How to tell whether an agent really has the buyers they claim

The answer, straight away

An agent who says they have buyers can be checked with five questions, none of which requires them to reveal a name. The answers either exist or they do not, and that is already the result.

First: how many matching buyers do they have now

Not how many they have had, not how many contacts are in the address book. How many, today, with a budget and an area that fit your property.

There is a number or there is not. If the answer is plenty, there is not.

Second: when did they last speak to them

A buyer not spoken to in eight months is not a buyer: it is a contact.

The real question underneath is whether the agent has a system or a memory.

Third: how many sales have they completed in this band in two years

In your band, not in general. An excellent mid-market agent may not have the network for your property, and that is not a failing: it is a different market.

If the answer is vague here, the rest matters little.

Fourth: how many instructions have they taken and how many completed

The number almost nobody keeps, and the one that says everything. Taking many and completing few means accepting prices that do not stand up.

An agent who tells you they turn instructions down is telling you something good.

Fifth: how will they reach the buyers they do not have

Because they will not have them all. The useful answer is concrete: which colleagues, which network, which professionals, in which cities.

The useless answer is the word network with nothing behind it.

What proves nothing

Follower counts. The number of listings online, which tells you how many they have not sold. The size of the brand, which tells you about the network and not about the person who will handle your house.

What to ask to see

Two references from sellers in your band, and permission to call them.

Anybody who has worked well provides them in five minutes.

And one question for yourself

Whether the agent has told you at least one thing you did not want to hear. About the price, the timing, or work to be done first.

Somebody who agrees with you about everything at a first meeting is not valuing your property. They are taking the instruction.