DIY homebuyers & sellers: Propose your own fee & rebate

Cash flow is tight this time of year, so The Real Estate Cafe is offering a limited number of special offers this week. In addition to the discounted fees described in our blog post from last year:

IF AIRLINES HAVE FARE SALES, SHOULD REAL ESTATE AGENTS?

We invite “Do-It-Yourself” (DIY) homebuyers and sellers, LIKE YOU or someone you know, to email us your own request for service and propose your own fee. Think of it as a “Personal RFP” or Request for Proposals. It’s a coming trend in real estate, which is why we’ll be experimenting with http://RFPRealty.com in 2010.  Over the past 18 months, would you believe about a third of our tech-savvy home buyers have ALREADY proposed their own fees?  We’re particularly motivated by those who offer performance bonuses!

Only need a little help or want to “sample” our fee-for-service business model? We’re eager to experiment with a new “TAPAS” concept, and need your help to develop a menu of tasks that take 15 minutes to an hour to perform.  Good examples for BUYERS: showing an MLS listing, downloading and analyzing MLS data, reviewing an offer strategy, or explaining how proactive househunting strategies can save money. Good examples for sellers (FSBOs only, we don’t take listings!): lending “for sale by owner” signs, demo-ing “best of breed” money-saving web sites, giving feedback on marketing materials, or simply answering questions by phone.  What else is on your “to do” list for this week? 

If you’re one of the first to respond, we’re willing to work — without our normal $500 retainer — for as little as $25 for a 15 minute consultation, by phone, via email, or in person at a mutually convenient Starbucks.

Call 617-661-4046 to make an appointment, or follow http://Twitter.com/RealEstateCafe for TweetUp locations through the week.

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How can we improve our money-saving Menu of Fees & Rebates?

Menurebates_v1It’s been more than a year since we updated our Menu of Fees & Rebates, so we’d like to invite home buyers to meet in person to discuss possible improvements.  Our current options are shown above (click on arrowheads in outline for more detail) and on our wiki.

  • We offer three basic options:  traditional commissions with limited rebates, hourly fees with full rebates, and flat fees with performance bonuses
  • Our most popular options include a 100% rebate of the buyer agency commission included in the sales price. 
  • Our hourly fees range from $75 to $125 per hour depending on the size of retainer prepaid (or $150 per hour with no retainer or minimum fee).
  • Limited availability:  Flat fees start at $3,000 plus performance bonus.  Each performance bonus is negotiated individually to motivate us to help you maximize saving (see map of savings totaling over $1 million).
  • We’re also willing to work with a few buyers on a 1% fee option, some restrictions apply.
  • Finally, you can propose your own fee / rebate, particularly if you are selling "for sale by owner" and would like us to represent you as a buyer.  That way you can maximize savings both buying and selling.

Our ideal is a mix of fees — hourly, flat fees, and traditional.  If you select option 3.3 and prepaid $3,000 in the next few days, we’ll cut our hourly rate by 50% for the first 40 hours.  We’re pushing this special offer so we can attend the National Association of Realtors mid-year convention next week to identify the best new money-saving tools and trends for home buyers and sellers. 

Should we host a series of webinars or meetings off-line to discuss the benefits of each fee / rebate, and to help new clients decide which money-saving option best meets their
needs?  We can meet on short notice at a local cafe or in the privacy of your home.  We’re also eager to begin meeting at  TogetherInMotion in Arlington, MA so working parents can talk over food while their kids play.  Please contact us for additional information.

If airlines have fare sales, should real estate agents?

Businesssuckssale_2 If airlines have fare sales, should real estate agents?  We think so.  We understand buyers are waiting for prices to fall, but candidly, that’s translated into a cash flow crisis for The Real Estate Cafe.  Still, as one of the nation’s first fee-for-service real estate concepts we’ve had the experience to develop a menu of fees and rebates to get through slow times.  The key is offering compelling saving opportunities for clients — so compelling, we hope at least one new or existing client decides to select one of our "flat fee" options the next three days.  So, if you think you’ll be buying a home in the next six months and want to "buy down" your hourly consulting fee, we’d be glad to explain how you to save up to $75 per hour.  (Current client case study available upon request or just read what the Wall Street Journal said about our 100% rebate options.).  If our $3,000 to $5,000 flat fee options are beyond your budget, consider these SPECIAL OFFERS:

  • Prepay for 5 hours of consulting service ($500), get one hour FREE ($100 savings). 
  • Prepay for 10 hours of consulting service ($1,000), get three hours FREE ($300 savings).

Limited to the first three existing or new clients to respond. 

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