But first, a trip to the doctor
Imagine you’re not feeling well. You head to the doctor, and without really doing any testing or doctor-type stuff, he just says, “You’re sick, so I’m going to charge you for five separate cures. You may not want, need, or even get all of these cures, but this is how we treat all patients. Some live. Some die. Sound good?”
By a show of hands, how many of you would sign up? Yeah…that’s what I thought. And yet, every single day all over the US, home sellers get this same pitch and sign on the dotted line. They agree to pay a fee that’s based on the price of their home for the exact same set of services, regardless of their situation, wants, or needs.
Traditional Real Estate Model Flaws
In an earlier post, we looked at the first major flaw with traditional real estate: the 6% commission. Today, we are turning our sites on the peculiar service model used by traditional Realtors everywhere–the One-Size-Fits-All approach to helping homeowners sell property. Feel free to check out the video version of this post as well.
Here at the Ohio Property Group, we’ve been diagnosing and treating the traditional 6% model with our own brand of medicine. So, when it comes to the One-Size-Fits-All approach, we have some definite ideas. But first, let’s look at the problem.
The Cost of Unnecessary Services
When you hire a traditional Realtor to sell your property, in almost every case, you are signing up for help with the following tasks:
- Pricing
- Marketing
- Showings
- Negotiating offers
- Getting the contract to closing (inspections, appraisals, title, etc.)
While all these steps are necessary to get a property sold, it doesn’t mean that every seller in every situation wants or needs these services. And yet, there is no flexibility with Traditional Realtors. Whether or not you need or want these services, you’ll be charged for them. Furthermore, you may never even get all these services.
Here are a few examples of what I mean:
- What if another agent sells the house to a buyer before your agent shows it? You just paid for service #3 and didn’t get it.
- What if your cousin finds out on Facebook that you’re moving, calls you up, and says, “I’ll take it.” Do you think your Realtor will cut you a break since they didn’t have to market, show, or negotiate the offer? Probably not.
- What if you built or completely renovated your home? Odds are you’re the best person to show it, but the Traditional Realtor is charging you 6%, so you let them show it. What a waste.
- What if you’re an attorney and you only want help negotiating? What if you’re a retired Realtor?
The point is, if you pay for a service, you should at least want the service, and at the very least, you should get the service or not be charged. But that’s not how Traditional Realtors work. They usually offer the same cookie-cutter services to all sellers, but instead of charging based on those services, they charge sellers a sliding scale based on the price of their home. The entire system is backward.
A New Approach: Unbundling
Our response to this flawed system is “unbundling.” A concept that allows sellers to choose only the services they want. Whether it’s pricing, marketing, negotiating, paperwork, or the complete package, our sellers choose which services they want, and they only pay a low flat fee for each service.
Our fees are never tied to the price of the home. Why would they be?
This level of flexibility is unheard of in traditional real estate. Coupled with the fairness of upfront, fixed fees, we feel this is how real estate should be done and hopefully will be done in the future.
Each service we offer has an established price, and just like combo meals, we also offer bundled services at a discount, offering even more ways to save.
Sellers In The Driver’s Seat
Our philosophy goes way past saving money; it’s about giving sellers more control over the selling process. We’ve learned that an engaged and educated seller is a more successful seller. That’s why we started and continue to build our Seller Success Library.
Many of our tools and techniques came out of conversations with our sellers. By working together in a true partnership, we often learn more than we teach. Our sellers show us new and better ways to do business, which we then share with future sellers.
This stems from a company belief that you can’t learn anything if you think you know everything. We stay open to suggestions and are not afraid to take advice from our clients. This is how we grow and evolve. It’s also how we make sure we are staying in touch with what today’s sellers want.
Looking Ahead
Based on the recent slew of lawsuits against Realtors, I’d say we are approaching a time of much-needed change. As more lawsuits are filed and won it would not be a surprise if more Realtors adopt our model. It completely addresses the complaints of home sellers who are demanding change.
In the next issue of this series, we will examine one of the more shocking secrets of the Traditional Realtor model. We call it the Turnover/Training Paradox. When you learn about it, you’ll understand why change is so slow in this industry.
Thanks for sticking around today. Hopefully, you learned a little more about selling your home. Be sure to subscribe to our free newsletter so you never miss a thing. By the way, if you’re not sure which flat fee package is right for you, Check out our fun, short, interactive quiz to help you decide. As a bonus, the quiz comes with a package-specific Promo Code you can use at checkout. Nice!
To learn more about our Flat Fee system, check out the videos on our “HOW IT WORKS” page and take advantage of our many free tools. If you want more personal advice, schedule a call with me so we can go a little deeper.
In the meantime, keep sending your questions. Your best bet is to send me a message at Glen@OhioMLSFlatFee.com. I read and respond to every email…eventually.
Broker/Realtor
Ohio Property Group, LLC
Author: “You Can Sell It”
Host: Talking Realty Podcast
Creator: Living To Listing
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