This is a great tip!  Thank you!

Good tip....Hey Sarah, would you mind telling me more about virtual assistants? How they work,how much it costs, etc.? You know, a post about the subject in general?

Bob Mitchell

ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc. 

Bob, I'm trying to use a virtual assistant right now and I'm finding that I would rather do things myself than try to explain everything in an email.  Try telling them to make you some copies, virtually. 

Why in the world would you try to pass on fees to your client that you incur as part of doing your business. Sounds like a good way to get someone very upset.

Sarah, please explain what fee's are you talking about? Any fee's due just like a lien payment may be place on the HUD. I would prefer to keep all fee's to a minimum.

I was wondering that myself, James.  Unless I am simply misreading the post, the thrust is to pass the agent's costs on to the client?  I'm not envisioning any repeat or referral business.

Here in St. Louis some real estate companies charge a transaction fee on top of the commission.  ValueList doesn't, but it's not unheard of.  I don't see where it would be different than a lender passing on an underwriting fee or an appraisal fee or the like.

As long as it was disclosed to the customer ahead of time and agreed to, I wouldn't have a problem with it.  That said, I would think that it would be a cost of doing business.

Bob Mitchell

ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc.