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Home Sellers Need Options – ROCS Delivers
Lynnwood undressed is generally more about community than commerce. When I post and invite comment here it is about trying to become a place where people can find out about our community and the people who live, work and play here. But I am a real estate agent, a Realtor by trade and these days real estate is a hot topic. After 23 years in the business, I have earned the right to occasionally weigh in authoritatively on things I think might help the conversation along. Realty Operating and Control Services, ROCS, is a professional marketing and support services company I founded in Lynnwood to help agents from all companies provide better service to their clients with more efficiency and accountability in the process. We do that sometimes by simply providing a good vendor referral or knowledgeable human interface to all the professional marketing and support services available in the real world and on the internet. Most often we do the organizing, technical, production and administrative tasks that confound entreprenurial types on a regular basis. We also do continuing education and business development workshops designed to reduce errors, aggravation and waste. These efficiencies translate into savings that in many cases can be passed along.
The Options 1.2.3 program, available through any real estate agent that knows of ROCS, begins with an open discussion about what a good agent can and will do for a homeseller, and what the expectations of both parties should be.
The gist of the Options 1.2.3 program is that if one believes a good marketing plan is helpful in gettng a home sold in this market, perhaps it should be handled by a professional marketing company. The reasons for marketing are varied, but good marketing makes your home stand out from the crowd and expands potential buyer pools. That is accomplished by reaching every possible audience by way of many types of media once your home is properly priced and staged. This can all be very expensive and time consuming when done correctly. It is however, an investment that usually pays off handsomely.
When an agent takes a listing, that agent is making a large investment of time and money in the project.
I think it is safe to say that in this market, taking marginal listings falls into the category of high risk investment; and as with any investment, high risk often demands a high rate of return for the investor. In this case, the investor would be the Agent on the hook for the expenses.
But what if the seller picked up some the risk and/or expense? Might not the seller then be entitled to a return on that investment? Shouldn’t the seller reasonably expect the cost of using an agent to go down somewhat if the risk/expense to the agent is lowered?
