The wrong choice of agent can cost you thousands. In a softer market, tens of thousands. In a strong market, you’ll never know how much you left on the table — because the agent won’t tell you, and you won’t ask.
Here are the warning signs to watch for before you sign anything.
1. They overvalue your home to win the listing
Some agents tell you what you want to hear. They quote a higher figure than the market will support, win the listing, and then “condition” you down once the campaign starts and the offers don’t come in.
By that point, your home has been sitting on the market for weeks. Buyers notice. Days on market kills price.
What to ask: “Can you show me three recent comparable sales — last 90 days, same suburb, same style — that justify this price?” If they can’t show you, the price is fiction.
2. They quote a fee but not a method
A fee with no method is a transaction. A method is a strategy. If your agent can’t explain HOW they’ll get you the best price — the marketing schedule, the buyer pipeline, the negotiation framework, the date strategy — they’re winging it.
Brendan has been in real estate since 2002 and developed the trademarked Select Date Sale® method specifically because winging it costs sellers money.
3. They can’t speak fluently about your suburb
Test them. Ask street-level questions.
In Mount Nasura, can they explain the difference between Lower Mount Nasura and the Blackwood Drive hillside? In Bedfordale, do they know which streets attract families versus lifestyle buyers? In Kelmscott, can they walk you through the difference between Clifton Hills, central, and the redevelopment pockets?
If they’re vague, they don’t sell there often enough. Suburb medians are not local knowledge. Streets are.
4. Their reviews don’t stack up
Check Google reviews AND RateMyAgent. Both. Plenty of agents game one platform — fewer can sustain both.
A solid baseline I’d recommend looking for: 50+ Google reviews, 100+ RateMyAgent reviews, star rating 4.7 or higher. If the volume is thin or the rating is patchy, ask why.
For reference: Naked Real Estate currently sits at 4.9★ on Google with 166 reviews and 4.9★ on RateMyAgent with 380 reviews.
5. They’re easy to reach during the courtship, hard to reach after you sign
This is the most common complaint sellers have AFTER they’ve signed. Calls go unreturned. Emails take 48 hours. Open homes happen without a debrief.
Ask their previous clients directly: “How quickly did they get back to you during your campaign?” If they won’t give you references, that’s a flag in itself.
6. They get defensive when asked hard questions
Watch what happens when you push back. A good agent welcomes the challenge — it shows you’re serious. A dud agent gets twitchy, deflects, or starts selling harder.
You’re hiring someone to negotiate hundreds of thousands of dollars on your behalf. If they wilt under questions from you, what happens when a sharp buyer pushes them?
7. They don’t qualify buyers
A dud agent brings every buyer through your home. A good agent qualifies first — finance approved, genuine intent, suburb-locked, realistic about price.
Walking unqualified buyers through your home isn’t service. It’s lazy. It wastes your time and signals desperation when offers don’t follow inspections.
What to ask: “How do you qualify buyers before bringing them through?”
8. They lead with discounts and gimmicks
Free appraisals are standard. But if the pitch is “we’re the cheapest” or “we’ll throw in X for free,” that’s a sign they have nothing else to offer.
Cheap commission usually buys cheap service. And cheap service usually costs you on the sale price.
The maths: a 1% fee saving on a $900,000 home is $9,000. A 2% price gain from a sharper agent is $18,000. The fee isn’t the number that matters.
What good looks like
A good agent:
– Justifies their price with recent comparable sales, not optimism
– Explains their method, not just their fee
– Knows your suburb at street level
– Has stacks of reviews on multiple platforms
– Returns calls and runs proper debriefs
– Welcomes hard questions
– Qualifies buyers before walking them through your home
– Charges what their service is worth and proves the value
The Naked Real Estate difference
Naked Real Estate has been operating since 2012, founded as Brendan Leahy Real Estate in 2006. We use a defined methodology — the trademarked Select Date Sale® — and across 79 settled sales in 2025, we averaged 14.01% above list price.
Industry recognition:
– REB Top 50 Agents WA — every year 2022 to 2025, peaking at #14 in 2022
– RateMyAgent Agent of the Year for Bedfordale, Mount Nasura, Roleystone and Kelmscott across multiple years — client-reviewed
– 2023 REIWA Agency of the Year — Bedfordale, Kelmscott and Mount Nasura
– REIWA Grand Master and Master Salesperson recognition
– REIA National Finalist for Innovation, 2008
Reviews: 4.9★ on Google (166 reviews) and 4.9★ on RateMyAgent (380 reviews).
We’re not the cheapest. We’re not the loudest. We’re the ones who can show you the method, the data, and the receipts.
Truth. Strategy. Sold.
Thinking of selling in the Perth Hills? Book an appraisal with Brendan Leahy at Naked Real Estate for a direct, no-fluff conversation about what your home is worth and how to get the most for it.