BrokerBryant.com: July 2009

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Hi folks. In this current market, understanding how we get paid and who pays us has never been more important. Everyday we have to deal with REOs offering low co-brokes and Short Sales where co-brokes can be changed at the last minute. But in spite of these things we want to be able to do a good job for our Buyers AND we want to get paid.

Now since this post will be about commissions, please let's not use specific percentages, we don't want to upset Sherman and his anti-trust crew. I'm going to be talking about principles anyway so amounts are not important.

First, I want to clear up a major misconception in our industry "I do NOT have to show your listing if the co-broke is less than I'm willing to work for." It is neither unethical or illegal for me to pass on showing your listing.

Do you believe that? Well, whether you believe it or not, it's true. BUT......and here's the qualifier.....you have to disclose this to the Buyer.

As primarily a listing Broker I also have to make sure my Sellers understand this. In this more competitive market my Sellers must offer a competitive co-broke, for selling their property, or it will not get shown. That's a fact and they need to understand it. It's my job as their Broker to make sure they do. The co-broke is a market condition and we have to base it on what's happening in the market today.

Buyers are far and few between, in most markets, right now. If I have a good qualified Buyer I want to make sure that I get paid fairly for my services. Heck I can go sell them a new home and get z% plus a huge bonus. Why would I show them your listing only offering me x%?

"Broker Bryant how do we do this without harming our Buyer? If the property is just right for my Buyer then shouldn't I show it to him no matter what the co-broke is?" Well that's a good question. The answer is YES. Your job as a Buyer agent/broker is to find your Buyer a home that meets their needs. The commission should NOT come into play.

Do I have you confused yet? First I tell you, "you don't have to show them" then I tell you, "you must show them". What's up with that? 

What's up with that is the good ole' Buyer Broker Agreement(BBA). Folks, you really only have two choices. You can show your buyer EVERY listing that meets their parameters, whether they offer x%, y%, z% or 100 bucks. You cannot eliminate any of them. OR you can discuss with your Buyer up front how you get paid and what your minimum fee is. Then put it in writing and have him sign it(BBA).

I know what quite a few of you will say, "I already show my Buyer every property regardless of the co-broke." Do you really? Do you show them FSBOs? Do show them a listing offering you $500? Are you really willing to work for that or are you kidding yourself?

Folks, in order to do the best job for your customer/client, the commission needs to be removed from the equation. The only way to do that is to discuss commission before you go to work and have the Buyer agree in writing on what you are willing to work for. Then, when you see a listing with a less than adequate co-broke, just ask the Buyer if he wants to see it. That's it. It's not that difficult and it holds you out as a true professional.

One more issue to clarify. As a REALTOR® it is against our Code Of Ethics to use a purchase contract to negotiate a higher co-broke. You can't do it.

Again you have two choices. First, you can negotiate a higher co-broke PRIOR to showing the property. Make the call. You never know.

Secondly, if you have a signed BBA, the Buyer can ask the Seller to contribute towards your agreed upon commission. Or he can just ask the Seller for a closing costs contribution. The difference between your agreed commission and the co-broke is a Buyer closing cost and the Seller can contribute towards it as part of the purchase agreement. Very simple.

So that's it, Broker Bryant's crash course on co-brokes. What do think? Will this help you to up your game?

Below are a few of posts on BBAs and how to get them signed. Hope this helps. You knew I wouldn't leave you hanging didn't you?

Everything you need to know about BBAs and then some.

Copyright © 2009 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

Bryant Tutas
Broker/Owner
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc
Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker
http://www.brokerbryant.com/

***The content of this blog is solely my opinion***

Hi folks. This post is about "disintermediation". I have a whole bunch of stuff I could write about this topic but today I want to concentrate on Real Estate portals, specifically Trulia, Zillow and Cyberhomes.

First, in a nutshell, "disintermediation" is defined as "getting rid of the middleman". The idea is that Sellers and Buyers no longer need agents and can just log on to Trulia, Zillow, Cyberhomes or any of the other real estate portals and buy and sell real estate without the help of the middleman or REALTORS® specifically. Now folks I don't want to debate the value of a REALTOR®. Been there done that.

I want to talk about this disintermediation thing. Here's what I think.

The real estate portals, that supposedly will make the MLS no longer necessary, are actually creating another level of middleman.

