You know, if the brokers pulling out of syndication were serious about ‘going to the source’ being in the best interest of consumers, they wouldn’t put their listings in MLS.  I mean, a dim agent from across town is just as likely to show your listing (having never seen it) than one who snares a lead from Trulia.

Of course, we at Help-U-Sell have long maintained that every listing does not need to go into MLS and often hold back the most salable listings so that our sellers can save the most money.  Our fee stays the same either way.  When we do have non-MLS exclusives, syndication is very important.  We can give a seller huge exposure on the Internet without going into MLS.  Of course, when that competitor agent snares a lead on our exclusive from an aggregator site, we have to tell them that the seller has not agreed to pay their commission . . . but then, that’s kinda fun, isn’t it?

Well . . . Another Word On Syndication, After All is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog

Up until about 2006 we had a very coherent statement of those things we hold most dear:  our Core Values.  Great care was taken in the creation of the list.  We didn’t want what usually passes for this kind of statement - a bland list of noble words that don’t really describe the company.  We wanted this list to be real.  And it was.  But then there was a changing of the guard in 2006 and the old set was scrapped and replace by somebody else’s idea of who they wanted to be . . . and the original list was abandoned.

I’ve been thinking about that original list lately and I’d like to revive it.  It truly describes who we are (not who we want to be, but who we really are right now).

1.  Integrity

• We tell the truth.
• We believe so deeply in our product that we don’t have to stoop to techniques and manipulation to be successful:  all we have to do is tell people what we have.
• We provide a valuable service for a reasonable fee.
• We make an honest living.  We don’t  ‘make a killing’ on every closing. We are paid fairly by the people we serve.
• We believe in our program.
• We realize we are different.  We have a unique offering for the consumer that is fundamentally better than what traditional brokers offer.
• Our system works.  Period.
• Our words, our actions and our beliefs are in sync.  We don’t say one thing but do something else.

2.  Information without obligation

• We don’t hoard or hide information.
• We answer questions honestly without technique or manipulation.
• Our selling style is to educate; we empower our customers with information.

3. Consumer choices

• One size does not fit all.
• We allow the consumer to choose the services he or she would like to employ and then we charge them based on how the home actually sells.
• Our focus is always on how we can better serve the consumer.

4. Seller participation

• We believe in our customers’ ability to handle some aspects of the sale.
• We partner with our sellers to market their property.  We HELP YOU sell your property.
• We coach our sellers through the process.

5. Seller savings

• Because we always have our customers’ best interest at heart, the more we can save them, the better.
• We deliver high value service for a set fee considerably lower than the commissions charged by other offices.

6. Buyer/Seller contact

• Because we believe in our service, we don’t have to justify our existence by getting between the parties.
• We believe that most people are honest and principled.
• Our job is to coach, educate and facilitate a successful transaction.

7. Unique management model

• We believe that we can offer a high value service to consumers and make a healthy profit at the same time.
• We organize our offices to serve the consumer, not the agent.
• We believe it is our business; we hire people to help us do more of it and do it better.

8. Powerful marketing system

• We are a marketing company.  We study our marketplace and our marketing to make sure we are maximizing results.
• We have a marketing plan and we stick to it.
• We measure results.
• We actively market real estate

And here it is once again without the extra verbiage:

• Integrity
• Information without Obligation
• Consumer Choices
• Seller Participation
• Seller Savings
• Buyer/Seller Contact
• Unique Management Model
• Powerful Marketing System

This set of 8 Core Values is more than mere words on a page.  It is a living breathing entity, one we use every day to remind us who we are and to help in decision making.  Any time you are considering a change to your program or a new piece of marketing or a new way of doing anything, take out the list and weigh what you’re considering against it.  If it does not align with your 8 Core Values, then it’s probably something you shouldn’t do.  We are a principal centered organization and these are the principals on which we base our business.  Be proud of them. Display them.  Share them with your staff and give them a little time every day.

Core Values is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog

We had quite a Roundtable Call today.  Lots of good information flew around, but one item really struck me.

Richard Cricchio from Honolulu started talking about ‘Office Exclusive Listings.’  I asked him to clarify and he responded:

‘When we take a call on a listing, we always ask if the caller is working with an agent.  If they’re not, we send them directly to the seller to arrange a showing.  The seller shows the house and we followup afterward.  That way, if the buyer moves forward on the house, all the seller pays is the Set Fee.  They save the largest amount of money.  We’ve always done that on all of our listings and it’s helped drive the message that we are about savings.’

