Considering a discount brokerage for listing service? Knowledge is power, and I would like to give you some power to make a wise decision for the largest financial transaction that most people will ever make.

With the hot market our area has been experiencing the last few years discount brokerages with listing services have “popped up” to get in the door. There are two sides to every transaction a listing side and a buyer side. If the listing side does 1.5% you have the buyers side at 3% so you are at 4.5%. If you devalue the buyer side the agent may not show your home or talk their clients into another one in the neighborhood that is offering a higher rate.

I know you work hard at your job and for your paycheck and believe me we do too. Generally, I have found agents who give their commissions away are part-time, new to the business or have very little real estate knowledge. I would like to give you an analogy “Nordstrom vs. Walmart” There are shoppers for both but why does one choose to pay Nordstrom prices over Walmart? Plain and simple: experience, knowledge, customer service and value. It is the same in every part of life if you think about it. The cheap roofer or the one you know will do the work right the first time? If you are a consumer, you may get lucky and come out alright but, then again, how much money will you leave on the table because you have an agent who cannot negotiate and doesn’t have the time to spend any effort on your transaction. They simply collect a fee and move on. Again, It’s the largest financial transaction most people will ever make. It just seems foolish to trust someone who does not value themselves and therefore, how can they value you or take care of your best interests?

I would like to share some real comments from local Realtors (not agents) around the area in response to the question How do you feel when your competing with discount brokerages in today’s market?

• As the old saying goes you don’t get something for nothing. Any agent would have to be nuts to offer such low fees. I’m sure their trying to up-sell the customer once they get the listing ie staging, better photos ect.
• Customer service and partnership. They have no interest in you past the extent of filling in the forms. No rapport is built or partnership. They will not verify your data input, nor will they scrutinize your form 17. They won’t negotiate on your behalf. We had a case a few months ago where a 1% entered exactly what the owner told them to and it was grossly wrong. Any Realtor would have caught this. We called the seller on this and explained to him how to fix it and even corresponded with Cheapo agent to get it corrected. That seller recognized the ‘partnership’ and ‘customer service’ value we presented and told us that he would be contacting us in the future. We saved him a potential lawsuit. If a seller isn’t investing in a Realtor who in turn is invested in them, then they are doing themselves a grave injustice!
• Lower fees are not the way to go, offer better value for your client. The quality of service and representation of the client is reflected in the commission.
• You get what you pay for. I think it’s typically just a listing service. They don’t provide any benefits to their clients. We are a full-service Broker with a network of vendors to help give our clients the best possible service.
• Getting a buyer to write up an offer on your house is only the first step, and quite frankly, in this market that’s the easy step. What we’ll do is get you the best buyer who we’ll negotiate the best price and terms to net you the most money, and make sure the sale closes. Because if your sale doesn’t close it won’t really matter how much of a discount you get in commissions right?
• I provide service & knowledge. Good service costs. We do have some discounters in our area as well as DIY providers. I try to educate potential sellers diplomatically that “you get what you pay for.  My expertise, experience and marketing abilities have been honed over decades. I have no intention of giving that away. “If you work for “peanuts you get monkeys” 
• Cheap Realty type outfits come and go, but the only get a small smidgen of the market; if this was really an effect approach to market your home and get top dollar, don’t you think everybody would be using these gimmicks? You want top value and exposure, correct?
• As Realtors we adhere to a strict code of ethics, agent’s do not.
• Most all of us are in business for ourselves not our brokerages. If we do not do an amazing job, we will not be in business for long as referrals will build or destroy any business. Professional Brokers rely on referrals to grow their business therefore our best interest is the client. If we do not exceed expectations, then they will not refer us to anyone and we will have to be a 1%.
• It will affect all of us in the industry in a negative way. When clients ask us to cut our commissions, we need to ask them if they would expect their surgeon to cut his commission! We work hard for our money, and it’s not always easy.
• I think people doing this are incompetent and couldn’t fight their way out of a wet paper bag.
• Very easy to answer. I won’t show the property.
• You get what you pay for.
• I think it’s terrible. It lowers our standards on what we can do for our clients as far as staging and marketing but also makes our profession look “cheap” now. Buyer agents will most likely not show listings that offer low commissions, so it does not do the listing any good. The other point is, when buyers know that full commission is not offered…they will negotiate down…as they do not want to feel like they are now over paying. 
• They are desperate and will offer less value to the client. They always come and go with every robust market.
• Cheapo is not interested in providing value just a quick transaction and nothing more.
• It’s just a disservice to the owners and sets the bar very low for the Realtors in the industry.

Compare and contrast these lower listing services with that of a professional Realtor and you will see how much more value you receive working with a professional. For example, you have a trained expert that understands value. I am a Certified Master Negotiator, Managing Broker, Senior Real Estate Specialist, Military Relocation Expert and more! Sounds like a lot right? It is but I value the utmost trust my clients put in me and furthering my education on their behalf has given me a wealth of knowledge that only benefits my clients. The proof is obvious to me as most all my clients come back to me years later to help them again and keep referring me. My team knows how to decipher the fine details of any, and all, offers and we know how to negotiate with them prior to presenting the offers to you. This not only saves you time it achieves the most amazing offers with details and timelines that you and I construct at the beginning. I negotiate to not leave your money on the table. To get you the most net knowing all the financing types available to buyers and what will work best for your unique situation.

With me and my team you have a partner that will guide you through your transaction from start to finish. As a professional we represent you and no other. You can expect excellent communication from me and you will always know the status of your transaction. Additionally, not only do we value our partnership with you during your transaction we will stay in contact with you long after. Buying or selling a home is stressful therefore we will manage the details that will lead to a less stressful transaction. Another point of value to consider is we work with a network of many companies that will add value such as lenders, home inspection firms, title and escrow firms, moving companies and other professional’s as well. I hope this assists in showing the added value from a professional Realtor is so much more beneficial to you. Wouldn’t you agree?

Put me to work and you will experience amazing results our sellers have been receiving.

By the way, Red** did 35,000 transactions last year, and REMAX as a whole, about 1.2 million. What does this say? WAY more people trust a REMAX agent than an hourly agent who gets paid regardless of whether the home sells or not.