In the old days Realtors got paid by representing you with buyers and basically "clerk" the deal by not really fighting for you but rather being a glorified referee. They would advertise it , have an open house, or a caravan (where fellow realtors tour the house so they could tell their prospective buyers that might be interested). When they recieved offers they would present them to you and negotiate for you by going back and forth. With the market the way it is to where houses sell themselves if priced on the medium or low side then what is the realtor really doing to earn your money? Many will tout years of being in the business or so many houses sold but just being around no longer cuts it these days with sellers AND buyers and they demand more. As more people become aware of credit and finance the new breed of realtors are learning too and putting these three weapons to your in the negotiating process.

While Credit Score Raising , Buying Power Boosting , and Mortgage Enhancement are just becoming topics in most real estate periodicals and newspapers, WE have been practicing for years what many are just learning. Read on and you will demand more out of your realtor and be in more control of the real estate process, whether you use us or not.

Before we get into the meat of what Im talking about lets first go to all the things a Realtor should do to earn your money.

1. When coming to meet you they should bring an analysis of your neighborhood, your town and your city concerning recent sales and listings.

2. Produce at least 10 testimonials from clients within the last 12 months, their best and worst.

3. Have a website like this that has reports that deal with every facet of the real estate process.

4. Supply a list of team members from Home Inspectors , Appraisers, Advertising Reps, Landscapers , Handymen , Movers ,and every other person that is needed throughout the process.

5. Develop a plan as to how the realtor will represent you detailing every step their personal team will take through the aspects of the sale. Discloses obligations and gives you a checklist of what to expect .

6. Write a representation agreement (between you & realtor)and takes the time to carefully explain every paragraph of it .

7. If you need to get your home ready, supply you with a team of professionals (landscaper, plumber,handyman, maids,professional furnishers,etc.)that you can contact and get your house in shape quickly so its ready to show.

8. Lists the property in the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) so it can be picked up in databases that might be looking for a property like yours.

9. Get a "virtual tour" done and posted to their website (where more and more people are looking).

10. Get "For Sale" sign out front of your house with the website address to see the Virtual Tour.

11 . Create The Perfect Fliers .

12. Fliers to be posted in Sign box (attatched to For Sale sign in front of your property)and use for Open Houses

13 . Open House scheduled and scheduled often

14 . Advertise it- in the paper, through their broker network, through "caravans" and through inter office mailing.

15 . Qualify Offers -Make sure when their efforts bring in offers that they are real, the buyers are qualified and that their buyers agreement isnt full of catches that you might not pick up and make the deal not as advantageous as it appears.

16 Expert analysis-When an offer is presented buyers will Inspect the property and come up with problems that they want negotiated in the deal. Your Realtor Having Home Inspectors, Contractors and other professionals to be at your fingertips will combat the offer and bring a higher level of confidence and will keep the sales price up.

16. Negotiate -when multiple offers are around they help you interpret what are the pros and cons of every deal .

17. "Deal Breaker" Maker - Many times in negotiating , the buyer and seller reach an impasse and both would walk away, hurting everyone when it takes a Realtor finding the way around it. Only Realtors with experience have the tricks. It could be negotiating a repair, having escrow cut the closing costs, getting a better price on a percieved repair. Helping the Buyer get a better deal on Financing by raising their credit score , increase their buying power in order to have a lower debt to ratio which qualifies them for lower mortgages rates . They should also have access to preferred finance centers that will help the buyer get a lower payment.

A Sellers example? A sale in 2003 had the buyers agent bringing an offer with a home inspection that says the roof needed to be redone, some electrical in three rooms and spa. The bill? $24,000. They tried to tell our realtor they can only afford $400,000 and our buyer wanted to hold at $449,000. Our realtor gets to work by having their Inspector rebuke the inspection on things he could, then got contractors quotes that favored a better deal to fix whats left and then presented the buyer and their agent with a finance program that the buyer could not qualify for initially (but raising credit score and buying power got them approved)and the buyers agent didnt bother to help them get. The buyer had their credit score raised, buying power improved and was in a better cashflow situation.

The Result? Our seller saved $19,000 on the repairs and got the buyer approved for 4.85% over their 5.99% which translates our seller being able to sell the house for $444,000. If our buyer hand not heard of us using a team approach to this level the deal would have gone south or the seller would have "lost" over $40,000!

This is the new breed of realtor system that no buyer or seller can live without . Buyers come away with better credit, better cashflow, lower payments than conventional real estate deals. When our realtors represent them they get the expertise of Home Inspectors, and turning the the same scenario onto the buyer and their new transaction.

Buyers Case in point : we represented a buyer and while we bulletproofed and streamlined our client to put them in the best position on the sale between them, we also found out the seller was in the midst of a sale on their new property they were planning to get once our buyer bought their property. We found out their position on the other sale and offered a better loan program to the seller than they knew they could get, which saved them $35,000 of which they gave $20,000 to our client through a price reduction for our efforts of going beyond the scope of the sale we wer oblilgated to by most realtor standards. The buyer saved what would translate to a $65,000 savings from the negotiation as well as streamlining .

Realize many realtors may say they do this but by giving you testimonials that you can contact saying they did it is what you should demand because 89% DONT use this new phase of full service real estate.

The Key weapons on top of the normal efforts are :

Team of experts and staff not just a "one person show"
Advertising Promoting and using the perfect flyer
Attacking the sale from all angles by using Credit Score Raising , Buying Power Boosting ,
and Mortgage Enhancement

If the realtor you are interviewing does not incorporate ALL of this then they are not full service and you may want to consider Contacting Us before its too late!