Choosing a good real estate agency in Poznan does not have to be difficult. However, there are some very important factors to consider that can make our decision to choose a real estate agent in Poznan the right one. Many, in fact most, of the following considerations are also appropriate for real estate agents not only from Poznań, but also from other places in Poland.
We believe that the following issues should be considered before choosing a real estate office to which we are to entrust the business worth several hundred thousand zlotys.
WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT TO CHOOSE A GOOD REAL ESTATE AGENT?
This choice, as we show below, is often decisive not only in achieving the desired profit from the sale of the property or maximizing satisfaction with the choice of a particular apartment, plot or house. It is often crucial for a secure transaction.
A good real estate agent is invaluable. Not only is it a guarantee of legal security, successful negotiations, but also of maximizing profit from the transaction and professional marketing. Real estate agencies provide agency services, which are specific services consisting of many elements. We write about it for example here.
This is all the more true for real estate agencies from Poznan and other major cities, as the real estate market in Poznan is a demanding, highly competitive and thriving market.
SPECIFICS OF THE REAL ESTATE MARKET IN POZNAN
Let's start by saying that the real estate market is typically local. This means that a given city or other area where real estate agencies focus their activities may have slightly different standards of service and quality. This is due to, among other things, the level of competition on a given real estate market, traditions related to real estate brokerage and, for example, market development in a given area. The service of intermediation in larger cities such as Poznań will look slightly different, and different in smaller or newly developing areas in terms of construction. Thus, the common real estate market de facto does not exist, and its local character is often reflected in the different level of service provided by local real estate agents, such as real estate agencies from Poznań.
Furthermore, it should be noted that the real estate market is divided into segments. This market and the rules of its operation in the residential field are a bit different, and a bit different in the commercial field. On the other hand, handling the sale of building land, let alone commercial land, may require completely different skills and resources. We should also remember that apart from selling flats, houses or plots, an intermediary also deals with real estate rental.
It follows from the above that the real estate market is not only diverse, complex and difficult to handle in Poznań.
In Poznań, this diversity is all the more significant due to the multiplicity of properties, strong supply and demand, dynamic development and the number of entities servicing this market, i.e. notaries, advocates and legal advisers, consulting and marketing companies, managers and valuers, developers, but perhaps and above all real estate agents.
REAL ESTATE AGENCIES IN POZNAN
According to the popular real estate classifieds portals, the number of Poznań real estate offices is quite considerable and amounts to several hundred, depending on the counting method.
Portal Otodom states that there are over 450 real estate offices in Poznań. Here you can find this list. Another well-known portal with real estate offers, that is Nieruchomości-Online gives the number of real estate agencies in Poznań to over 120. A rapidly growing portal Morizon indicates the number of over 140 real estate offices in Poznań. Another real estate announcer - portal Gratka probably also cooperates with numerous real estate agencies from Poznań, whose number probably exceeds 200.
Why is this differentiation in the number of entities providing real estate agency services and why is the number of real estate agents in Poznań so high?
First of all, the considerable competition of the Poznań real estate agencies proves the strong development of the real estate market in Poznań. However, one should immediately make a reservation that only a smaller part of these real estate agencies really counts on the Poznań market. Many offices are either inactive or sporadically involved in the real estate market.
Secondly, these statistics are somewhat misleading also because not all real estate agencies in Poznan cooperate with every advertising portal. Many real estate agencies do not display their ads on some portals at all, thus narrowing down their real estate sales opportunities. Marketing associated with the publication of offers is very expensive.
In any case, the competition of Poznań real estate agencies is significant and there is really something to choose from. However, there are several important factors to consider when choosing a good real estate agent in Poznan, which will take care of the transaction professionally.
WHAT TO PAY ATTENTION TO WHEN CHOOSING A REAL ESTATE AGENT?
There is really no better recommendation of a real estate agent than its actual recommendation by a client who has been served by a particular real estate agent. Such a recommendation is a testament to how the real estate agency works, whether it is reliable and has extensive knowledge and experience.
However, you should be a little distant from the opinions of your office's customers on the internet, whether on Facebook or Google. It is unquestionable that such opinions can say a lot about the work of a given real estate agency, because very good opinions of an office, of which there are a dozen or even several dozen, can testify to good work of a given real estate agency. Similarly, many negative opinions may indicate bad work of the agency. However, our suspicions must be aroused by e.g. very good opinions of similar content or e.g. a very large number of them, which is about 1000% higher than the average number of opinions of real estate agencies. We should always remember that opinions do not always have to be reliable and rely on the truth. It is very easy to write something in the Internet.
To sum up, first-hand opinions are the best, and opinions issued on the Internet, which we have to approach with a slight distance, can help us to choose the best real estate agent.
Another important factor in choosing an agent is their experience.
We can verify it by talking to the agency owner and his employees. Real estate offices that exist on the market for only a few years can only gain this experience. This is because many years of practice brings us even the necessary experience, which we can use in subsequent transactions of sale, rental or purchase of real estate.
