Discount Realtor = Great Service?

There’s a conversation going on right now on Trulia.com where someone asked about if there was a Discount Real Estate Broker out there who could list his home.  It spurned a large response from the real estate community, and is still continuing.  I have commented a couple of times, so here’s my latest comment….

To read the full thread of comments go to…http://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Selling/Real_Estate_Brokers_with_full_MLS_services_at_a_di-295116-p_1-recent?answerId=1095261#left_content

Just thought I’d share an email I received this morning from a client (below).

To set it up briefly… In NC, we now have a “Due Diligence Period” that the Buyer pays for (negotiated amount for a negotiated period of time), where they can do whatever investigation they want in preparation to purchase the property (i.e. inspections, check out the neighborhood, get financing in place, etc). If they haven’t terminated the contract prior to the end of this period, the Buyers are pretty much obligated to purchase the property or will lose an additional amount of money (the Earnest Money Deposit). The Buyer’s agent is a traditional agent, charging much more than I am (a Discount Real Estate Agent), while I represent the Seller. In this situation, my client had fixed all that was asked for in a less formal repair request, but the Buyer’s agent was slow to get a formal repair request to us that included more items than were originally asked for. During this period, my client and I discussed the issues and appropriate responses in order to best protect their interests. When the Due Diligence Period ended and the Buyer’s agent threatened to terminate the contract since we did not agree to their formal request, I responded to the threat (at 10pm last night by the way), and they are now proceeding with the sale…. Here is my client’s email to me this morning….

(last name removed for privacy purposes)
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From: John B
Sent: Saturday, June 11, 2011 8:01 AM
To: Don Anthony Realty
Subject: Your Representation

Hi Don,
I can’t tell you how pleased I am with your representation. Even if they would have gone the other way after your email last night, your positioning was spot on! You said exactly what needed to be said in the exact way it needed to be said.

Once we get thru all this I will be happy to give you a testimonial.

Thank you!
John
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My point is this… I am proud to give my clients excellent, referral-worthy representation, while at the same time providing great advertising and charging a low amount for the service. I don’t charge less because I am worth less. I charge less (and I actually make more) because it is a different volume-based business model that doesn’t rely on getting your Aunt Sally and casual acquaintance from church to also be your client. There’s nothing wrong with the traditional business model if you are providing a great service to them, it’s just not the business model I have chosen to pursue and perfect. Yes, it’s true, that there are some absolutely terrible Discount Real Estate Brokers out there, but don’t lump me in with them, or with any other real estate agent who provides lousy service, regardless of the amount they charge.

By the way, I also had two of my listings close yesterday… average savings of about $7,000 each.