In most industries, professional ethics are straightforward: you serve the client who pays you. Yet in estate agency, the lines have become increasingly blurred. Many firms now earn as much – and sometimes more – from pushing buyers into mortgages and insurance products as they do from the sale itself.
It might look like “full service,” but it poses a very simple question: Who is the agent really working for?
The Problem With Agents Who Profit From Both Sides
At Corum, our position is clear. We buy and sell homes. Nothing else. Our client is the seller, and all of our efforts are focused on achieving the best price and the cleanest completion for them.
The moment an agent stands to gain financially by steering a buyer into a mortgage or insurance product, the incentives shift. You cannot negotiate fearlessly on behalf of a seller while simultaneously trying to nurture the buyer into a second transaction. Pushing for every last pound on price becomes awkward when that same buyer is also expected to sit politely through a mortgage appointment the following week.
Some agencies present this as “added value”. In truth, it is a clear conflict of interest.
“When something seems inexplicably cheap, there’s usually a reason.”
“When something seems inexplicably cheap, there’s usually a reason.”
“But They Can Do It For Half Your Fee…”
From time to time, a seller will tell us that another agent offered to sell their home for half our fee. There’s a very natural follow-up question: How?
How can an agent produce premium marketing, experienced negotiators, quality staff, due diligence and sales progression on a fraction of a normal fee?
Where does the revenue come from? The answer is almost always the same: referrals. Mortgages, insurances, financial services; often funnelled to the same buyers the agent is supposed to be negotiating against on your behalf.
When something seems inexplicably cheap, there’s usually a reason. And you have every right to ask whether that is ethical, transparent or in your best interests.
Our approach is simple: the seller is our client, and their outcome comes first. We don’t chase referral income behind the scenes to subsidise a headline fee on the front. We don’t tie our advice to financial products. And we don’t compromise negotiation just to keep a buyer “warm” for a mortgage appointment.
If we earn our fee, it is because we have delivered value; the strongest possible price, the safest buyer, and a completed sale. Not because someone behind the scenes sold a financial service to the other side of the negotiation table.
Ironically, Buyers Prefer It Too
Because we don’t rely on financial upselling, we can give buyers genuine advice without any hidden agenda. We can tell them which solicitor is efficient, which mortgage broker is responsive, or which surveyor will get out quickly — and we can do it without profiting from the recommendation.
Buyers recognise sincerity, and sincere buyers perform better. A buyer who trusts the agent is a buyer who completes. When both sides of a transaction feel they are getting honesty, the entire process runs faster, cleaner and with fewer collapses.
“A business that focuses on one job tends to excel at it.”
“A business that focuses on one job tends to excel at it.”
Clarity Produces Better Results
A business that focuses on one job tends to excel at it. We do not split our attention between property and financial products. We are not trying to extract additional income from buyers while pretending to negotiate firmly against them. Our only focus is selling homes well, progressing transactions efficiently and concluding deals cleanly.
That clarity of purpose is one of the reasons our sales complete more quickly and with fewer collapses. When your interests are singular, your service is stronger.
The Industry Calls It Modern. We Call It Compromised.
There is a fashion for estate agents to become “one-stop shops,” bundling mortgages, insurance, lettings and legal services under the same roof. But with every additional revenue stream, the potential for conflicted advice increases. When the seller asks, “Which offer should I accept?”, the answer should never depend on which buyer is most profitable to the agency.
We don’t believe the two can mix; not if integrity matters, and not if transparency is something you’re prepared to stand behind.
“Ethical estate agency should not be radical. It should be ordinary.”
“Ethical estate agency should not be radical. It should be ordinary.”
A Clean Model Is an Honest Model
We buy and sell property. We represent the client who instructs us. We do not profit from the other side of the negotiating table. There are no hidden incentives, no divided loyalties and no diluted focus.
Ethical estate agency should not be radical. It should be ordinary. Until the industry remembers that, we will continue to stand apart.