The next factor is knowledge. It is important to remember that real estate agency, which we write about in more detail here requires specialist knowledge in various fields. As indicated above, handling the real estate market is difficult and requires very good knowledge in such fields as: law, marketing, economy, management and construction.
Real estate services in Poland look a bit different than in the west abroad, and even more so than in the United States. In the USA, for example, the profession of an intermediary consists in providing services to the parties in marketing, negotiation and advisory matters concerning the choice of a given property or its sale. However, this service does not include any legal issues or construction of contracts, which are already handled by qualified lawyers.
In Poland, on the other hand, it has been assumed that the real estate agency service covers all issues related to real estate trade, including legal issues, and even the construction of preliminary agreements for the sale of real estate and lease agreements. The question may be relevant whether brokers should deal with real estate legal services and whether they are sufficiently qualified in this field. It should be remembered that formally there is no requirement for an intermediary to have legal education, which very often happens not only on the real estate market in Poznań. Therefore, it is important to check whether a real estate agency is managed or possibly supervised by a lawyer or whether a real estate agency commissions legal services to a law firm.
Of course, the management of a real estate office by a lawyer is not in itself a guarantee of a high level of service, but this issue is very important, as it is important to realize that the transfer of real estate, renting out the property or any kind of preliminary agreements require specialist legal knowledge. Although notaries often provide partial service in this direction, the lack of assistance of an intermediary with legal education may cause unnecessary misunderstandings or errors in the legal analysis of a given property, to which various rights, restrictions or burdens may be related. The legal situation of the parties to the contract and their rights and obligations arising from it may also be misunderstood.
The right choice of real estate agency is all the more important because, as mentioned above, there are currently no exorbitant obligations to fulfil when setting up a real estate agency. Suffice it to say that at present the only industry obligation to be fulfilled before starting to work as a real estate agent is to have civil liability insurance at an even ridiculously low level. And the client has the right to expect that when contacting a real estate office, the office is a professional entrepreneur and has specialist knowledge related to the real estate industry.
Unfortunately, today the profession of a real estate agent is a deregulated profession, unlike in the past, when in order to practice this profession you had to have a higher education, complete post-graduate studies in brokerage, have an internship under the supervision of an experienced broker and pass an exam. Once these conditions were met, a state licence could be obtained. Currently, these licenses have been abolished. Although it is possible to obtain optional licenses on the market, they do not require excessive requirements and are granted by private associations.
Therefore, when choosing a real estate agency for cooperation, one should ask for offices that have old state licenses, as well as third party liability insurance for amounts in Euro at least six digits.
An invaluable premise for choosing a good real estate agency is also the conversation with the broker itself, in which you can try to assess the relevance of the answers given, as well as the ability to listen to the client's needs.
It should also be borne in mind that anyone interested can always obtain a model brokerage agreement from the agent, which must be drawn up in a fair and honest manner and have a number of attachments and information. We write about these requirements in more detail here. Thus, a correctly and clearly structured agency agreement, on the basis of which a real estate agency can take action at all, is also an indicator of the professionalism of real estate agencies. In case such an agreement imposes excessive requirements on the client, unnecessary contractual penalties or is incomprehensible, it should be a warning signal for the client.
A lot can also be said about the appearance of a real estate agency website, its legibility, content, as well as the presentation of real estate offers, including the quality of photographs of the real estate and the descriptions of the offers themselves, which, after all, attract potential buyers or tenants to a given property. It is also a testimony to the reliable work of an intermediary.
It is also worth noting that the number of offers offered by a real estate agency does not indicate its service level. What may seem strange at first glance is the fact that if a real estate agency has a lot of offers, it may even indicate the lack of possibility of professional service of such volume. In Poznan, it is not uncommon for a real estate agent to have several dozen offers per one, sometimes even a hundred. The question at this point is obvious. How can you professionally handle such a number of offers? Doesn't quantity win with quality in this case? It is fair to say that with such a number of offers it is not possible to provide a comprehensive, high quality service. Each offer of an apartment, house, flat or plot requires a lot of work related to its marketing, legal service and consulting, as well as presentations to potential clients, who do not have to wait until the intermediary finds time for them. Therefore, all rankings of real estate agencies in Poznań in the above mentioned advertisement portals or the order in which these agencies are displayed in these portals do not prove anything, as often these rankings are set only in terms of the number of properties offered, and thus also the amount of fees for a given portal by the real estate agency, which is obviously in the interest of a given portal.
To finish the topic of ad portals, ask your real estate agent which portals he or she publishes his or her ads on. This is all the more important because after significant increases in the prices of publishing ads, which have increased several times in recent years, many real estate agencies have reduced their advertising campaigns. However, these are often actions contrary to the interest of the client, who is interested, for example, in selling his or her apartment, as the offer of his or her property may not reach potential buyers on the real estate market.
CHOOSING A GOOD REAL ESTATE AGENCY DOES NOT HAVE TO BE DIFFICULT!
We are convinced that by considering the above remarks, a client of a real estate agency is able to find a good and honest real estate agent located not only in Poznań, to which he will be able to entrust such important matters as selling, buying or renting a property.
author: Maciej Gawryluk
update: July 2024