What happens when five agencies sell the same property?

I keep seeing the same pattern again and again. A great property comes to market, usually with one agency at the start. Within a few days, it appears with three or four more. Same home, same photos, often the same price. And almost always, that price is 15 to 20 percent above where the market actually is. After seeing this happen so many times, it stops being surprising and starts being predictable.

At first, it looks like overconfidence from the seller. But in reality, it is often structural. Once multiple agencies are involved, no one really owns the strategy. No one controls the pricing, the timing, or the outcome. The focus quietly shifts from how to sell the property properly to simply being part of the listing. Because if one agent does not take it at that price, another one will.

In that environment, the listing itself becomes the product. Agents are competing for visibility as much as for results. More listings mean more exposure, more enquiries, and more chances to sell something else. So even if the property is overpriced, it still serves a purpose. It attracts attention, generates calls, and builds a pipeline. Whether that specific property sells or not becomes less important.

At the same time, sellers often come to market with expectations based on asking prices, not real sales, combined with a natural emotional attachment to their home. In an exclusive setup, a good agent challenges that. In an open listing, many do not. Because pushing back usually means losing the opportunity entirely, and someone else will just say yes. So the property enters the market already misaligned, even when most people involved can sense it.

From there, the process plays out almost the same every time. The first weeks are quiet, buyers watch but do not act, and momentum never builds. Then come the price reductions. But by then, the most important moment has already passed. The launch phase, when the property is new and attention is highest, is where real competition happens. If the price is wrong at that point, that opportunity disappears. And it does not come back.

After seeing this so many times, we made a clear decision. We only work with exclusive listings. Not because it is the easy way, but because it is the only way we believe you can do this properly. Exclusivity creates responsibility. It allows us to control pricing, timing, and execution. It means we can challenge when needed, align strategy from the beginning, and focus on one objective, which is to actually sell the property, not just list it.

It is not always the easiest conversation to have. And it is not always the easiest way to work. But from what we have seen, it is the right way.