FSBR- For Sale By Realtor
By Charles TurnerSometimes things just happen. There are a few faithful readers that don’t see the value in a Realtor. Put a sign in the yard and sell it. That simple. I have to admit that its pretty ironic that I put a sign in the yard and it sold. But was it really that simple?
Back when we started the project of converting a duplex into a single family, I did all the listing paperwork and withheld it from RMLS. Being Realtors, our company policy does not allow us to be a true FSBO- the buyer has to be represented. We would have referred them out to another agent if the buyers did not already have a Realtor. With a construction project you have two forces fighting each other. If you sell it early, you have to share decision making with the buyer. If you wait until it is finished, you have holding costs. The former is probably preferable to the the latter.
A couple of weeks back, I got a call from a Realtor who was outside with her clients. It just happened that I was in the area and it was easy for me to show. Still in the framing stage, it is easy to walk around so in reality, the timing is perfect. The next few weeks as finishes go up, it would have been hard to have on the market as showing it would have been near impossible. We came to an agreement last night: their offer followed by a 17 item seller’s counter followed by one additional item on their buyer’s counter.
It’s hard for me to gauge the experience as I can never be a true FSBO. I’d maintain that the sign in the yard is the easy part and the negotiation and getting to closing (which is a ways off admittedly) is the hard part. This project is a 100% true flip. There have been a lot of negative comments that this area of the market is dead. Build a quality product and there is a market for it.
And at this point in the transaction, from this side of the transaction, it doesn’t feel like zero sum. We are still putting together the quality project we had envisioned and are sharing some of the decision making on finishes.
Feels good not to lose the 6-7%, huh? I really miss that 20K I paid to sell my house but thats the price you pay. Heck, our realtor even gave us a discount. Did the realtors works so hard as to earn that large sum? I dont think so.
The thought of losing that 6-7% is somewhat keeping me from buying again. I know that may sound silly but 20K is a heck of a lot of money to us common folk.
We only save our side of the commission so it isn’t a free ride and I am working for “free” doing what I normally get paid to do. It’s no different than an employee discount on a big ticket item.
Everyone is perfectly happy to discuss what it costs to hire a Realtor but I don’t think there is a lot of understanding of what it costs to be a GOOD Realtor.
bearlee-
Why did you use an agent?
I am a firm believer in using professionals. I don’t pull my own teeth. When I had my wisdom teeth removed, an oral surgeon did the work.
In many cases it’s not about how “hard” the agent works, but rather how much “value” does the use of a professional bring to the transaction. In most cases a paid real estate agent will bring value. In other words, the seller will net out ahead after the agent is paid.
Ultimately you may be missing something that never was. In other words, if you would have sold it yourself, you may have ended up worse off.
Oh, by the way, I really miss the $30 in gas I just put in my car.
Realtors do often get a bad rap on tis blog. I personally couldn’t imagine selling a house without a GOOD Realtor. Among other important time consuming things in my life, I have a full time job. If I were selling a house, buying a house, getting a mortgage, and moving all at once there’s no way I would have time to show my house and deal with both transactions on my own. It would litterally be impossible.
Then there’s knowing how to price and market the house. If you have a GOOD Realtor he may pay for himself in terms of higher sale price and lower days on market. Not to mention your buyer is likely going to look for a discount if you aren’t using a Realtor.
I had a neighbor that tried FSBO, pricing her home a few thousand $ above Zillow’s Zestimate. That house is know an REO priced (by a Realtor) for much less. Sounds like she could have used a Realtor.
I have another friend that has no realistic clue how much one of his rental properties is worth. Let’s call him Mark…
Mark-”should I just sell my house FSBO for $350k and hire a real estate lawyer.
MarketTimer-”How much does a real estate lawyer cost and where do you even get one?”
Mark-”I don’t know but I heard about it on the news”
MarketTimer-”And is your home worth $350k? What if it is worth $400k?”
Mark-”I don’t know but I paid $210k for it, so I’m making money and I don’t have to waste any on a Realtor”
Hmmm…sounds to me like Mark could use a GOOD Realtor. Note that at one point Mark was studying to become a Realtor; maybe that’s why some people have had bad experiences with BAD Realtors.
I’ve heard this stat a couple of times in the last few weeks, I can’t find a source: 400,000 of nearly 1.3M Realtors did not sell a single home in 2007!!! The Portland Metropolitan Association of Realtors is also seeing high numbers drop out as this year’s membership dues are now owed.
