Little did I know at the time , but the lesson I learned that day would change the course of my life . More on that in a minute .
Fast forward to today . I ’ ve been a real estate broker for well over a decade . I ’ ve written 2 books on real estate and I ’ ve done a weekly radio show on real estate for the past 7 years .
Things are going good , but starting in 2017 I ’ m going rogue . I ’ m going to totally flip my real estate business on its head and attempt to change the way real estate is sold .
Seems rash , I know , but I see the real estate industry beginning to break at the seams . It may take another 10 years to fully unravel , but it will happen . So I ’ m going to run an experiment in 2017 , and attempt to sell homes an entirely different way than what is always done in the real estate industry .
Do you remember Borders bookstores ? Do you remember when people made their travel plans through a travel agent ? Do you even take Taxis anymore ? Industries change , some quicker than others .
Etiam et urna
The traditional 6 % ( 3 % to the listing agent , 3 % to the buyer ’ s agent ) real estate fees have been around for 100 years . Some agents charge something different than that , but the vast majority of Realtors charge sellers 6 % or something close to it . That ’ s what I ’ ve always charged in my career as a real estate agent , and for good reason . I know that when a seller picks me over another agent who is charging the same fee , that I will net my client more money . A lot more . In other words , I make sure I earn my fee and make sure that hiring me is always a good investment .
A New Mission
But like I said before , I ’ m going rogue and offering homeowners a new way to sell their homes in Idaho . Starting in 2017 , I will give homeowners the option to sell their home through my Consultant Based Approach , which I have specifically designed to help them save thousands , often tens of thousands of dollars , on their real estate agent fees .
I ’ ll be offering the same services that already help my clients net tens of thousands of dollars more when they hire me over other agents in the area using a documented approach . ( I explain in detail how I do this in my two books The Value-Driven Approach to Selling Real Estate and Agent Entrepreneurs .) I ’ ve even trademarked this documented method of selling homes called the “ Listing Triangle ” because it works so well when I have sellers who are willing to follow the plan we suggest for them .
The net savings homeowners gain from selling their home through our documented approach , combined with the savings from a new consultant based fee structure , have a compounding effect , equaling awesome results when someone sells their home .
For example , I just met with friends who want to sell their home this spring . I walked them through my recommended plan to help them get the highest price for their home ( documented approach ) with which they were completely on board and ready to move forward . The initial evaluation using a price driven approach showed the home to be worth between $ 270,000 - $ 289,000 . I shared with my clients , Brodie and Lindsey , the option of a consultant based fee structure versus the traditional commission fees . They saw immediately that they would save over 50 % on listing fees choosing to hire me as a consultant .
The end result : The Tylers increased the perceived value of their home by following our recommend plan . We listed the home 10k over the top evaluation , at $ 297,900 . We implemented our listing marketing plan called the “ Listing Triangle ” and within 24 hours we had 2 offers over full price . The final sales price was $ 303,500 , and they saved over $ 5,000 off the traditional real estate fees . ( I write more about this on page 6 , under Client Stories ).
Let ’ s address the obvious question ?
Why would I charge so much less , while offering the same services , when I ’ m already a very successful real estate agent ? The answer is twofold .
Number 1 :
I consider myself a pretty savvy businessman , in part because I ’ m a tenacious learner . I don ’ t pretend to know everything and I still have a lot to learn . I ’ m always looking at trends and shifts in the market . I do this on a much broader level than most and what I ’ m seeing is that the traditional model of selling homes in America is going to be seriously tested over the next decade .
The real estate industry has been tested before , and the traditional fee structure model has always won the war . But just like the music industry , the travel industry , the book publishing industry , and taxi unions , new technology and shifts in consumer demand have proven they can turn an industry upside down . I ’ m already seeing the traditional model of selling homes beginning to shift in areas outside of the U . S .
Rather than waiting for change to be forced upon me at some point in the future , I want to get in front of it right now , which will ultimately put me in a dominate situation compared to my competitors . In other words , I ’ m playing the long game . I don ’ t want a thriving business for the next 3-5 years , I want a thriving business for the next 10-20 years .
Number 2 : Here ’ s the second reason WHY I am doing this .
( Note : It ’ s just me adopting this approach , not my whole brokerage , as most agents can ’ t absorb the risk of such a large cut on their income , and I don ’ t blame them . We all have to put food on the table and pay our bills . Every person in business has a right to charge what they want to charge for their services . It ’ s their business and their choice .)
I ’ m doing this because I ’ ve never really liked the traditional method of charging a set percentage of the sales price when a home sells .
Remember my story when I first learned about how real estate fees were paid when a home is sold ? That experience planted the seeds for me eventually getting my real estate license . Not so I could make those same fees other agents were making selling homes , rather , my initial reason for getting my real estate license was so I could avoid having to pay so much in real estate fees . I had started buying and selling investment properties and I figured being licensed would give me resources and knowledge to find other great investment properties .
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