Here is an advance of an article that I wrote today for publication in the June issue of Eastside Business that I thought would be appropriate here:
Are you thinking about selling your home this summer? Maybe you are finally ready to take advantage of the current real estate market. Perhaps you are ready to sell and move up to a larger home or a different neighborhood. Maybe your children have left the nest and its time to downsize. Or quite possibly you are ready to move into a downtown condo with less maintenance – and a lot less driving.
Regardless of your situation, if you want (and/or need) to sell your home I can help – and work to make sure that you realize more of your equity than if you employed the services of another agent or broker. I do this through lower listing commissions and tough, smart negotiating.
Because my company, AAA Properties, is a small, independent brokerage I don’t have the huge monthly marketing costs that most other real estate companies have. I work out of my home office here in Bellevue and do not have the massive overhead of other companies who are paying exorbitant rents for offices that you will probably never see.
At the same time, I do have access to the same MLS (multiple listing service) – the Northwest MLS, as any other agent or broker in the area. I use the same information and the same forms. We all use many of the same tools, but I can market your home in ways that others do not – enhanced internet presence, including making sure your home is included on many national real estate websites including Realtor.com, Google Base, Zillow, Trulia, and Craigslist. When I list your home for sale, it will also be featured on a number of local websites including JoeListsHomes.com, AAAProperties.net, YourEastsideBroker.com and all the search sites of the major local agencies. Something else that sets me apart is that I will also advertise your home here in Eastside Business until it is sold. The fact that nobody else is currently doing this is a great advantage over other area homes for sale. The fact that you are reading this now proves that EB has the greatest readership in the world – and your property will be exposed to all who read it.
Home sales statistics have shown year after year that very few homes are actually sold by the same agent who lists the property for sale. The role of the listing agent is to market the property and make it available for thousands of other agents and brokers to show to their clients. That is my specialty. Many, if not most local agents will charge you 3% of the sales price for this service. That is $22,500 on a sales price of $750,000 and I think it is too much. I am not greedy and do not feel a need to make a killing at my clients’ expense. I am willing to take a much smaller listing commission of only 1% of the sales price – saving my clients money.
It is important to note however, that I do recommend and require my clients to offer a full 3% of the sales price as a commission to the selling agent and broker. If this is not done, we run the risk of other real estate professionals and brokerages not wanting to show your home to their clients because they might not make as much money. It is highly unethical for a real estate professional not to show all homes that fit their clients’ requirements, but unfortunately it has been known to happen in the industry.
Because I firmly believe in giving back to the community in which I live and work, for the entire summer, I will be donating 50% of all the commissions that I earn to charities and organizations of my client’s choice (or if I take a listing by referral, the referring party will get to choose the recipient of the donation). Some of the many worthy organizations that are close to my heart include: Overlake Service League, Hopelink, Race for the Cure, Youth Eastside Services, World Vision, Bellevue Entrepreneur Center, Eastside Heritage Center, Friends of King.org, Friends of the Bellevue Library, PBS and many more. If your group or organization is looking for donations, I would be very happy to make one for every referral I receive that results in a closed transaction. What a fantastic way for all of us to make a difference in our local community!
Joe Kennedy is a REALTOR® and the designated broker of AAA Properties in Bellevue. He is also the owner and publisher of Eastside Business and is very happy to be able to help support local community and service groups in a variety of ways. Joe can be reached at 425-455-LIST (5478) or JoeListsHomes@gmail.com.
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