Entry by Tom Keys

Help U Sell Devils Advocate

  3 Comments

Hi Everyone,I am jumping right into this,One week Old. I have a client who has used Help You Sell in the past. Obviously he wasnt happy because he now is working with a Realtor and I have worked on 3 transactions with him in the last 9 months.  But have had to drop a half a point on the sellers side each time. That being said he is interested in my consulting as a way to save money. He use the HelpYou Sell model as a comparison and if you read there service description it sounds similiar. Help me with the difference for you who have that experience. Thank you 

3 Comments

Tom, my experience with HelpYouSell is dated. I know that there are ACREs that either are affiliated with them presently or have been so I hope they will weigh in.

However, I will tell you that the major point of difference about consulting from many FFS companies that have sprung up is our emphasis on the fiduciary side. A lot of FFS companies offer a lot of a-la-carte services that are administrative in nature but leave the client on their own when it comes to the vital services such as negotiation and shepharding of the transaction to close.

there will be an ultimate distinction between FFS and ACRES, the difference between taking the high road, with the emphasis on fiduciary council, "THE ACRE WAY" and just bundling fees to make up the commission and disguising it as FFS aka the low road. 

I had a sister that hired help u sell.  They told her it was 1,995.00 to get the home sold and at closing her fees were about $4,500.00  I am not sure if the $1995 was just for the listing agent and the other $2,500 was for the buyers agent and my sister didn't read or understand the paperwork. This was back in 2000 so I'm not sure how they work now.  Other than that, I've never dealt with them. 

Personally, I lay out my marketing plan for the sale of their home and I fully explain my 3 fees (1. Start up fee, 2. Commissions, 3. Closing fee).  I also offer them a flex plan on the commissions so they pay the listing agreement price if another Broker from another company brings the buyer.  If they sell it themselves and I do the paperwork for them they get a huge discount, A higher price if I bring the buyer myself, A higher price if another agent in my office brings the buyer and the highest price if another Broker form another company brings the buyer.  I ask if they want the home sold fast for the most money or if they are only willing to sell it to buyers that I personally bring.  I always have them tell me that they don’t care who brings the buyer who’s willing to pay their price.  I explain that at any one time my office and I have close to 100 buyers who have hired us with a buyer broker agreement who are actively looking to buy homes and then ask them if they will be upset or happy if the homes were to sell in 24 – 48 hours and they say they would love it if it were to happen.  I agree with them and explain that my fees are the same no matter if I sell it in the first day or the last day of the listing. 

Using the flex plan, Fee's 1 and 3 above are the same, but by giving them this flex plan, they see that if I can save them some time or money based on where the buyer comes from, then I'm willing to pass the savings onto them, but that we are partnering together in the sale of their home.  If they balk at the fees, then I have to decide before I ever meet with them what my minimums will be and then just stick to my numbers.  I also like to use scripting that goes like this... If a listing agent can't negotiate their own fees, how could they ever fight for your equity when it comes to negotiating with a buyer’s agent to sell your home?  There will always be someone who will do the work for less, but my Grandmother used to say, you get what you pay for.  I also let them cancel the listing at anytime prior to accepting an offer so it’s risk free to them. 

I just feel that “Here is what I offer, and here is how I get paid.”  I find that when I have a lot of listing appointments, it's easy for me to not take a client who is not agreeing to my terms.  I also like to point out that buyers and sellers are both trying to save the same dollars and there is no way to do it.  If a Seller is wanting more exposure, then they need more marketing to get the best exposure to the highest number of potential buyers.  My job is to sell and I define that with the Seller as my ability to generate a ready willing and able buyer to open negotiations on their home and for the Sellers and I to negotiate terms to a open escrow and get their home sold.  If I only get one offer, then you're limited in how much they can sell their home for.  Or worse yet, if the home doesn't sell at all, then there will be no commissions so it won’t matter anyway.  Did they want to list their home or sell their home?  Are they more concerned with how much I get paid, or in getting the home sold fast, for the most money possible with the least amount of inconveniences?

This page contains a single entry by Tom Keys published on March 7, 2011 8:59 AM.

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