One more thing to put it in perspective: Walmart has approx. 1.3M employees. What if 400,000 didn’t show up for work?
MarketTimer-
I have both purchased and sold various properties, and while I certainly want to hear what price agents suggest, it has been my past experience that agents are a poor source of pricing.
Since I didn’t have any idea about price on one given place, I once paid for a professional appraisal on a place that I was getting ready to sell. The appraiser was being paid a flat rate for his service. In other words, his chance to do business or get paid was not based on any suggested market value. Real estate agents, on the other hand, don’t get paid unless they are part of a sale, and agents pay is based on the final sales price.
The problem here is that we can enter into a game of what I call “picking the biggest liar.” Let’s take a property that has a realistic market value of $300,000. A “good” agent that comes out and says that it’s worth the $300,000 is likely to lose the listing to an agent that suggests $310,000 or another that suggests $315,000. The owner thinks that the agent who suggested $315,000 will do much better, but both unrealistic expectations and time are the enemy in this case.
Then there is the other case, where my professional appraisal paid off big. Again let’s take a place that will sell for $300,000. All the agents were $250,000 and below, but my professional appraiser suggested $310,000. I added $50,000 to the highest real estate agent estimate and had an offer within three weeks. The agent thought I was a fool, but I pointed out the professional appraiser’s report, and said, I have no reason to believe that this amount is not an accurate representation of the true market value.
My personal strategy is to get a good idea of a reasonable price and select an appropriate agent.
JP’s comment is what we call, “buying the listing.” Tell the seller what they want to hear. Get the contract signed and then start asking for price drops. One of the agents in our office just lost a listing to a higher price that even the seller isn’t sure makes sense but sounds great in theory. The agent’s response, “call me when they start asking for price drops.” Seller/agent/buyer beware. We’ve deciding that it makes no sense for us to “collect” listings. We’d rather concentrate on a few realistic sellers than be spread thin not selling houses.
Charles-
To help eliminate the “buy the listing” (or what I call the “biggest liar”), I actually ask the agent for several numbers. I ask how much do you think you can sell it for in a week, month, and how long and at what price is the maximum. I suppose I should adjust my system to include months of inventory.
Questions
1: How many months of inventory exists?
2: Then how much if I want to sell within a week?
3: Month?
4: How much to sell within the current months of inventory?
5: Maximum selling price, given any time frame under a year?
This pushes an agent to be realistic about pricing, as it ties any proposed “price drops” to specific points in time. It also puts me in a position to balance time against a final selling price.
Similar to your situation in this post, I once had an unsolicited offer on a place that I was in the process of getting ready to sell. The unsolicited offer came in very close to what I was going to list the property for. This is the only case that I would suggest that I “saved” a little on the transactional costs. That being said, the property was desirable. After the deal was finished, I asked about how many properties they considered, and they suggested that the specifically targeted six properties in the neighborhood, and mine was one of the six. I was the only one who replied to their interest in purchasing. This is a rare situation.
$30 vs $20,000…sorry, hard for me to make the comparison.
We had a good idea what our house would sell for because we had been keeping an eye on our neighborhood so it was no surprise when our realtor ran the comps and came up w/ a price w/in 5K of our estimate.
What invaluable advice did our realtor have…clean the house basement to top floor and get a storage unit to thin things out. We had already figured that out and were already in the process. We kept the box full of fliers often making copies ourselves. Not sure what was worth the 20K.
We honestly would’ve been better off FSBO and a lawyer but we were naive. Now we know better.
bearlee-
Buyers in the FSBO market often seek to save the commission fee, but seller’s also want to save it too. For whatever reason, if the prices are equal, a given buyer will go with the agent listed home. For a buyer it’s just not worth the added hassle to pay the same.
If you don’t like the $30 example, I have a friend who pays child support. It amounts to far in excess of $20k, and he really misses the money that is withheld from his paycheck. I know many people who pay in excess of $20k in taxes, and they really miss the money. Then there is the mandated car insurance, emission testing, and on and on and on.
Comparing 20K realtor fee to child support?!?!?OMG
As far as paying over 20K in taxes…someone has to pay for this trillion dollar war!
So if you pay that much in taxes you must be making bank! But it’s never enough, is it.
bearlee-
I discussed how I would not suggest anyone enter the real estate industry today. I must make at least an exception for you. My recommendation is for you to become an agent so you can get in on that “easy money.” According to your philosophy, you won’t do much, and you’ll get paid a lot.
