Last week I felt I had the perfect opportunity to use the consulting model.  A gentleman contacted me and had some questions about a property that is for sale about 30 miles from here.  (We are a very large county, but with only 25,000 people so 30 miles is not out of the area for me.)

Anyway, he told me that he had already seen the interior of the property and was interested in writing an offer if my answers were satisfactory to him.  I took that brief pause to explain that the property had a pending contract, so that any offer would be a backup contract.  I answered his questions and he still wanted to write a backup.

Several months ago I was desperately trying to find a programmer to do several things for me... 1) take over and complete a project another programmer had started; 2) be available for future projects, both minor and major; and 3) be available In Case of Emergency for my various websites.

Just posted a blog over at Active Rain about what we've been talking about a bit here... that if YOU truly believe that what you're offering is good for your customer, you won't have any trouble offering it... explaining it... and "selling" it. Below is the blog in its entirety or you can jump over to Active Rain and read it there! 

https://activerain.com/blogsview/2719116/you-can-sell-anything-you-believe-is-a-good-deal-for-the-customer

Those of you on Active Rain may have seen today's featured blog that went out as the headliner in the daily newsletter about, basically, an agent's frustration with how we're paid. I know we've all seen these posts before and the subsequent responses of "Yeah, but that's the way it is and it will never change," and so far, there's nothing really new in the blog itself, but I wanted to post my comment here because it's something I feel REALLY strongly about going forward here at ACRE!

In the midst of all our discussion about the rebranding of ACRE, etc., the topic came up yesterday about whether or not the consumer has any real interest in our consulting services. The comment was made (to paraphrase) "the reason the consulting movement isn't spreading is because consumers don't see the benefit" or something like that.

During our beach-front brainstorming session, Merv had the great idea to tap the brains of the former management consultants in our midst as we're developing the ACRE/TCP 2.0 course. We'd love to pick your brains about how consulting works in the "real world" so we can better explain a consulting model and practice to real estate practitioners who may not fully get it.

There is a significant gap in what we are promoting and the ability to personally own it. The REALTOR® community is flush with agents that call themselves REAL ESTATE CONSULTANTS but only know and understand the commission model. Some of these truly are consultants. They have the experience, knowledge, proven methods and a business approach whereby they are giving their clients the best advice and produce justification, evidence and work products to back up their opinions. How they charge for services is irrelevant except for the fact that it may not be very transparent. They know real estate and practice consulting but only grasp one business model.

I have a situation in my personal life I'd like to share with you because it's a perfect example of a perfect opportunity for a RE consultant to step in and save the day. Or something like that ;-]

Here's the deal. I own a rental property about two hours from where I live now. It's going to be vacant for the first time in five years and I need to decide what I'm going to do with it. I have two big picture options, of course - I can re-rent it or I can try to sell it. But within those two options are lots of other sub-options... such as... should I renovate and sell? Or should I sell as-is? Should I refinance (to get rid of the PMI if the value is there), then re-rent and plan to renovate it when the market improves?

If I decide to sell, what improvements are most important in the local market? Should I stage it, and if so, who is the best stager in town? Handyman?

If I decide to rent, what will the market bear and where's the best place to advertise?

Yada yada yada.

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.

ACRE® Enrollee Mike Cooper just wrote this blog post about different income opportunities in Active Rain and mentioned consulting (with a link to ACRE®). We've already had five new enrollees today because of this post:

https://activerain.com/blogsview/2389686/commissions-are-not-the-only-source-of-income-for-realtors-

If you have a moment, please comment on his post. Thanks!