Once you sign an exclusive agency agreement or an exclusive right-to-sell agreement, your agent is required by law to report on the status of their sales work to you at regular intervals. This report — usually called a brokerage activity report (baikai hōkoku) or a sales activity report — arrives as a document or an email, but simply glancing at it isn't enough to grasp what's actually happening with your sale. Here are the points worth checking in a brokerage activity report.
- By law, you're required to receive activity reports at least once every two weeks under an exclusive agency agreement, and at least once a week under an exclusive right-to-sell agreement.
- The report lets you check items such as the number of inquiries, the number of viewings, and which advertising channels the listing currently appears on.
- If response is thin, that's material for asking your agent whether the price, listing photos, or advertising channels are worth reconsidering.
- REINS registration status and how inquiries from other companies are being handled are also clues for checking whether lock-out is occurring.
- If anything in the report doesn't add up, it's important to feel free to ask your agent for specific numbers and an explanation.
What Is a Brokerage Activity Report?
A brokerage activity report is a document through which an agent who has signed an exclusive agency or exclusive right-to-sell agreement with you reports on the status of sales activity at regular intervals. By law, an exclusive agency requires reporting at least once every two weeks, and an exclusive right-to-sell agreement at least once a week; in practice, these arrive by document, email, or a dedicated system.
Main Items You Can Check in the Report
A brokerage activity report typically records items such as the number of inquiries, the number of viewings held, the status of the advertising channels the listing appears on (portal sites and the like), and registration status with REINS. Rather than just glancing at the numbers, comparing the trend against the previous report — whether response is rising or falling — gives you a more concrete grasp of how sales activity is going.
What to Review When Response Is Thin
If inquiries or viewings are slower than expected, it's worth working with your agent to check whether the cause lies in pricing, the listing photos or advertising channels, or simply seasonal factors. We cover what to review when a property isn't selling in more detail in sell-10.html, which is worth a look as well.
Checking Whether Lock-Out Is Occurring
A brokerage activity report is also a useful clue for checking whether agent lock-out is taking place. Asking about REINS registration status, and how inquiries from other companies are handled, and confirming that viewing requests from other companies' clients are actually being arranged, lets you check whether your opportunities to sell are being unfairly restricted. We cover agent lock-out in detail in sell-24.html.
What to Do If You Have Doubts About the Report
If the report alone doesn't make the situation clear, or if you have doubts about a trend in the numbers, it's important to feel free to ask your agent for a specific explanation. An agent who's working in good faith should be able to explain the state of response and their plans going forward in concrete terms. If the explanation stays vague, reconsidering the listing agreement is also an option.
FAQ
How often does a brokerage activity report arrive?
Under an exclusive agency agreement (sen'nin baikai), you're required by law to receive reports at least once every two weeks; under an exclusive right-to-sell agreement (senzoku sen'nin baikai), at least once a week. An open, non-exclusive agreement (ippan baikai) carries no legal reporting requirement.
If I'm told response has been thin, what should I do?
Talk with your agent specifically about whether there's room to reconsider the price, the listing photos, or the advertising channels. We cover what to review when a property isn't selling in sell-10.html.
Can the report alone tell me whether lock-out is happening?
The report's content alone can't confirm it definitively, but checking REINS registration status alongside how inquiries from other companies are being handled gives you useful material for judgment.
Summary
A brokerage activity report is an important resource for objectively grasping the state of your sales activity. Checking the trend in inquiries and advertising status, and asking your agent for a specific explanation whenever something doesn't add up, is what leads to a sale you can feel confident about.