JP- so fill me in. What am I missing? What did my realtor do for me? Besides have access to RMLS and provide legal forms/disclosure forms. What am I missing? I am not being a smartass, I am curious. What did I get for 20K?
bearlee-
I think you are well aware that I have no information about your specific situation, so I cannot effectively speak to your individual situation.
It might be easier to start with a few questions:
1. Does marketing and advertising ever add value?
2. Is there any value in reducing risk? For example, is there any value in auto insurance?
3. Do you think access to the RMLS has any value? If so, how much, and how do you measure the value?
4. Is there any time an agent might add value to a transaction?
You basic claim is that you can do just as good or better without an agent as with one. If this is true, then you should be an agent.
I should also say that I know people who would rather be financially worse off and do something on their own, but in your case you specifically question the value of the services provided versus the cost of $20k.
In the end, why do you think it is that most homes are sold by professionals?
Why would anyone trust someone eager for a “commission” and who has ZERO fiduciary duty to value a home properly?
Its trivial to hire an independent appraiser (or two).
Houses were pretty darn easy to sell when money was cheap (still ease) and easily accessible (hardly now). Now with the recession and pending depression it won’t matter how great the house or location, it’s gonna be a tougher sell realtor or no realtor.
Our house was in a desireable, close-in location. Great house..easy to sell 18 months ago, not so easy to sell now.
bearlee-
Anything that is priced low enough is easy to sell. The idea is that by employing a good agent the final selling price will be higher in the same time. After commission you net out ahead.
Heres a scenario for you. As a buyers agent how much time and effort would go into this sale: The buyer is familiar w/ Portland, knows the neighborhoods in which she wants to buy, finds three houses online and you show her the three houses. She hires an inspector. House passes inspection. She wants to counter offer. Seller accepts counter offer. Deal done.
So besides the obvious: showing the three houses, maybe showed up at the inspection, presented counter offer…
What else goes into helping a buyer?
Granted not all inspections go well, some negotiations on repairs but lets say for this case all went smoothly.
bearlee-
The most obvious factor is the advertising/marketing aspect that you continue to devalue: “…finds three houses online and you show her the three houses.”
Someone has to maintain the listing network. How much is good marketing/advertising worth?
The bottom line is that you place a value on the services that is lower than the amount charged. I have people who complain about the cost of fixing the vehicle so that it meets emission standards. Each person values different things at different amounts. The public good of clean air is considered to be worth the cost, and a good professional will bring value to the transaction.
My friend still insists that paying child support is a waste of money. He has never seen the child who lives about 2,400 miles away. He has no interest in the child, but he has been jailed a few times for not paying soon enough.
I’ll leave you with a couple of final examples: 1. I once hired an attorney. He went in and got the job done that I wanted done. Could I have done it on my own? I mean all he did was file a bit of paperwork, right? Well I had a friend who tried doing the same thing on his own, as you might suggest. Two years later he wanted the name of my attorney. When he contacted my attorney, the word was, “You have messed your situation up so bad that this is going to take many hours.” Not only did he waste years of time, the financial cost was greater for him.
2. We buy insurance hoping to never use it. Talk about a waste of money. There are many people who look back and suggest that they just gave their money to the insurance company. These are often the same people who expect the insurance company to pay when a peril event happens. In any event, there is no way to outline the value of insurance by “what the insurance company does” in a specific case. It’s like they just send out a bill and collect the money, and that’s it, right? The professional real estate agent does much more than what you have outlined, including service availability and readiness, which you also devalue. Maybe we should discuss fixed versus variable costs?
I understand that it takes money to maintain websites. Not only does rmls maintain a site, individual brands maintain sites, ie, Hasson, Prudential, Realty Trust, etc and add to it individual realtors have their own sites. And then there are generic sites that help you find a realtor and it costs money to be placed on those lists.
So I paid 20K for advertising? Add to it the thousands of other homes that pay often much more than 20K.
I never understood sales and marketing. My college roommate was a business major specializing in marketing and by the end of the year I concluded that it was her job to get people to buy things they really dont need! Granted this is not the case for somethings we purchase, food and housing, for example, though that can be argued.
Let me throw another thought out there. You have two very similar houses in the same neighborhood, same block though one is twice the size as the other. Both basic sales, nothing challenging since its still 2005. So one pays 50K in realtor fees and the other pays 20k. See what I am getting at?
What was the difference to justify the two very different fees.