It sounded like such a radical idea.

But it’s not.

It’s about 35 years old.  It’s a thing called ‘Help-U-Sell’.  That’s how this company was designed by Don Taylor.  That’s why it’s called ‘Help-U-Sell‘.  As we turned the corner on the new millennium, we started adjusting the model here and there.

First, the seller’s phone number came off the for sale sign.  Remember, for 25 years, our listings were ‘For Sale WITH Owner’ and we put the sellers number on the sign so buyers could contact them directly.  We did that for two reasons:  first, it gave the seller the greatest opportunity to save, which is what we wanted so they’d tell everyone they know about us and second because it’s a way of multiplying our efforts, enabling us to more that we’d otherwise be able to do.

Then we started capturing buyers and showing our listings ourselves.  Sellers still could find their own buyers by holding open houses and talking the house up with the neighbors and at work.  But we wanted a relationship with that buyer, so we started handling the showings ourselves.

I’m not saying either of these adjustments was wrong.  But I do think it’s interesting that the guy who is way out ahead of the pack in our currently running Winter Warm Up Contest is still sending buyers directly to his sellers.  How much time are you spending each week running over to show a listing to a new buyer?  If your sellers handled that task for you, what else could you be doing with that time?  Are your followup skills strong enough that you could still build a relationship with that buyer after they’ve seen the listing with the seller?  After all, most of the time they’re not going to buy that house anyway.

In today’s market, where so many sellers have so little equity, I’d think giving them the greatest change of finding their own buyer and saving the largest amount of money would be very appealing.  Think about it.

Richard Cricchio, Help-U-Sell and the Office Exclusive Listing is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog

I sent a short survey to our members yesterday to help in putting together the plan for 2012.  Though I may still get some responses, most are already in and I thought I’d update you on the results.

92.5% of respondents believe business will be better in 2012.

They ranked the biggest challenges facing them this year as follows:

• Marketing:  45%
• Staffing/Recruiting:  42.5%
• Lead Incubation:  37.5%
• Finding qualified & motivated buyers:  27.5%
• Controlling expenses:  25%
• Pricing listings properly:  15%
• Financing and lenders:  12.5%

Write-in responses to the question were:

• Keeping ahead of new technology & its cost
• Selling homes that are NOT in a foreclosure or shortsale status
• finding equity sellers who are willing to price at today’s values
• Managing and following up on leads
• Implementing everything I have learned
• The number of sellers
• Finding sellers. Really need listings
• Focus on Highest and Best use of my Time
• Getting my company back to where I was 2 years ago

As I look at these responses I can see that everyone is gearing up to do MORE in 2012.  We want to explore new ways of marketing because we believe marketing will drive leads – that hasn’t always been the case in the last few years.  We interested in staffing and recruiting because we know we’re going to need help as the market heats up.  We want to learn how to better incubate leads because, heck!  we’re expecting to have leads to incubate!  And so on.

When asked where we should hold the next Help-U-Sell Success Summit, respondents said:

• A California Beach location:   40%
• Las Vegas:  34.3%
• Orlando, inconjunction with NAR:  25.7%

Write-in responses were:

• San Diego
• Somewhere in the Mid-West
• Milwaukee
• East Coast or Mid-Country location with inexpensive airfare
• Santa Barbara
• Driving Distance (!)
• Anywhere

When asked about the time of day to hold the Wednesday Broker Roundtable call, the majority said 9am Pacific time – which is when we currently hold them!  8am came in second and 11am, third.

I was encouraged that when asked how we at Home Office could better support them, respondents gave us pretty good marks, saying things like ‘nothing,’ ‘support is adequate,’ and ‘you’re doing fine.’  There were also some meaningful comments relating to how we can better partner with our members to achieve greater penetration in local markets.  All comments are appreciated and we will consider everything you told us.  Thank you!

Survey Sez is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog

is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog

Wishing You The Best . . . is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog

I’ve said it before:  the biggest challenge we have as Help-U-Sell brokers is staying connected.  We’re spread out all over the country and have only occasional opportunities to get together face-to-face.  Plus, we work in a hostile environment – one where most of the real estate ‘professionals‘ around us wish we’d just dry up and blow away.  That can grind on you after a while.  It’s important to tune in every now and then just to keep your head screwed on right!