Trulia.com is:

• We are a real estate search engine that helps you find homes for sale and provides real estate information at the local level to help you make better decisions in the process.(From trulia.com about us page)

The consumer can now log onto Trulia, find a house and THEN contact either their own REALTOR® or the listing broker. Better yet, maybe they will all have to go through Prudential, one of Trulia's new partners. A FSBO cannot place a property on Trulia. Only agents can. So Trulia has NOTHING to do with disintermediation. So if the consumer wants to purchase one of my listings, by using Trulia, they will have to go through me. My listings are on Trulia.

What is Zillow.com?

• Zillow.com is an online real estate service dedicated to helping you get an edge in real estate by providing you with valuable tools and information. (from zillow.com about us)

Now I concede that the consumer could very well go to Zillow.com and attempt to buy and sell real estate without the REALTOR® being involved. But if they want to purchase a property listed with me....they will have to go through me. Why? Because my listings are on Zillow.

Cyberhomes.com is the portal to watch:

• Expert tools. First-hand knowledge. Cyberhomes^TM valuations give you access to most of the same information that real estate professionals use to evaluate homes. (from cyberhomes about us)

Cyberhomes is owned by Fidelity National Title. They have 100 million property records!! Keep an eye on Cyberhomes. They also have reliable sold information on these properties. The consumer CAN log on to Cyberhomes and get information. BUT if they want to purchase one of my listings...they will have to go through me. My listings are on Cyberhomes.

Now let me state that I use these portals quite a bit. Just yesterday, one of my Sellers contacted me wanting to do some research on her own, to see what her house is really worth. She wanted to know if she could do this by visiting the tax records online. I said she could. I also said her best bet is for me to update the CMA. BUT if she wanted to do some research on her own....here are the links to Zillow and Cyberhomes.

Also yesterday, I had a buyer contact me through my blog http://brokerbryant.com. He sent me an MLS# and wanted some info. It was not one of my listings and I had already logged out of the MLS so I just put the MLS# into the "search properties" feature on my site http://brokerbryant.com and pulled up the property.

I got the address and then located the property on Trulia and sent it over to him. I thought Trulia's presentation was a little better than my IDX. No biggie. The buyer emailed me back and I will be showing him the property next week when he arrives from Bogota Columbia to buy in Poinciana FL.

My point is, the real estate portals are not disintermediating my business in the least. They are actually giving me some tools I can use in my business.

Being a listing Broker, as I am, I OWN the listings. No matter where the are syndicated you can't buy one without going through me. I control the inventory and I control the commission. This is the advantage of being a listing Broker. Whether or not your Buyer decides to cut out the middleman, you, they aren't able to cut me out. They have to go through me no matter where they find the information.

To take this a step further. If the MLS disappeared tomorrow, I would still OWN the listing. I don't care where the Buyer comes from. They can't purchase one of my listings without me getting paid. Think about that.

And for the consumer. Why waste your time going through the "middleman"? Why not go straight to the source? You don't need Trulia, Zillow or Cyberhomes. In fact, you probably haven't heard of these places anyway. So just do a Google (I bet you've heard of them) search for the area you want to live in. Want to buy or sell in Poinciana FL? Try Googling these.

• Buy a house in Poinciana

• Sell a property in Poinciana

• Find a broker in Poinciana

• Buy a foreclosure in Poinciana
  

• List a short sale in Poinciana

• SEXY REALTOR IN POINCIANA

Then just contact the guy at the top......Broker Bryant. Google me....that's all you get for free.

Copyright © 2008 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

Bryant Tutas
Broker/Owner
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc
Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker
http://www.brokerbryant.com/
***The content of this blog is solely my opinion***

Hi folks. All the recent spam comments going around AR have given me the opportunity to revisit some of my older posts that I had completely forgotten about. This one included.

If you're not calling to hire me then quit wasting my time!!!

Leslie Bloss wrote a post last year that stirred up quite the conversation. Here it is if you haven't read it yet.

In a nutshell, her post was about how to handle a home owner who phoned in asking for a price analysis and in the same breath mentioning she was NOT going to use a REALTOR®.

The comments Leslie received were quite interesting to say the least. I was actually amazed at how many folks would not have helped this lady out.

Folks, I may be old school but aren't we in the business of helping people out? Personally I spend a lot of time and money to make the phone ring. In fact, the only reason I advertise is to get folks to contact me. I just don't understand blowing them off when they contact us with out at least taking the time to see if we can help.

There is a sequence of events that needs to happen in order to be a successful salesperson.

