I was talking to a friend recently about our experiences in buying our homes. More specifically, our experiences with our buyer's agents. Both of us ended up in a dual agent situation, which we all know is never good. One thing my friend said was he wished his agent had told him what school district his house was in. He wouldn't have purchased that house if he knew the school district beforehand. He was coming from out of town so he didn't know anything about the area. In my case, I didn't know that my town didn't have Gas - at all. It's electric and oil. I spent several hours on the phone calling various gas companies only to be told they weren't my gas provider. No one could tell me who my gas company was.

I know that because of discrimination, you may not be able to say if it's a good school district or not. I know some states don't even allow the agent to give the client information about the schools at all, but no matter where you live I know you can tell them what school district the property is in.

A value added service is something extra you provide that adds value to the service you are providing. If you give out a packet that shows first time homebuyer's the buying process, that's a value added service because not all agents give that out. If you give out a list of all the area utility companies, that's value added to the services you provide.

Value added services may be the thing that makes you stand out as an agent. It may be the reason a client refers their family and friends to you.

Another value added service can be a packet with a list of 3 or more mortgage professionals, 3+ real estate lawyers, 3+ home inspectors, etc.

You can advertise these things, too. COME LEARN ABOUT THE HOME BUYING PROCESS, EXCLUSIVELY AT XYZ REALTORS.

What are you doing to stand out from the crowd?