Did you know that not all real estate brokers and not all agents are necessarily members of your local MLS (multiple listing service), wherever you may live in the U.S.? What does it mean if a broker is not? Let’s consider the implications.

Most people know that the MLS is where real estate agents post their listings. This is the first step in marketing a property. Putting the listing in the MLS gives other agents who are members of the MLS the ability to view the details of that listing and share the listing with their potential buyer clients. All of this exposes the listed property to more potential buyers.

So why wouldn’t a broker be a member of a local MLS? There are three logical reasons. First, it is too expensive. That is not likely, since it is not an expensive service. In fact, it is the least expensive marketing an agent will ever do. The second possible reason is that the broker has a better marketing plan. That could be, but this also not likely, since the best marketing plan would include first listing it in the local MLS. The third possible reason would be that the broker’s membership was suspended or revoked by the local MLS board. If that is what happened, we don’t even want to discuss going further with that broker. Anyone who list with such a broker either does not know about the suspension or revocation or they are on Ritalin.

For the consumer, there are several more important considerations in deciding to list with a non-MLS participating broker.

Your logical goal when selling your home is to get the highest possible price in the least amount of time. I recommend choosing your real estate agent carefully. It’s a very important decision for you.

Courtesy Sequim & Port Angeles Real Estate, LLC

Okay, let’s qualify that a little bit. Sequim is a well known retirement community. While there is no data collected on this, it is my educated guess that about 50% of the Sequim agents are either retirees with an income who decided to get a real estate license, or their spouses have a retirement income.

The other speculation is that out of the 50% who are not retired and don’t have a spouse with a retirement income, 50% of that group has an income from a regular non-real estate job. There’s nothing wrong with being a part time real estate agent. That is popular throughout the U.S.

That leaves 53 agents who are not retired, do not have a retired spouse with an income, and who do not have an income from a regular job or a spouse with an income from a regular job (other than real estate).

Out of this group of 53 agents, how many are full time and earn 100% of their income from real estate commissions to support their family? Here again, I’m guessing that 35 agents is the answer. It’s a small town and a small market, so to have 35 agents earning full time incomes to support their families is probably about right.

The Sequim Association of Realtors is one of the best managed associations in the state. It has been for years.

I raised my own family in Sequim and in my strong opinion, it is one of the best communities (all things considered) to live in anywhere in the country.

Courtesy Sequim & Port Angeles Real Estate, LLC

2. Our marketing is some of the most effective marketing in the business. We do not share our marketing secrets with our competition, and virtually no one is doing what we do as effectively as we are doing it.

3. Our designated broker has tremendous real estate experience that is unsurpassed. His experience goes back to the mid 1970′s when he started his career in real estate as an agent and later as an associate broker while still in Alaska, then 20 years of real estate law in Washington, head of an escrow company, personally closed 100′s of transactions, negotiated 100′s (if not 1,000′s) of real estate transactions, drafted real estate residential and commercial documents of all kinds, litigated most real estate issue agents deal with, acted as an adviser to top producing agents for 15 years, and so on. Enough of that.

4. We have the most technologically advanced staff of any brokerage on this side of the Columbia Gorge. This information is top secret, so it will not be revealed here.

5. While our clients are the center of mass for our business and all that we do, our designated broker also considers the financial, professional, and personal welfare of our agents a top priority. Not only do we train and mentor for success, our agents get paid 80% of their commissions, plus residual commission if they choose to recruit other agents. Our philosophy is that our work should be enjoyable and our relationships at this company will be healthy and productive and profitable relationships. We love our clients and we love what we do.

6. Our agents pay all their own expenses, and either work out of their home office or their own public office. Sellers want to meet us in their homes, so we can see them and evaluate them. Buyers typically want to meet at their hotel or coffee shop if they are from out of town, or we meet at a central location (the broker’s office), and drive out to look at homes. Clients do not care about brick and mortar buildings. They care about effectively marketing their home for sale or finding their dream home. Our full business model, which is very extensive, will be shared only with our agents.

Serious agents will want to look closely at the eXp Realty opportunity.

Here is a short segment of an interview of the owner/broker of Sequim and Port Angeles Real Estate, LLC [read the full interview here]:

Blog Manager: Chuck, you did not join a major real estate franchise. Do you think people look for the big names?

Chuck: I’ll tell you what clients have been telling me for nearly 30 years. They want someone who will help them find what they are looking for. They could care less about the name of a company or the size of the building. They don’t sit in California or Arizona, or even in Seattle, and say, “Honey, let’s call a big name franchise in Sequim or Port Angeles, and see if they can help us find our dream home at a rock bottom price.” About 75% of buyers start their search for their next home on the Internet, and they’re not using real estate portals or franchise websites. Like all of us, they are searching with Google or Yahoo. Again, it’s not about me, it’s not about the company, but it is all about the client and what the client is looking for. I have a completely different business model than 99% of the crowded brokerage business. For me, it really is all about the client, not me.

