For years now I have been playing around with a different way to help people with their real estate needs.
Before getting into real estate I spent a couple years selling health insurance. This was with a company that really SOLD insurance. They really didn't care if you needed what they had, they wanted to SELL it to you anyway. And they had the sales training to go with it. Some of the people involved were probably the best pure sellers that I have ever seen.
It didn't fit with my personality and desire to help people not sell them, so when I discovered that I really didn't have to SELL to make it in real estate I switched immediately. Since then I have focused on helping people and it has worked out well. But there was still something needling me about the system.
I have written about some of the issues on AR and on my offsite blog. I am often asked how much I would charge to list a home and I tell them that I will list their house for free. Not only that I do a lot of other work for free.
Because I do so much for free and am only paid when the house closes I have to charge a significant sum for the successful closings. If I were actually paid for the actual hours that I worked I would be paid fairly, have less overhead, and the consumer would pay less for each transaction.
The only people that would be hurt by this would be the ones that expect me to sell their $200K house for $300K or the buyers that want me to be their tour guide and then notify me that they decided not to move here after all. They would also have to pay for the time that they used.
I have taken the ACRE course and am setting up my fee schedule. I plan to offer alternatives to the regular commission method of selling real estate. For serious sellers and buyers, this will save them money. For people that just want a sign in their yard or a tour guide, it will cost them.
As I read more in professional edition of The Consulting Times blog, (the link is to the consumer edition). I am more encouraged about this model. I don't plan to immediately drop the commission option but hope to educate the consumers in my area about how the consulting model will help them save money while still receiving the important things they need from a REALTOR.This is not a discount brokerage model that lists a home on the MLS for a fee and then leaves the seller hanging. This will provide negotiating and transaction management on an hourly or fixed fee basis. The difference is that the fee will be paid whether the property sells or not.
I am open to any suggestions or criticisms as I struggle to implement my system.
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