1. Get the consumer to contact you.
2. Make the appointment.
3. Qualify the prospect.
4. Meet face to face.
5. Build trust.
6. Pitch your product.
7. Close the deal.

This post is about making the appointment. I can't count how many times I have had folks call me, that started out with attitudes, that ended up being long time customer/clients. In fact, it's been my experience that the most difficult people turn out to be the best customer/clients. It's certainly worth your time to meet with them.

Trust me when I say they will remember you and send you business even if you aren't able to help them out right away. What difference does it make if they don't use your services until 5 years later? Are you going some where? Is real estate just a temporary job or are you in it to build a lasting business? Goodwill goes along way my friends. And all it costs is a little time and some common courtesy.

So next time your phone rings try this:

"Can you come over and tell us how much our house is worth? We won't be hiring a rea-la-tor but we need this information."

• Well sure....I can do that. I'm in your area on Tuesday. Would 10:00 or 2:00 be better?

"How much do you charge? We're not paying more than y%."

• I'm not cheap but I'm sure we can work something out. How about I stop by tomorrow at 10:00 to check out your house. We'll talk about my fee then. First, let's see what we need to do to get your house sold. OK? What's better for you 10:00 or 2:00?

"I'm not listing with you tomorrow. We have 2 other agents coming over before we decide if we want to use a agent."

• That's excellent! You should get several opinions. I actually have a waiting list of folks wanting to list with me but can squeeze you in on Wednesday at 12:00. Is that OK or would 2:00 Thursday be better for you?

"Our last agent never called and never returned our calls. All you rea-la-tors care about is making money! I'm not signing anything for more than 30 days!!!"

• Sounds like you had a bad experience. If it helps I can't get rea-la-tors to return my phone calls either! Anyway...we can't change the past so let's work on the future....getting your house sold. How about tomorrow at 10:00?

I could go on and on but I'm sure you get my point. Make the appointment. Here's another tip. I make the appointment then I hang up. I call back to qualify the property and the prospect. I can always cancel the appointment if I feel it's not going to work. I do this because my only initial goal is to make the appointment. I don't want to get them off track, by asking too many qualifying questions, before I have a commitment to meet. Make sense?

Of course, if you have business out the ying yang already, then by all means, do what works for you. Me.....I think I'll help them. How about you?

Are you a Florida REALTOR(R) looking for a change? Check it out. http://TTRealtyNet.com

CENTRAL FLORIDA REALTOR(r) OPPORTUNITIES

Copyright © 2009 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

Hi folks. OK so it's Friday again. Do you know what that means? It means.......time for me to sell product again!!! I'm sorry BUT I have to do it. TLW needs new shoes AND.....there are agents out there that really need help with their Short Sales.

I bet there are agents reading this post right now that want to do Short Sales but feel they are too much work. Or feel they won't get paid for their efforts. Well if that agent is you....don't fear. Wendy Rulnick and I have designed our Short Sale Basics Webinar series just for you.

Short Sale Basics is a five part Webinar that walks you through a Short Sale Transaction from beginning to end. The best thing is that it's taught by two Real Estate Brokers that handle Short Sales all day long.

Wendy and I both handle our Short Sales ourselves from beginning to end. No outsourcing.

Short Sale Basics Session 3 is being taught tomorrow at 11am Eastern time. Tomorrow's session will teach you about:

1. Pricing the Short Sale
2. Short Sale Price Reduction Strategy
3. Marketing the Short Sale
4. Qualifying the Short Sale Buyer
5. Negotiating the Short Sale Purchase Contract

I know what you're are thinking "WOW!! Broker Bryant.. that's a ton of information." Well...yes it is. Not sure how Wendy and I are going to cover all of this in 90 minutes but we will. And if you can't keep up......it's being recorded!! That's right...we have all sessions available in MP3 format. You can load them on your iPod and listen on your own time.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO ATTEND LIVE!!

But if you want to.....the cost for tomorrow's session is $57.00.

OR...you can purchase the entire course for only.....

$197.00

$97 is only good for two more weeks. Beginning August 1st the price is $197.00. That's right...$197.00 once the course is recorded.

Now here's the big announcement. I didn't tell Wendy I was mentioning this today but what the heck. I feel like spilling the beans. Wendy and I are launching www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com on August 1st. This is going to be the one place to go for all things Short Sale. ShortSaleSuperstars.com will be a site for all of us who do Short Sales to help each other and support each other.

