Helping people is the foundation of the real estate consulting business model. Consulting changes the real estate playing field in favor of the consumer, the buyer or seller. Historically real estate has been a transactional based profession for the real estate practitioner where the agent is paid through a commission. Consulting eliminates the need for a transaction to take place to make both the agent and the client happy. Real estate consulting also can in most instances take the commission based pay scale out of the equation. Thus giving the consumer a more transparent and objective relationship. Traditional agents are sales people selling an inventory in this case an inventory of homes that are for sale. Real estate consultants provide advice and council to help the consumer achieve desired outcomes when it comes to their real estate needs. Consulting eliminates the commission based pay structure which takes away the negative connotations associated with many sales people including real estate agents.
I began my real estate career over ten years ago when I was a residential home builder. I grew frustrated with the agents who were trying to sell my homes or who brought buyers in to see my homes. I was better at educating the buyer and informing them of the features of the homes I built than were the agents. In essence I was consulting them. I ended up doing most of the work and had to pay a commission to the agent I just did their job for.
Out of this frustration, I decided to get my real estate license. While attending real estate classes I started to think about how agents get paid. I didn’t really understand the commission based structure and thought that in many cases it seemed lopsided. I would often ask myself why someone with a million dollar house should pay the same rate as the person selling the $100,000 dollar house basically to receive the same services. It didn’t make sense to me.
At the time I was a RE/MAX agent and I would hear some of the agents justify this question by saying that they advertised in more expensive media’s and had more cost associated with marketing and getting the home sold. I would listen to them nod in agreement and then head back to my desk thinking to myself. Yes, they may have to spend a little more on marketing and advertising but the amount was incremental at best and the service provided to the million dollar home seller was much the same as the $100,000 seller. I still didn’t like the commission based model and often thought about a different way of doing things.
Unfortunately, I didn’t really have a good solution to this dilemma and plodded along the traditional commission course. I guess my real big breakthrough on this dilemma came when I decided to leave RE/MAX and start my own small boutique real estate company. After all RE/MAX was steeped in the tradition of commission compensation and doing anything different would go against tradition.
I began looking for other ways to do things and developed a fee for service schedule that offered clients options on how and what services they chose and paid for. I worked at this for years with a little success and seemed to always find myself falling back to the traditional commission based business model. But as the times were changing and the real estate world shifted I realized the real estate industry’s pay schedule needed to change and kept working and looking for better ways. The shift in how real estate business is conducted and the information available to the consumer really created the need for a change in how things are done in the real estate industry. More importantly how consumers pay for the services they receive.
My struggles for developing a new way of being compensated for the services I provided changed for good when I discovered the ACRE program and Mollie Wasserman the developer. ACRE is short for Accredited Consultant in Real Estate and is the industry leader in training real estate agents to become real estate consultants.
The ACRE business model has given me the tools I need to effectively help people reach their real estate goals objectively and transparently. ACRE’s business model meets the needs of today’s internet-savvy consumer. As a real estate consultant I offer real estate clients transparent choices in both the services they receive and how those services are paid for, choices that give the consumer real value for their money.
I am very proud to be able to add consulting to my existing real estate practice. What this means to you or those you refer to me is that I will consult with instead of sell to you. This is an important distinction, one that allows my clients to make their choice on how I can best serve their needs.
How does this unprecedented service work? By opening up a whole new window of opportunity for you to choose how you would like to pay for only the services you require without having to pay for the services you don’t.
As a consultant, I will continue to support my clients with quality and unbiased advice in decisions such as:
a.) What are the best improvements to make if you are considering improving your home versus moving?
b.) Whether it makes sense to refinance to get the PMI (private mortgage insurance) out of your mortgage payment
c.) How to resolve property tax assessment issues
d.) Qualifying prospective buyers
e.) Pricing your home properly and powerfully
f.) Explaining the various required disclosures
g.) Negotiation for a successful transaction
h.) Managing the escrow process through to a timely completion
If you would like more information on real estate consulting and how a real estate consultant can help you accomplish your real estate needs and goals, complete the form above to receive our Real Estate Consulting Guide.
Or if you would like to talk to me directly about your current real estate needs please give me a call at 615-456-9233