The transaction you describe is atypical. They rarely go so smoothly like you describe.
First, the agent would have to be at the home inspection. You can’t leave a third party at a property without written permission from the seller. Two to four hours. Showing your hypothetical three houses and writing the offer- 3 hours.
Did the agent meet the buyer at point A and drive the buyer around the properties or make them follow? Was the car a second-hand-former-smoker’s 1989 coupe or a late model car? First class costs more than coach.
Did the buyer’s agent recommend a sewer scope? That was a $15,000 bill the buyer never knew was lurking in the front yard? The house “passed” the inspections that were performed but might have failed others the agent should have recommended based on the property and location. Same with oil tanks. Radon may become the new standard inspection (more on that shortly).
Did the agent facilitate the home inspection through a contractor referral program such as Prudential’s Home Services or just let the buyer pick one out of the phone book?
Did the agent provide the tools to sit down at or near the property to write the offer using a tablet PC and then go over the offer or did they go home, hand write it, mark where to sign and fax it, wait for the fax to come back so they could refax something unreadable to the listing agent?
Did the buyer want to visit the property three or four time during escrow to meet contractors for her planned remodel at closing? Were the contractors on time? One to two hours each visit?
Even if it is shown that the Realtor did nothing wrong in a legal action, the agent pays their insurance deductible and never sees it again.
The seller really thought the buyer’s counter was unreasonable and was going to reject it. Buyer’s agent, by way of reasoning and negotiating, gets it accepted. It actually took three days and numerous hours of going back and forth but all the agent told the buyer at the end was “they accepted your counter.”
Conversations back and forth with title and the mortgage broker making sure that everything is ready for closing. Then attending the signing. Two sets of loan documents. Probably five hours here. Closing is just 48 hours away.
Bank’s last act is to verify employment. Turns out, buyer got fired yesterday. Loan canceled. No sale. No pay for (either) agent.
What value/price do you put on experience?
JP brings up a lot of other valid points. How did the buyer find those properties? Craigslist? The agent’s website which is far from free to maintain?
Did the agent provide comps for the neighborhood? Was the agent double-siding the transaction? Did the buyer get or know to ask for a home warranty?
At least this is a start.
Again, very hypothetical or a partial concept. Under your perfect market conditions, I could probably sell 1000 houses a year at a flat rate of $1000 and be a very happy camper. But that’s not reality.
Finally, thanks Charles, I was having a hard time comparing real estate to oral care, child support and car emissions.
So what I see is that the smooth transactions, though few, make up for the headaches that fall through. Kind of like health care and health insurance. The guy that carries insurance and never uses it makes up for the guy that carries the same insurance but spends four months in the hospital ICU and rehab after that ugly car accident. Some one has to pay for that $800,000 hospital stay. Maybe a poor analogy but it is what I understand.
So back to this scenario:
Let me throw another thought out there. You have two very similar houses in the same neighborhood, same block though one is twice the size as the other. Say they both have the same challenges. So one pays 50K in realtor fees and the other pays 20k. See what I am getting at?
This is what some of us in the general public are perplexed by.
Why does the more expensive house pay more in taxes and insurance?
What is the legal exposure to the small house compared to the big house? No matter how well the transaction is executed, !@$% happens. Even if the agent is question at the beginning of this post is exonerated, their career is possibly toast.
The houses have different markets and get advertised differently. I don’t think Ford advertises in Forbes. Ferrari doesn’t advertise in Parenting. If you applied every possible marketing tool to the smaller house, the agent would be writing the seller a check for the privilege of selling their home.
There are probably two agents. Under the current model, the seller pays all the commission but in reality it is the buyer paying. All the seller should care about is the net in their pocket. If the seller pays 3% and the buyer pays their agent 3% rather than the seller paying 6% what is the difference in the money flow? It is semantics.
Is the model perfect? No. But I challenge you to reinvent the current model into a workable market-adoptable one. Flat fee and a menu of services? There are some out there doing it but it doesn’t seem to be rocking the market into change.
Is this making any sense Bearlee?
Yes, it is making sense but like JP states it comes down to what you value and it does not make me feel comfortable that I am paying big bucks so my realtor can drive clients around in a Lexis. Call me practical, I guess. And I catagorize paying higher taxes for more spendy homes with the health of societies not the wealth of realtors.
I also guess, that I am very tainted by the horror stories my home inspector relative tells me about some realtors and how it is getting uglier now that the market is slowing. I do predict more lawsuits related to structure issues, permits, etc.