There are several ways to stay plugged into Help-U-Sell.  The company Facebook and Twitter pages are good.  So is our company newsletter, Help-U-Sell Connect, and this silly little blog (do you realize we’re approaching 300 posts here?).  But nothing is better than our weekly webinars/teleconferences.  Tech Tuesday – which will convene in just a few hours – is action packed with good information about how to build and manage your web presence and your technology in general.  And Wonderful Wednesdays are . . . well . . . .

LISTEN:  in the last six to eight months, the Wednesday Broker Roudtable Calls have been electric.  Every week, great new information has been disseminated and the group has grown increasingly comfortable with sharing what they’re doing, what’s  working and what’s not.  It’s one hour a week to be reminded how powerful it is to be Help-U-Sell (remember:  if you are a broke or agent in a Help-U-Sell office, you are Help-U-Sell).

Tomorrow’s call will be a little special in that we have a guest; two of them, actually.  Patricia Boyd, who everyone fell in love with at the Success Summit, will be there talking all things finance, and she’s bringing Chris Jackson of TurnScor.  TurnScor markets credit repair/improvement software to brokers who then can give it (for free) to as many people as they’d like.  It’s a wonderful thing to add to your value package.  I mean:  what buyer wouldn’t benefit from a 5% increase in their FICO score?  Even the one with great credit might qualify for a better loan thanks to the free program their Help-U-Sell broker gave them!

Best of all, TurnScor is running a special for the month of December: a 25% discount.  AND Patricia is offering her two part Certified Real Finance Advocate training program free to everyone who takes advantage of TurnScor’s offer.  It’s a ridiculously good deal.  And it’s all about increasing your knowledge and the value you bring to a transaction.  We have 11 days left in December.  I think I’d set a goal to complete Patricia’s training and get certified by the end of the year and then give the TurnScor software to everyone on my CI list as a kind of Holiday gift.  You know:  start the new year with a better credit score, courtesy of  Help-U-Sell.

You can learn more about TurnScor and the promotion on Patricia’s website:  www.cRFApro.com.

Also on tomorrow’s call, we’ll update the results of the Winter Warm Up contest.  Brokers are competing for points awarded for new listings, as well as  closed buyer and seller sides.  As of the end of November, Deb Schmidt from Minnesota is in the lead, followed closely by Richard Cricchio (Hawaii) and John Powell (Arizona).  But the field is very tight and anyone could hop into the lead before the contest ends in February.

It will be our last Wednesday call of the year, so we’ll take a minute to look back at 2010 and forward to 2011.  So think of it as your company Holiday Party; ok, that’s stretching it a little bit.  Think of it as your weekly sales meeting and TUNE IN!  If you haven’t signed up yet, do so now by clicking HERE.

Why YOU Should Be On Tomorrow’s Broker Roundtable Call is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog

Jose Perez of PCMS Consulting is on RISMedia today talking about Steve Jobs and the music industry.  What’s that got to do with us? you ask . . . quite a bit, I’d say.

Before we go there, however, let’s drop into Wall Street.  We often look at the history of the securities business in the last 15 years and draw parallels to real estate.  Remember?  Used to be, we had to contact a broker to trade a stock and we paid a percentage based commission for the privilege.  Stock trading was mysterious, complicated, beyond the grasp of most people and the commissions were, well, just the reasonable cost of entry.  Then along came Charles Schwab with $15 flat fee trades.  Consumers loved it and the industry took note.  The forward thinkers not only shifted to the new model, they enhanced it by putting powerful analytic information in the consumer’s hands on the Internet.

Sound like the real estate business?  You bet.

Perez is saying the same kind of change happened in the Music business.  Remember when we used to go to the music store to buy vinyl LP records, and then CDs?  That’s how music was distributed.  The whole industry was built around the idea of making and marketing these plastic objects called ‘records.’  But then, technology made it possible for people to take the records, digitize them and then share them (often illegally) over the Internet.  The industry reacted not by looking forward at how they might capitalize on this,  but by looking to the courts, suing the most prolific pirates.  Meanwhile, Steve Jobs – a music industry outsider – quietly invented the Ipod – nothing more than a solid state drive with a simple user interface – and the ITunes store for making digital music accessible to consumers.  For 99 cents you could buy a song . . . and, today, that’s what we do.

Just as in real estate, we had a music industry fighting to preserve the status quo . . . and losing; because you can never preserve the status quo.  It is impossible. In both cases we have industries struggling to keep information out of the consumer’s hands . . . and losing.

