The Benefits of Options

As a real estate agent or broker, there are bound to be some aspects of the job you dread. One of the biggest has to be taking on a client with a house that is a hard sell, to put it mildly, or worse yet a client whose position as far as house value is dug in. You can spend a lot of time reasoning with such clients, and helping to sell their homes to the best of your ability, but that chunk of time between getting the job and completing the sale can be a long one. During that period, who knows what kind of easier (and perhaps more lucrative) sales you have passed up.

Well, there is good news for agents and brokerages in the new world of real estate. Just like clients, we are no longer tied down by the traditional ways of doing things. Nor do we have to put up with impossible situations or risk a bad referral, or loss of income. Instead, agents and brokers can use some of the innovations which have come into the real estate market over the past decade or so. Think about this; you respond to a call for the free appraisal you offer, only to realize right away that the house would be a hard sell even in a strong market. Well, you don't need to spend a lot of time trying to talk up the house to potential buyers, while trying to bring the client's price into a more reasonable range.

Instead, you can suggest the seller use the flat fee option your brokerage offers. Explain that for a one time price, their house will be listed on the brokerage's MLS, which is of course the main selling tool in the market. The house gets a full listing and will not be limited to local viewing, with the power of the Internet behind it.

Chances are, the potential client will jump at the opportunity. If you make the pitch well enough, you may even have picked up some money where there was going to be none before (we have all had clients who back out of the sale after the appraisal, but a shot at a commission-less sale often proves too strong to resist). The brokerage and you end up making some money where you may not have made any before, without spending hours wrangling over the home.