You'll be able to find forms, documents, lender tips, phone numbers, top secret email addys, training materials and much much more. ShortSaleSuperstars.com will be an interactive business network for people that take Short Sales serious. Our goal is help each other become better so as a group we can make a difference.

People need smart agents. They need agents that can help them through these difficult times. So if you want to make a difference and.....you want to get paid for doing so....come join us. The membership fee is only $27 per month FREE!! It will be the best money you have spent in a long time. Short Sales can be very time consuming and aggravating but .....you do NOT have to go it alone.

If you are interested just cllick over to www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com and click on the subscribe button at the top. Become a part of this exciting new venture!!

Copyright © 2009 http://www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com | All Rights Reserved

Together We Can Make a Difference

"I'm not a racist but......." Do these words make you cringe? Do you just want to leave before they go any further? The best way to tell a racist is when they say “I’m not a racist but……”.

Meeting with so many potential customers on a regular basis, as I do, it doesn’t surprise me when I hear this but it does surprise me how often I hear it and who’s saying it. As REALTORS(R) we cannot go there! We must nip this conversation in the bud before it goes any further. There is a little law called the Fair Housing Act that we must abide by.

•         * How do we do this?
  
•         * How do we continue to work with this person?
  
•         * Do we just ignore it and move forward?
  
•         * Do we lay the law down?

I must admit that this always places me in an awkward position. I usually move forward at the speed of light then ignore it but I can never seem to forget it. It changes my relationship with that person.

Just last week I had a potential Buyer, for one of my listings, call me to cancel an appointment with one of my agents. The wife told me that her husband would rather work with a man. Since it was my listing I agreed to meet them over there. The first thing out of hubby's mouth was "I'm not racist but I work with foreigners all day long and I don't want to work with one when looking at houses" then he spit his chewing tobacco out of his mouth. Redneck asshole!! Oops! Did I just say that out loud? Oh well.....Redneck is not a protected class. But my agent, who is Hispanic, is.

My dream is that someday we will learn to appreciate people for who they are not despise them for the color of their skin or the way they speak. I live in the great State of Florida and one of the best things about Florida is that it’s very multicultural. I wish all people would see it that way.

I’m not racist but…………..I do have a vision.

Are you a Florida REALTOR(R) looking for a change? Check it out. http://TTRealtyNet.com

CENTRAL FLORIDA REALTOR(r) OPPORTUNITIES

Copyright © 2009 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

Hi folks. OK so Wendy and me are now "Official Short Sale Instructors." Even though we are instructing we are also learning. We are learning how to work together and how to market our new business. With any new business venture one of the first things you want to define is your "Unique Value Proposition".

Your Unique Value Proposition is:

Clearly identifying how your products and services are different from your competition.

Basically, you have to know what sets you apart from your competition. Whether you are selling houses, Webinars or widgets, if you don't have something unique to sell, you will struggle. You will get lost in the mix of ordinary.

And.....it's NOT necessarily the product that has to be unique. It could be the marketing (Think Geico). It could be the delivery (NetFlix). Or, of course, it could very well the product (Swiss Army Knife) .

Whatever business you are in you MUST be able to answer the question......

"Why should your ideal customer purchase from you rather than from anybody else?"

On our quest to answer this question, Wendy and I keep getting back to this answer....

• "We are both full-time, working Brokers who list and sell short sales, all day, every day."

So what is YOUR Unique Value Proposition? Do you know?

WHAT OUR STUDENTS ARE SAYING

"I’ve completed lots of training but feel yours was most valuable in your method of approach and delivery. The dialogue made it feel like I was in an actual brick and mortar classroom with real live scenario." Wendy Weber, Realtor, Scottsdale, AZ

"Your webinar was very impressive and informative. I feel that it didn't come across as a lecture, but good and clear conversation. The short sale is a very complex process, but you have made it much clearer and there was a lot of useful information." Richard Barton Real Estate Investor

"I am really glad you guys are doing this, I was looking for a class taught by practicing real estate brokers."  Jana Hristova

"I enjoyed the SS session 1 yesterday and look forward to the next 4. After Wendy’s comment about the lame duck DOD HAP program yesterday I decided to blast my Congressman and 2 Senators an email blasting DODs inaction as a Citizen, Veteran and Realtor serving military clients." Don Duft, REALTOR®

"I just wanted to thank you again and let you know that you and Wendy did a fabulous job!  I’m really looking forward to the next one." Debe Maxwell, Realtor®/Broker

Copyright © 2009 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved