Choosing an estate agent: 12 questions to ask

The twelve questions to ask

1. Which model will you be paid under?A good answer names a clear model, a fixed fee, a percentage commission, a buyer-pays or platform model, or a base fee plus a share of any surplus price, and explains it in one sentence. The law only requires that a fee is owed, not which model applies.¹ The choice is a matter of contract. More on this: the four agent models compared.
2. Who is your contact, from the first meeting to completion?A good answer names one actual person, not just a firm. Ask whether that person stays with you, or whether your case can be passed to a platform or a partner. Whether the agent must carry out the instruction personally is settled most clearly by the contract itself – so ask for written confirmation.
3. What happens to the fee if the sale price falls short of, or far exceeds, what was expected?A good answer separates two things. Whether any fee at all is owed depends on an actual sale going through.¹ How high it is stays a matter of your contract. If the agreed fee is disproportionately high, a court can reduce it on request, a right that cannot be waived in advance.⁴ And if the purchase contract is subject to a condition, the fee is only due once that condition is met.¹
4. Who sets the reference value for a share of the surplus price?A good answer names an independent market-value appraisal, not the agent’s own estimate, and fixes it in writing in the contract before you sign, not after. Be careful with the official tax value: in the Canton of Zurich it sits at 70 to 100 per cent of market value, which makes it unsuitable as a reference value.⁸
5. Is this a simple agency instruction or a sole agency agreement?A good answer explains the difference in plain words. Under a simple instruction, another agent may also work for you. Under a sole agency agreement, you commit to a single agent, and in return that agent must actually become active, while remaining free in the choice of advertising.²³
6. How long are you bound, and how do you end the agreement?A good answer confirms that you may withdraw at any time, even with a fixed term and a sole agency clause, since this right is mandatory.²⁵ A withdrawal at an unfair time can, however, trigger a claim for damages.¹
7. Does a contractual penalty survive a withdrawal?A good answer distinguishes: a penalty agreed for a breach committed before the withdrawal remains payable. It must not, however, make the withdrawal itself harder.² A court can reduce an excessive penalty on request.¹
8. Does the agent also act for the buyer?A good answer discloses this without being asked twice. Acting in breach of contract or of good faith for both sides costs the agent their entire fee.¹ Pure introduction for both parties can be allowed⁴, so ask for written disclosure anyway, including any payment from third parties such as lenders or portals.
9. Is a fee still due if the property is not sold in the end?A good answer points to the contract, not to a general rule. Reimbursement of expenses without a sale is only owed if it was expressly promised, but then even without a sale going through.¹ Without such a promise, a fee stays tied to an actual sale.
10. Do you still owe a fee after the contract ends, if someone the agent introduced buys only later?A good answer explains the causation principle: a fee is only owed if the sale actually goes back to the agent’s work.¹ Some contracts set a tail period for this. One published ruling shows, as an example, a clause of up to one year after the contract ends, not a fixed statutory term.³ Read this clause closely in your own contract.
11. Is the provider listed in the commercial register, and can they show references?A good answer gives you both without fuss. The commercial register entry shows who stands legally behind the offer and is liable. It says nothing about professional qualification. A cantonal licensing requirement for estate agents is not listed officially in the Canton of Zurich.⁶
12. Were you told in writing, before you signed, whether and how you can withdraw?A good answer explains the difference between a contractual and a statutory right of withdrawal. A statutory right for contracts concluded away from business premises applies only in limited cases, and not if you asked for the conversation yourself.¹ Whether it applies to an agency contract for selling land is not conclusively settled in law, so ask for a contractual arrangement instead.