Everyone seemed to be jumping into real estate this last decade and you all get the same commission its just that I hope the honest, hard working ones get more of the pie.
I hope the honest, hard working ones get more of the pie.
Hallelujah!!!
bearlee-
If I were selling a house with a value over $500,000, then I would certainly want my agent to have a very nice vehicle–A Yugo just wouldn’t do it. On the other hand, if I were selling a $150,000 home, I would be far more open about my agent’s vehicle. Note that not only is the commission on a $500k place larger than a $150k place, the homeowner is much different.
“And I catagorize paying higher taxes for more spendy homes with the health of societies not the wealth of realtors.”
Let me point one thing out: The level of service that the police and fire department provide to the areas with high-valued homes is much lower than the area with the low-valued homes. The area with the lowest valued homes get the majority of the service, while the higher-valued homeowners generally pay for such service.
“Let me throw another thought out there. You have two very similar houses in the same neighborhood, same block though one is twice the size as the other. Say they both have the same challenges. So one pays 50K in REALTOR fees and the other pays 20k. See what I am getting at?”
There are a few issues here:
1. As discussed in the past, the lower valued place has a much larger consumer base–it is much easier to sell the lower valued property in this neighborhood. The agent that sells the lower price home receives lower compensation for an easier to sell home. (read further about pricing/price fixing below).
2. We might also discuss fixed versus variable costs. There is a certain level of fixed costs to listing a home. The cost of putting up a sign in front of the home is essentially the same no matter what the asking price. Some agents do not want to list homes on the far lower end because the straight commission does not sufficiently cover the cost of the listing, or alternatively the percent-of-sales commission on the lower end is higher than on the upper end. What happens, however, when a place does not sell? As you took note, the agent does a lot of work on a given home, but there is no compensation on that home.
3. Remember that there is NO PRICE FIXING in agent commissions, and fees cannot be discussed among REALTORS or other sales agents. In other words, everything is negotiable. If you have the opinion that a flat-rate fee is more appropriate, then you should negotiate such. I would imagine that a place that is priced right would attract the attention of an agent that would accept a flat-rate fee. Remember, however, that the commission paid is often split between two agents (your selling agent, and the other agent who works with the buyer). On high-end homes, the commission might be lower than “average” (again, remember that the fees are not regulated, and there is NO PRICE FIXING).
4. Before contracting for any service (or product), you should have an idea of what services you are procuring and how much you are paying. It could be that one seller wants a different level of service than another. In some way it’s the difference between flying first-class or coach. There is only one plane, but the seats are much different. Is a comfy seat worth a few extra bucks? How about the closer bathroom? What if you are pregnant? One time I took a flight were I had very little connection time between airlines. I only took a carry on luggage. Flying first-class I was able to make my connection–I made my connection literally within a few seconds. In that case it was worth the price to be in the front.
5. In each industry there are some bad players. At times they are difficult to identify. So there is some element of luck, even when selecting a person with experience. For example, I once selected an attorney whose wife committed suicide a few days later. As an outsider how could I predict this? For lack of a better way of putting it, he went loony, and I never recovered my $10,000 retainer fee.
In the end, there is a certain level of risk on both sides, but in many real estate transactions, the homeowner only pays when, and if, the property sells.
“And I catagorize paying higher taxes for more spendy homes with the health of societies not the wealth of realtors.”
Let me point one thing out: The level of service that the police and fire department provide to the areas with high-valued homes is much lower than the area with the low-valued homes. The area with the lowest valued homes get the majority of the service, while the higher-valued homeowners generally pay for such service.
Thats my point! I would hope tax money of wealthy neighborhoods would support schools in poor neighborhoods otherwise its a perpetual life of poverty.
Thanks for actually explaining things instead of using short smartaleck(sp?) responses:O)
So what additional advertising goes into a home 750K+?
From what I can gather from the Sunday O, a heck of a lot of money is spent on real estate marketing.
“So what additional advertising goes into a home 750K+?”
Placing an advertisement in front of a consumer in the market for a $750k home may require specialized service. For example, I might advertise a $750k home in the Wall Street Journal, but I would not advertise any home in the $300k range in the Wall Street Journal. The “Sunday O” may not be the best place to position a $750k home (I don’t have data one way or the other).