Want another example?  How about the Travel industry.  Not too many years  ago we used to call a travel agent to book a plane trip or a vacation.  They had all the information:  schedules and fares and so on; and they earned a nice commission for helping us navigate this mysterious process.  How many travel agents do you know today?  Really:  they have become largely extinct!  And how do we book travel today?  We go to the Internet where all the information is housed and make our decisions for ourselves.  Unfortunately, the pricing model for travel has not changed significantly . . . which makes me wonder:  whose getting that commission today?

And here we have real estate:  an industry that justified its percentage based commissions for decades largely by hoarding information.  Then along came Don Taylor (and by the way, he came along a good ten years before Charles Schwab had his epiphany).  He saw a way to do the real estate business not for a nonsensical percentage based commission, but for a Low Set Fee.  He saw all of this hoarding going on and decided that Information Without Obligation would be one of his new company’s core values.  The maturation of the Internet twenty years later put that value on steroids . . .

And how did the Industry react?  It ran in terror for the hills, dug foxholes, locked up the valuables (the information), put its fingers in its ears and refused to hear what consumers were saying.  Even today, with a real estate market undergoing complete upheaval, with change swooping down around us like a Tsunami, how many of the big national brands are talking about their pricing model?  Um . . . none.  Even today, when consumers can (with the click of a mouse) get all the information REALTORS used to hoard, how many are talking about how we can use that fact to streamline the process and make the experience better for the home buyers and sellers?  Um . . . none.

All I can say is:  get ready.  We’re about to witness a magnificent collision.  The vision of Don Taylor is about to come to full fruition as it collides with the reality of today’s consumer, the Internet and the upheaval in the marketplace.  Five years from now as brokers collect their Set Fee at closing, they’ll scratch their heads, look back and wonder:  ’Did we ever really do business that old fashioned way?’

Of Steve Jobs, the Music Business and Real Estate is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog

At Help-U-Sell, we love Patricia Boyd.  Her consumer advocate approach to real estate finance is a perfect match for our own consumer oriented program and she’s already brought great value to our new relationship.  Patricia is the founder of Real Finance Solutions and has spent almost 30 years working with Realtors to increase their understanding of mortgage financing so that they can help consumers make good decisions.  Recently, the National Association of Realtors brought her ‘Certified Real Finance Advocate’ training program into Realtor University.

The training program consists of two video lessons delivered online and upon successful completion of an exam, results in a certification of the participant a cRFA.  What’s important though is the quality of information that is delivered in the program and the ongoing support and education cRFA designees receive.  They have their own website that keeps them updated about new programs and changes, regular coaching sessions and networking opportunities.

In this business, we are all about VALUE.  Value is what bring to real estate transactions.  It is our commodity.  The only reason any consumer would ever choose to do business with you (over someone else) is that they perceive the value you bring to their situation.  Knowledge of finance and the ability to use it to make transactions happen is an essential part of our value package.

Help-U-Sell folks:  you know what I’m talking about.  You’ve heard Jack Bailey work with buyers to create a Real Estate Plan and you have swelled with pride and admiration at how he brings his vast knowledge to the task of solving real problems. With the cRFA program, you can begin to develop that same kind of expertise, that same depth of value.

Patricia recently teamed up with TurnScor, a credit repair company that approaches the process a little differently.  They provide software to participating real estate brokers who then offer it to consumers for free.  Consumers work through the software on their own, repairing or improving their own credit scores.  This is a superior solution for real estate professionals because they’re saving their customers the often substantial fees most credit repair companies charge and they are not handing their customers off to an outsider who may or may not support the original relationship.

As a broker I think I’d make TurnScor a part of every initial buyer consultation.  Credit score will absolutely impact the quality of financing the buyer will be able to achieve, and even the buyer with a 700 FICO could benefit from raising it to, say, 740.   I think I’d also use it with sellers who will likely be buying something else.

Here’s a novel idea:  why not give TurnScor to everyone on your CI list for the Holidays?  It will certainly be perceived as valuable.

NOW, HERE’S THE COOL PART:

TurnScor usually costs $199 a month (with no contract) and a $99 setup fee.  For the month of December ONLY, new signups are at $149 a month and the $99 fee is waived.  PLUS!! Patricia will throw in her full two course cRFA certification program – which usually sells for $199 – FOR FREE.   If that’s not a bargain, I don’t know what is.  Here’s a link to Patricia’s flyer with all the details (be sure to go to the TurnScor link and watch the Demo):  Real Finance Solutions System

Here is a short video with Patricia talking about the power of the cRFA program:

Get Certified! is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog

Happy Thanksgiving! is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog