Working With Discount Real Estate Brokers
Today I was contacted by a prospect to show her a specific property that was listed with one of the local discount real estate brokers. I searched for this particular property in the Wenatchee MLS and it was not there, which means they listed it as an exclusive listing not to be shared with the rest of us agents. I contacted the listing agent and he said I could indeed show the home, but the seller would not pay my service fee and I would have to add that into the offer. This is why I don’t like working with the discount agencies. It gives me no incentive to actually do what is best for the client.
But, being who I am, I did do what was best for the client. I told her that the home is available but I would not be able to represent her on the transaction because I wouldn’t get paid, unless she was willing to pay me. I knew this wasn’t an option because she is already on a very tight budget. I was honest and told her I could not work for free. Not only am I not willing to work for free, but it doesn’t make sense to take on the liability of a transaction without the compensation to justify it. My client understood, of course, and is NOT pursuing the purchase of that particular property.
It is experiences like these that makes me wonder if sellers understand the disadvantages of working with a discount agency. To be fair, I admit to have worked for one ofthese discount agencies (twice). I like the concept and I think it’s great when (and if) I can save sellers money. I’ve even been known to show people do a For Sale By Owner transaction if I think it best serves them!
Anyway, when I was a listing agent at the discount agency I would prep my clients upfront that it’s important to get as much exposure as possible and price the home in such a way that they can pay a selling agent fee if necessary. I never had anyone object to that approach. The plus side is the home might actually sell without paying the extra selling side fee. It’s certainly worth a try, BUT it’s also necessary to cooperate with the MLS agents to get maximum exposure. This is part of the supply and demand of economics and actually creates more demand (and therefore higher value) for any given property.
The downside, then, of listing with the discount agencies is that we "conventional" agents are suspicious that we won’t get paid for our efforts, so we don’t make any particular effort to sell those properties. I don’t mean to insinuate that we purposely avoid working with these agencies listings… but, with our limited time, we do have to make choices and it only makes sense to make the choice to put our efforts where we think we will be compensated. I admit it. You’d do the same, I suspect. The opposite approach to discounting the fee offered is to offer a bonus. That certainly gets more positive attention.
Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
http://TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
source: Working With Discount Real Estate Brokers
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