Ask any real estate agent why a seller should choose a sole mandate over an open mandate and they will give you many reasons.

They might cite exclusivity, greater control over the marketing strategy, increased marketing spend, avoiding a “desperate” appearance in the market and simpler communication. Ultimately, a sole mandate gives one agent responsibility for driving the best possible outcome.

A common rebuttal is that restricting yourself to one agent could mean losing exposure to a wider pool of buyers. While this may have been a concern in the past, the property landscape has changed.

There is a growing culture of collaboration, with agents increasingly willing to share their listings with other agents’ buyers and vice versa – an approach I have always strongly supported.

Looking at our agency’s sales over the past five years reveals just how significant this shift has been.

I considered two types of shared deals: internal collaborations between agents in our office and external collaborations between our agents and those from competing agencies.

Over the past four years, an average of 25% of our sales involved agents from two different agencies, a significant increase from the single-digit figures recorded before 2020. Transactions involving two or more agents within our own office averaged 38% of sales.

That figure highlights the advantage of choosing an agency with genuine in-house collaboration and a strong team of agents specialising in a particular area.

It is nearly impossible for one agent to maintain meaningful relationships with an endless database of buyers. An agent backed by a collaborative team can therefore potentially provide access to a much broader buyer network.

Overall, 60% of the transactions we registered over the past four years involved some form of collaboration between two or more agents.

So, does a sole mandate really limit your buyer reach?

Based on our experience and sales data, I would say no. The way agents work together has changed significantly.

Choosing a sole mandate does not necessarily mean relying on one person to find a buyer. With the right agent and a strong collaborative network behind them, sellers can benefit from focused representation while still gaining exposure to buyers working with other agents.