What does 'Joint Sole Agency' mean when buying a property?

Find out what Joint Sole Agency means when you are buying a property. 'What does Joint Sole Agency mean?' plus over 150 other property related terms and jargon in plain English

Joint Sole Agency

Its the vendor who pays the estate agency a fee when their property sells, the buyer pays the agent nothing.

Typical fees range between 1% and 3% of the sale price, payeable once the sale reaches exchange of contracts (the sale becomes legally binding on both buyer and seller) or at completion (the property legally changes hands).

In order to reduce competition from other agents vendors will normally be offered a lower fee if they only list their property with one agent. This is known as their "Sole Agency Fee".

If the vendor wants to list with several agents they will charge a higher percentage fee known as their "Multiple Agency Fee".

"Joint Sole Agency" means a property is being marketed through two estate agents who are both charging the seller their sole agency fee rather than their multiple agency fee.

It is often used in marketing to try and make the property seem more exclusive but it is more a fancy dressing and a way for an agent to offer a reduced fee to the vendor in order to get the property onto their books.

The bottom line for you as a buyer is that it doesn't affect any of your costs. However the more agents a property is on the market with the higher the chance you might get gazumped unless you know how to agree a sale properly.

You can find out how to do just that by picking up a copy of my ebook How to Really Buy a Property.