If it were only as easy as putting up a sign in the front lawn…
By the way, I once asked a guy, “Would you buy a genuine Rembrandt for $10,000?” He responded with two reasons not to purchase:
1. He had not use for it.
2. He didn’t have the cash.
Even if the $750k place is a bargain, finding the right person to buy it is far more difficult than a home priced much lower, no matter the quality. In other words, the advertising for a $750k place is different than a median-priced place.
Oh, and one more thing, even if exactly the same type and level of advertising went into a $750k place, since the chance of sale is much lower, the risk premium is priced higher. Thus additional advertising expenses will be experienced, as the time it takes to sell is much greater.
I understand that the Yugo example was to make a point but I was thinking along the lines of Subaru Forester for 19K new versus a 45K Lexus. I am not THAT practical:O)
Portlanders advertise homes in The Wall Street Journal?! Is there a West coast version like the NY Times?
Risk premium? Meaning…
From the homes inspectors experience, the folks that can afford $750K+ homes can also afford lawyers and lawsuits! Is that what you are getting at.
One definition of Risk Premium:
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/riskpremium.asp
Other definitions are similar. If you take on greater risk, then you need to charge more.
Practical application of risk premium:
When I buy on that big online auction service, the price must be discounted from a local retailer. Why is that? The risk dealing with a unknown individual is much greater than a local known seller. My discount rate is about 50%. In other words, if I can buy new locally for $100, I seek to pay no more than $50 on that major auction site.
Some risk factors include:
1. Not getting the merchandise.
2. Poor quality or misrepresented merchandise.
3. Shipping problems.
4. Return and warranty problems.
Related to sellers real estate agent point of view?
What are the risks besides a buyer backing out and/or financing falling through?
Going back this comment, made three days ago, is also about risk premium:
“Buyers in the FSBO market often seek to save the commission fee, but seller’s also want to save it too. For whatever reason, if the prices are equal, a given buyer will go with the agent listed home. For a buyer it’s just not worth the added hassle to pay the same.”
(Emphases added to original)
The risk of dealing with a homeowner directly is greater than a professional agent. Not only do FSBO buyers seek to save the commission fee like the seller, but they also price it lower because they are dealing with a non-professional. Added hassle = greater risk => lower purchase price = less “savings” for seller, if any.
“What are the risks besides a buyer backing out and/or financing falling through?”
If this happens, then the agent does not get paid. In fact, since they have spent time, effort, and dollars, they end up worse off if the property does not sell. What more is needed?
I am asking again…
Portlanders advertise homes in The Wall Street Journal?! Is there a West coast version like the NY Times?
Maybe since I have never shopped for a $750K+ home I do not see where the additional costs of advertising lies. These homes pop up on my searches using a basic map search on, ie, hasson.com, just as the 250K condo does.
So what I gather so far is that since there are less buyers for $750K+ homes the loss is greater when the sale falls through not because of the dollar value necessarily but because buyers arent lined up out the door.. Though you may not have the stats, I would curious to know if sales fall through (% wise) more often w/ these homes vs. the 300K home or is it all relative.
bearlee-
Let’s leave it at this: I used the WSJ only as an example (there are homes listed in the WSJ). Your logic is backward: You suggest that since homes are listed together on the web, that the effort is the same. This is backwards thinking. What you need to do is figure out what is done with the $750k homes that is not being done with the $300k homes.
One example might be the agent’s cost of the vehicle. Another example might be placing the home in specialized publications. Doing special mailings. I once went to a neighbor only open house with a host bar–that’s generally not going to happen at the lower end.
Hope this helps. This is my last comment in this thread.
What are your guys desk fees like. I have heard of folks paying 24K a year!
The realtor I used for my purchase 8 years ago left Barbara Sue Seal and went to work for ReMax due to the desk fees.
What do you get for the money besides branding/name recognition?
I saw a catered open house for a $400K home last week and I have received postcards for 400k homes and I’ve seen Starbucks gift card give aways for a 300K home but yes, open bar is another story…do drunk people make wise decisions? hahah
Yes, I was asking for specifics. I was surprised to hear that Portlanders advertise their homes in the WSJ.
I still have trouble with whole idea of needing a Lexus vs Toyota vs Subaru thing. But then I dont mind being seen in a Subaru:O) And I wont be buying a $750K home, either. Not on a nurses wage, should have married a doctor…hahaha
Great, now I need a Yugo for the $100,000 houses, a Subaru for the $300-$500k crowd, a Lexus for those under $1.5M and chauffeured Bentley for the upper echolon. I think this is my last post on this topic too while I am, and I hope everyone else is, smiling. Go Blazers.