Tips & advice

The solution for the housing market? Make a buying agent mandatory

6 March 2026 · 6 min read

There are some things I will never fully understand. Take buying a television. For a device costing a few hundred euros, the average consumer suddenly turns into an investigative journalist, product specialist and negotiator all at once. But as soon as it comes to a home, a purchase of three, four, five hundred thousand euros or more, all that common sense seems to vanish for many people. Emotion, haste and panic take over.

The housing market brings out strange things in people

I have seen it many times: buyers who are completely stressed out before the viewing even starts, who absolutely want to be the first to view, who have been lying awake for days over a home they have not even seen inside yet. Often nobody needs to say a thing, they do it all by themselves. In fact, if you as an estate agent try to slow things down and tell them to think it over calmly first, some people look at you as if calm has become suspicious.

The estate agent is not always the culprit

Let me say something straight away that not everyone will like: estate agents are too easily blamed for everything. Yes, there are agents who talk prices up too much. But the image of estate agents pushing up prices across the board is too simplistic. I have seen often enough that buyers push up prices themselves. Even before any serious advice has been given, figures are already being thrown around: shall we bid twenty thousand over the asking price? No, let's make it thirty over. The buyer has already organised their own bidding war, out of fear and the urge to win.

We stopped buying on value alone long ago

In the past, people looked much more carefully at the actual value of a home. Nowadays, people often buy out of fear of missing out, not on the basis of a sober analysis. A buying agent brings calm, knowledge and objectivity to the process. Someone who does not get swept up in the panic, but properly assesses the home, its condition and the paperwork, and protects you from costly mistakes.

Good purchase guidance is part of the solution

The estate agent is not the problem, but the lack of a level-headed, expert adviser on the buyer's side can be. A buying agent helps you buy more realistically: not paying top price out of emotion, but making a well-founded offer with the right conditions. That not only brings you peace of mind, it also contributes to a healthier market.

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