|
CONSUMER OPTIONS
Real Estate
There's a new movement afoot in Real Estate....have you HEARD? The OLD way of doing business isn't enough anymore. The OLD rules no longer apply. The OLD one-size-fits-all approach is history. And what's more, all those stories telling you just how real estate is done are OLD NEWS!!!! Print and web media are rampant with tales of the real estate revolution. The past decade has seen dramatic changes in how real estate is conducted, and with the bevy of information (and MISinformation) available online, the challenge of shaving the wheat from the shaft can be overwhelming!
So, what's NEW?
Remember when your Mom said "you can't HAVE your cake and EAT IT, too"?
Well, no offense to Mom, but YES ... YOU CAN!
With all the hype about things like flat fee operations, discount brokerages, etc., the emphasis is all on the "fee". Obviously, that SOUNDS great to the consumer...after all, if you can get the identical-in-every-way PRODUCT at K-Mart that you can at Nordstrom's, and pay a fraction of the price for it, why wouldn't you? Remember, I said "identical in every way". Now, it may be possible to do that with a pair of shoes or a coffee pot. After all, you can confirm the manufacturer and the style or model number of such products and confirm that they are, in fact, the very same thing.
 But Real Estate service is an immensely different issue! And this brings me back to my very first statement here ... "there's a new movement afoot in Real Estate". No, it's not a fancy new technology. And it's not a new, innovative web portal. What it IS, however, is a revolutionary way of utilizing the talents and expertise of the very professionals who, just like the consumer, have too long been boxed into that misguided "one-size-fits-all" way of doing business. The old "perception" of the real estate agent was that they were central to the transaction because they had access to the property information. The reality, however, was, and still is, that they offer value to the consumer because of what they KNOW about the process, what they understand about the marketplace, what their experience has taught them , what resources they have in place to utilize on the consumer's behalf, not to mention the objectivity they are able to bring to the table in a situation that, by its very nature, is emotionally charged and laden with potholes, any one of which can derail a transaction.
|
|
|
There once was an owner of a very large manufacturing company who had a thriving business employing hundreds of people and serving countless customers. One day, while the owner was on the floor talking with one of his foreman, the entire assembly line came to a dead stop. Hundreds of employees were turning around looking at one another, trying to figure out what happened. The most knowledgeable and capable among them made every effort, based on what they suspected the cause to be, to get the line up and running again, but nothing worked. The line remained dead. The owner, an astute business man, knew that every minute, every hour the line was down was costing him many thousands of dollars in wages and production delays. Getting up and running again as quickly as possible was critical. He decided to call an engineering consultant who had been very instrumental in the design of his facility and the production lines, and pleaded with him to come to the facility immediately. The engineer did just that. After spending about 15 minutes at the location and examining some potential culprits, the engineer walked up to a particular cabinet, opened the security door, flipped a particular switch and VOILA. The line began humming again.
The owner, relieved and very grateful, expressed his appreciation and told the engineer to send his bill directly to him so he could be sure it was paid as immediately as the engineer had responded. A few days later, the bill appeared. The owner was aghast when he saw how much it was. The bill was for $10,000...all for a mere 15 minutes work! The owner called the engineer in protest, and the engineer responded with "no problem, I'll be happy to send you an adjusted bill". A few days later, the new bill appeared. It read:
$75 for 15 minutes labor
$9,925 for knowing WHICH SWITCH TO FLIP
|
And that's really the point! Though markets change...some having an abundance of inventory but not enough buyers to sell it to, versus others where buyers are "coming out of the woodwork", but not enough inventory for them to buy, the fact is that generally "finding the house" or "finding the buyer" is the EASY PART! Counseling the client, helping them “prepare” for the marketing of their home, the determination of a buyer's real needs and priorities in a home to buy, the search for a property to purchase, explaining the prospective pitfalls and how to avoid them, negotiating an offer, putting together a contract that makes sense and does not unwittingly compromise one's position, troubleshooting the process, and shepherding the transaction through to closing is where "the rubber meets the road" as my son would say! People often get into real estate because it "looks like" such an easy way to make a lot of money. It "looks" that way because the good agents MAKE IT LOOK EASY...and fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your perspective), since there are generally two agents involved in each transaction, even if one agent doesn't do their job, the odds are that the other agent DOES MORE to be sure the transaction closes for THEIR CLIENT. Everyone wins (except, of course, the agent who had to do “double duty” while only getting paid for one!)
As an Accredited Consultant in Real Estate™, my approach to servicing my clients' needs is unique. Think about this for a moment...if you were to ask an agent (or several agents) for a Comparative Market Analyses (CMA) on your property because you were planning to sell, what do you suppose would be on the agent/s mind? Before you answer that question, consider the following:
- If you decide not to hire that agent to list your home FOR ANY REASON, the agent HAS DONE ALL OF THAT PREPARATION WORK FOR FREE!
- In some cases, a CMA (comparative market anaysis) takes a couple of hours to complete...in other cases, it takes MUCH LONGER.
- Don't forget to add the time it takes for the agent to present their findings to you
- If YOU were that agent, where would YOUR attention likely be focused?
- Would you expect the agent to be TOTALLY UNBIASED in the information they provide (how unbiased would/could YOU be under those circumstances?)
- Would you expect their recommendations to be ONLY in YOUR best interest (how easy or difficult might that be for YOU to do if it meant you might never be paid for your time and expertise?)
- REMEMBER they have only the POSSIBILITY of getting paid if you hire them....and even then, THERE IS NO GUARANTEE....either of WHETHER, or of HOW MUCH, or of WHEN they'd be compensated
- And if you don't LIKE the information they give you, how likely are you to hire them? (While it's easy to say "we wouldn't shoot the messanger", human nature is such that people often hire the agent who tells them what they WANT to hear, rather than the MORE HONEST agent who tells them what they NEED to hear!)
The problem that you, as a consumer, HAVE NO WAY OF KNOWING which is the case
Are you getting factual information, or are you being "sold"?
When you hire an ACRE™ Consultant, however, the dynamics totally change. Because the consultant is getting paid for their specific expertise, rather than on an outcome they can influence, but not control, they can be TOTALLY OBJECTIVE in the information they provide. You don't need to question whether they are telling you the truth or not, advising you on what is in your best interest or not, because they are being hired for that specific purpose and are being fairly compensated for their efforts.
Now, let me add one more component of working with an Accredited Consultant in Real Estate™: You are given OPTIONS throughout the process. These options include WHICH services you and your Consultant determine you need, as well as WHEN, HOW, and HOW MUCH your Consultant gets compensated!
So you see, you CAN have your cake and eat it, too!!! You CAN have the highest caliber real estate services you really want and need, while choosing the compensation program that best fits your budget!
For more specifics of this progressive new resource and how it can benefit you in the purchase or sale of your property, simply complete the request form below. |