Blog Manager: Chuck, since you talk about serving your clients more than anything else, can I assume that you have free resources that people can check out?

Chuck: My pleasure.

Applicants should email their Resume and a cover letter explaining why Sequim and Port Angeles Real Estate should hire them. Please email to chuckmarunde@gmail.com

Include your telephone number and email address. You will be notified if you are chosen for an interview.

Real estate brokers who operate under the traditional model are still using a 20 year old business model, but the business world, and in particular, the real estate world, has dramatically evolved in the past two decades.

How does the traditional model market listed properties? This old worn out approach markets property by:

1. Entering it in the local MLS;
2. Advertising it once every 6 weeks in a little newspaper ad.

That’s it! Let’s pause here to answer the objection a traditional broker would immediately have at this point. He/she would say, “Oh, no. We do much more than that. We send out “Just Listed” post cards to neighbors, we send out price changes to other agents through our email system, we put the house on the broker tour, we hold an open house, we run ads in the newspaper, . . . we have it on our website, oh yes, we do so much more.” They would also talk for several minutes in a fast and nervous voice, but when they finished, you would not be able to repeat what they said, because it didn’t really seem to make sense.

Yadda, yadda, yadda. All of these things are just more of the same, and all of this is part of the 20 year old business model.

There’s nothing wrong with such tactics, but the world has changed in the last two decades, and buyers and sellers have become very savvy. Buyers and sellers do not necessarily understand how the world has changed in real estate sales, or what marketing tactics work or don’t work, but nearly everyone is aware that the traditional approach is no longer effectively connecting with buyers.

It’s much more than just ineffective marketing that is at issue. A simple concept called CRM, or customer relationship management, became a popular subject about 15 years ago. The dialogue focused on meeting the client’s needs and communicating regularly with the client during the relationship, keeping the client informed, building a positive relationship, and doing such a great job that the client would eagerly send referrals. Today, 15 years later, the vast majority of real estate brokers have NO customer relationship management system in place.

Again, consumers don’t necessarily understand how it should be, but their gut feeling is that something is wrong, and they are not being treated the way they should be. Clients do not like being ignored for months at a time.

The 20 year old model focuses on the real estate agent, rather than on the client. For example, the old model suggests an agent promote himself or herself, brag about his sales record, or boast in other self-centered ways. But consumers have one question, “How are you going to help me sell my home?” Traditional real estate brokerage doesn’t understand that it’s not about me, the agent, but it is ALL about the client. The client is and should be the center of mass for all decisions made. It is the client’s best interest that should be the focus.

Consumers sense this, and they don’t like it.

The world has dramatically changed in the past two decades. Clients expect more. They expect brokers to sell their homes using cutting edge technologies and in such ways that strong and positive relationships are built during the process. Technology and the Internet have dramatically changed the way the real estate business is done. Most brokers are only slightly aware of the significance of this. In a feeble effort to demonstrate they are using the Internet, they have techies build a website that is no more than a static brochure on the Internet.

Consumers will not be fooled by counterfeits. Consumers are demanding more. How real estate is bought and sold is dramatically changing, and consumers know it. Unfortunately, most brokers and agents do not.

The following are true stories from somewhere in the U.S. Only the names have been changed to shield the guilty.

True Story #1. An out of town couple hire a real estate agent to find their dream home. Their agent shows them a number of homes. They purchase and close on one they love. Later they discover the home is infested with pests, and the wood under the house in the crawl space is rotting because of excessive moisture and standing water. Their agent knew about this but did not disclose it. The buyers paid for the repairs out of their own pockets.

True Story #2. A widow purchases a home that turns out to have asbestos, but she has no recourse against her own real estate agent nor against the inspector.

True Story #3. A couple listed their land with an agent they found through a popular advertisement. Their land was listed for over a year but never sold. Out of frustration the couple did not renew the listing and decided to sell it themselves.

True Story #4. A couple listed their home with an agent, but months passed by and they didn’t hear from their agent, didn’t have any activity on their home, and didn’t see any advertisements. They withdrew the listing, listed with another agent and sold the home within a matter of weeks.

What are you looking for in a Realtor? Do you know how to identify what you want in a Realtor? Or will you end up disillusioned with your agent?

By the way, the photo above is me . . . many years ago. Wow, I look so young. Looking for a competent and trustworthy Realtor? Interview me and ask me anything you want, and you decide. I don’t have all the hair I had in that photo, but I do have the experience you might be looking for.

Email me at chuckmarunde@gmail.com or simply call me anytime at (360) 775-5424.
Website: SequimPortAngeles.com
Blog: SequimRealEstateNews.com or
PortAngelesRealEstateNews.com