get the process of selling your home off the ground.
A real estate agent’s legal responsibilities to you as a seller
In Aotearoa, real estate agents must comply with the Real Estate Agent’s Code of Professional Conduct and Client Care. This means that there are a number of things that they must do at different stages of the relationship.
There's a bunch of paperwork your agent needs to provide you with early on.
This starts before you sign a contract with an agency. At this point, some of the most important legal responsibilities for agents include:
- Explaining how their commission will be calculated: they should give an indication of what they’re going to charge based on their valuation of your home. Of course, this is unlikely to be exactly what you end up paying, as they can’t predict precisely what your property will sell for, but you should have a decent picture of what this fee is likely to be.
- Give you an estimate: as well as informing you on likely commission rates, the agent has to provide you an estimate of what they think your home is worth.
- Your options for signing up with other agencies: agents will likely push for you to sign a sole agency agreement (as opposed to a general agreement). If they do this, they need to inform you what will happen if you wish to sign with another agency (or sell the home yourself) before your contract with them expires.
- Advertising strategy and costs: the agent should give you (in writing) a clear rundown of how they plan to market your home, and what this will cost. This should also break down what they provide, and anything extra you’ll pay for.
- Advertising rebates/discounts: if an agent has relationships with marketing or advertising providers which mean they receive discounts, commissions or rebates, they need to tell you. This is because you can then try to negotiate a share of that discount, so it ends up costing you less.
- Seeking legal advice: under NZ law, a prospective agent has to recommend that you get legal advice before signing an agreement with them. This is something we also highly recommend before you put pen to paper. The agent is also legally obliged to give you a copy of the New Zealand Residential Property Agency Agreement Guide, and confirm you’ve received it.
After you’ve signed a contract with a real estate agency, you should receive a signed copy of the agency agreement within 48 hours of you signing it. This is a particularly important milestone if you’ve changed your mind and are thinking of switching estate agent, or simply cancelling the agreement. This is much easier to do if you do it by 5 PM on the first working day after you receive your copy of the agreement.
It's crucial that you read and understand your agency agreeent.
What to expect from your estate agent once you’ve signed an agreement
Once the ball is rolling, among the first things you should expect from your shiny new real estate agent are:
- Communication: it’s a definite red flag if, once you’ve signed up, you get nothing but radio silence. At all stages of the relationship, you should expect your real estate agent to be prompt with their communications, while remembering that, ultimately, they’re human beings.
- Requests for access: ideally, your estate agent should be getting to know your property intimately. This is important so that they can learn its strengths and weaknesses, which buyer-types are most likely to be interested, and so that they can make accurate representations to interested parties. So, expect your agent to be making a few trips to your home to gain the knowledge they need.
- Discussing price points: one of the earliest priorities for your agent should be deciding (with you) how to price your property, and what method to select for selling. Ideally, you should have a good understanding of this from your earliest conversations when selecting your agent, but these factors will need finalising.
- Arranging photoshoots: given the importance of visuals when selling a home on sites like Trade Me Property, professional photography is something you want to get done early. This will allow your agent to portray your home in its best possible light.
- Discussing staging and presentation: potentially linked to arranging professional photography, your agent should talk to you about how to present your home. Depending on their experience and preferences, this might be as simple as switching up your furniture, or could go as far as hiring a professional stager to come in and work their magic.
- Preparing advertisements: once photography is complete, your agent should be listing your home on Trade Me Property. The sooner it’s up, the sooner prospective buyers will know it’s for sale.
- Mining their buyer database: experienced real estate agents should have a database of potential buyers in their patch. You should expect your agent to start contacting these folks early on, and keeping you up to speed with interest and enquiries.
- Scheduling viewings: once your agent is confident your home is looking shipshape and ready to sell, they should start organising for prospective buyers to come and see the property. They need to give you ample warning of these events, particularly if you’re selling your primary residence, and ensure these schedules work for you. However, this is a two-way street, and you need to make this process as easy as possible, despite the disruption that viewings can cause.
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