The Surprising Factor That Could Boost A Property's Chances of Selling.
Over the last two years, 3,052,987 homes have left estate agents books across the UK.
Out of these 3million homes, only 54.51% went on to exchange and complete—a sobering statistic for homeowners who entrust agents to see their property through to the finish line (the remaining homes were withdrawn off the market, unsold).
But what if I told you there’s a model of estate agency that seems to outperform this national average.
A Closer Look at the Numbers.
When I focused on the estate agencies brands in the Top 50 (by size), that exchange percentage dropped from 54.51% (mentioned above) to 52.7% - NOTHING GROUNDBREAKING THERE!
Yet the devil is always in the detail.
In that Top 50 there are some self employed models and franchise models where the same individual handles both valuation, vendor management and offer negotiation.
(Thats's a 100% of the time in the self-employed model and a very very common practice in franchise-led, owner operated Estate Agency models).
....with those firms, the exchange success rate, jumps to 59.49%!
So, the Top 50 UK Estate Agents exchange at 52.7% and self-employed & franchises at 59.49%
Doesn't sound a lot of difference.
Nothing could be further from the truth my stat loving friends.
Its 12.88% more exchanges.
It means everyone could have earned 12.88% more commission in the last 2 years.
Lets do some hard pound notes...
If the Top 50 estate agents exchanged at the same percentage as the self-employed & franchise models in the Top 50, between them they would have exchanged on 44,672 EXTRA properties in the last two years.
That's £134 million in lost exchange income.
Why Does This Matter Apart from the Lost £134m?
In many traditional estate agencies, the valuer who wins your instruction hands off the property to a negotiator to vendor manage and negotiate, creating a potential disconnect in accountability & client relationship.
In contrast, self-employed agents (& most franchise operators) handle everything—from valuation to listing to vendor management to offer negotiation.
This continuity means:
Stronger Relationships: One person deeply invested in the sale.
Accountability: There’s no passing the buck.
Expertise at Every Stage: The same professional who knows the market inside out is with you all the way.
By structuring our internal roles to splitting the Neg and Valuer, are we inadvertently reducing our success rates by spreading responsibilities too thin?
The numbers don’t lie: bringing valuation, vendor management & negotiation roles together might just be the key to more sales?
Are listers less likely to over value if they are responsible for the vendor management?
Or could there be another factor I am missing, like that these estate agents mentioned (self employed & franchise) are owner led, so have 'skin in the game'?
Or is it something else?
What are your thoughts?
Raw Stats from TwentyEA and crunched by me.
Over the last two years, 3,052,987 homes have left estate agents books across the UK.
Out of these 3million homes, only 54.51% went on to exchange and complete—a sobering statistic for homeowners who entrust agents to see their property through to the finish line (the remaining homes were withdrawn off the market, unsold).
But what if I told you there’s a model of estate agency that seems to outperform this national average.
A Closer Look at the Numbers.
When I focused on the estate agencies brands in the Top 50 (by size), that exchange percentage dropped from 54.51% (mentioned above) to 52.7% - NOTHING GROUNDBREAKING THERE!
Yet the devil is always in the detail.
In that Top 50 there are some self employed models and franchise models where the same individual handles both valuation, vendor management and offer negotiation.
(Thats's a 100% of the time in the self-employed model and a very very common practice in franchise-led, owner operated Estate Agency models).
....with those firms, the exchange success rate, jumps to 59.49%!
So, the Top 50 UK Estate Agents exchange at 52.7% and self-employed & franchises at 59.49%
Doesn't sound a lot of difference.
Nothing could be further from the truth my stat loving friends.
Its 12.88% more exchanges.
It means everyone could have earned 12.88% more commission in the last 2 years.
Lets do some hard pound notes...
If the Top 50 estate agents exchanged at the same percentage as the self-employed & franchise models in the Top 50, between them they would have exchanged on 44,672 EXTRA properties in the last two years.
That's £134 million in lost exchange income.
Why Does This Matter Apart from the Lost £134m?
In many traditional estate agencies, the valuer who wins your instruction hands off the property to a negotiator to vendor manage and negotiate, creating a potential disconnect in accountability & client relationship.
In contrast, self-employed agents (& most franchise operators) handle everything—from valuation to listing to vendor management to offer negotiation.
This continuity means:
Stronger Relationships: One person deeply invested in the sale.
Accountability: There’s no passing the buck.
Expertise at Every Stage: The same professional who knows the market inside out is with you all the way.
By structuring our internal roles to splitting the Neg and Valuer, are we inadvertently reducing our success rates by spreading responsibilities too thin?
The numbers don’t lie: bringing valuation, vendor management & negotiation roles together might just be the key to more sales?
Are listers less likely to over value if they are responsible for the vendor management?
Or could there be another factor I am missing, like that these estate agents mentioned (self employed & franchise) are owner led, so have 'skin in the game'?
Or is it something else?
What are your thoughts?
Raw Stats from TwentyEA and crunched by me.
