A mandate is a contractual agreement with an agent or agents to
sell your home and outlines the responsibilities and obligations of
both parties. There are various types of mandates of which the most
common ones are detailed below.
Sole Mandate Joint Mandate Dual Mandate Open Mandate Mini
Listing
Sole Mandate
A Sole Mandate is a well-established custom of entrusting the
sale of your property exclusively to a single agent or agency for a
specified period of time. This time duration could vary between 90
days and 180 days.One advantage of a sole mandate is that it
protects the seller from a double commission claim. Should a buyer
be shown the same property by two different agents / agencies and
puts in an offer through one of them, the other agent may also feel
entitled to commission. A sole mandate avoids this situation.
A sole mandate allows for a strategy to be put in place for the
marketing and exposure of your home. This avoids over exposure
where for example you have numerous agents FOR SALE boards
displayed at your property, or your property being advertised by a
number of agents in the same newspaper. This over exposes your
property and gives the impression to potential buyers that you are
desperate to sell your property. This could lead to unrealistic low
offers being made.
A sole mandate provides for greater security, privacy and
protection for your property. Access to your property is controlled
by one agent and viewing is done at your convenience without being
pressurized by a number of different agents.
When a number of agents are working the same property, they are
obviously keen to secure the sale before the other agents do. You
may find some pressure on you to accept an offer made, which may
not be the best for your property. With a sole mandate your agent
has the time to negotiate the best transaction for you. You are
also likely to have only qualified and serious buyers viewing your
property, avoiding unnecessary inconvenience and traffic through
your house.
Joint mandate
A Joint Mandate is when the rights to selling your property are
entrusted to more than one agent at different agencies. This is
usually limited to 2 agents / agencies but could be more. The
commission is split between the agents, irrespective of who sells
the property, on a pre-determined agreement, usually equal splits.
There is a risk in this type of mandate that one agent could sit
back and wait for the other agent/s to sell the property. The
marketing strategy is uncoordinated and ineffective.
Dual mandate
As with a joint mandate, a Dual Mandate is when the rights to
selling your property are entrusted to more than one agent at
different agencies. This is usually limited to 2 agents / agencies
but could be more. The commission payment is however different.
Each agent works the property and whoever secures the sale is
entitled to the total commission. Again the marketing strategy is
uncoordinated and ineffective and could lead to over exposure of
your property.
Open Mandate
An Open Mandate is when you allow a number of agents / agencies
to market your property. The disadvantages of this type of mandate
are mentioned above in the explanations of the other type of
mandates.
Mini Listing
A Mini Listing is when a sole mandate is in place and that agent
/ agency, with your permission, allows selected agents / agencies
to also market the property. The original sole mandate agent
controls the viewing, show houses, marketing etc of your property.
The commission split is agreed to between the original sole mandate
agent and the agents on the mini listing.
