Here is where I am having some difficulty.  I'm trying to figure out if my market will/can support the consulting model.  Based on what I have been reading, it appears that agents who are using this model are able to charge what would be considered a sizable fee here. 

Statistics from the past 30 days are:

8 home sales:  4 sold for less than $45,000; 1 sold for $77,000; 1 sold for $110,000; 1 for $149,900 and the last for $220,000 (which was priced at $45.39 a square foot, it was almost 5000 sq. ft.)

All comments would be greatly appreciated! I have been role playing and feel very comfortable with all discussions with potential clients regarding a consultant interactions with; a homeowner who is not considering selling; one who is considering selling; the FSBO; but I am having an extremely tough time with a buyer. The analogy of the boss giving a specific task to one employee versus a number of employees is excellent and easily understood. The discussion regarding a potential buyer who is not sure wheather they really wish to buy also makes sense. My difficulty (potential mental block) is explaining the advantages of using an accredited consultant for the buyer and explaining how or why a fee(not absolutely necessary but again a potential of working for nothing) is advantageous to them when in reality on paper(assuming my potential competition practices fiduciary counsel earnestly) it appears no different than a Buyer Agency Agreement willingly accept by thousands of agents; but with costs!.

What am I missing?. Please comment!

Hello!

This question is for Mollie, but if anyone else has input- please share!

I see on one of your marketing packages, you had a link to more information for Keller Williams agents.  The link is no longer active, but I am wondering how much Gary Keller knows about this program and if indeed he is open to it?  I am with a KW branch in Arizona and so far, my brokers are not exactly excited about the idea of me consulting.

A few weeks ago, something happened to me that hadn't happened in a very, very long time...I met someone who truly looked at me as a commodity.  I have to say it didn't feel good...and actually got my back up.

My best friend found out at a family reunion that her cousin and family were moving from NY to Central MA.  My friend was soooo excited to be able to refer me and knew that this was my turf.  I was excited at such a "warm" referral...I guess I thought it was a slam dunk.

So I reached out.  It turns out this cousin and family are on their 5th relocation...they pretty much have it down to a science.  She handles the outgoing property (getting it ready to sell and seeing it through to close) and while they jointly agree on the town and house they will be moving to, he handles the incoming (their terms not mine). 

In our first conversation, he set about to tell me how he works...hey wait a minute!  Isn't that supposed to be my line???  OK, let's have it.

I recently got an email from a long time friend who I helped sell their house, as well as buy another.  Her mother owns some property and wants my help selling it, only problem is

Hello I will be meeting with my broker to go over the ACRE program and to discuss if I can use a fee based payment method. His assistant asked that I draft a simple one page letter explaining what ACRE is and why we should change our way of doing busines. I have attached a copy of my letter below for review before I submit it to my broker, he is asking for it on Monday so any response before that would be great.

One of our newer graduates, Hafiz Mohammad, commented this morning on the challenge of getting his broker aboard the consulting model. This is a common concern amongst new ACRE agents and probably veteran ACREs who are still fighting the battle. Ironically, many of our ACRE-brokers have the similar challenge of bringing the consulting model to their agents.

We do have some good resources available to help other professionals to understand what consulting is all about - and more importantly, what it's NOT.

1. Have them to watch our video: Intro To Consulting For Real Estate Professionals. It provides a good overview of the consulting model. 
2. Have them read Ron's fantastic article that Hafiz commented on: Differing Views on Renumeration.
3. Have them check out the ACRE course.

Unless you're in a small or independent brokerage, there's a good chance that you've got a bit of a challenge on your hands in terms of getting your management to OK your work as an ACRE, in which you are paid for the work you do.

I'm at a very traditional company, which means that it's pretty much "pay by commission" only. But not entirely. With all the short sales and REOs out there, more managers and brokers are allowing their agents to do BPOs - Broker Price Opinions - for which they are compensated a small fee.

What this really is...is a "baby step". It's a small but prevalent way of getting paid for the work you do.

Yesterday I briefly stopped in to begin the ACRE conversation with my Broker. I was nervous but took the plunge and told him that I have taken a course in becoming an Accredited Consultant in Real Estate and that I would like to sit down and explain the different options this program helps us set up for our clients! His response?? It was great! He said fantastic, Im excited...I love to hear about new ways to make money. So I then suggested I would email him a link to the Intro to Consulting Presentation. Does anyone have any other suggestions.....???

We know this is a topic near and dear to all of you, so we decided to share as much as possible of what we talked about here on the Exchange. Unfortuately, despite repeated attempts, we were unable to record the session. However we tried to make copious notes and hope you're all able to find a useful nugget or two. Enjoy!

Knowing and charging for your value is at the heart of consulting. And even IF you never actually use "by the hour" charging, once you go through the exercise of actually determining your "hourly" rate, you will never, ever look at how you spend your time in the same way. And an additional byproduct of that exercise is that it better prepares you for having honest discussions with consumers about the whole compensation topic! We're being challenged more and more by, not just the internet, but by all sorts of "alternative" business models playing the "who can charge the least" or "How low can you go" game. And when it comes to commission "limbo", no one wins....not the consumer and certainly not the agent. Whether you're talking about seller services or buyer services, like working with buyers without so much as a signed buyer agreement, when we "give away" our time, all we are doing is reducing our value...both in the eyes of the consumer, as well as ourselves.

When asked about what percentage of agents could likely become "real" real estate consultants, Mollie's response is "likely less than 1%....in order to charge for expertise, the agent must have some!"