Deciding Between a Full-Service and a Discount Real Estate Brokerage Firm
By Andrew John Cocks | Real Estate Brokerage Company
Deciding Between a Full-Service and a Discount Real Estate Brokerage Firm
Article by Ryan Lynch
Trying to decide between a full-service real estate brokerage company or a discount service can be a difficult decision. After all, hiring a full-service real estate brokerage can result in paying tens of thousands of dollars in commission fees. At the same time, a full-service brokerage can offer a number of services that a discount service cannot. Therefore, it is important to take several things into consideration when determining which type of service is right for you.
Knowing the Marketplace
One of the most important things to take into consideration when deciding on the type of service you need is the marketplace. If it is a seller’s market, homes are selling quickly and at good prices, so you might not need a full-service brokerage to help you get your home sold at the price you are asking. If it is a buyer’s market, on the other hand, trying to move a home can be quite difficult. In this case, the expertise and extra work required to get your home sold at the best possible price may be worth paying a little extra.
Getting Professional Photos
Including quality photos with your listing is an essential part of getting it sold. Listing without photos are typically passed up completely by potential buyers and those with poor quality photos are generally dismissed. When you hire a full service company to handle the sell of your home, a professional photographer will most likely be brought in. He or she will take several photos and the full service company sort through the photos in order to find the ones that present the home in the most favorable light. The full-service agency will also have the photos cropped and resized in order to draw attention to the home’s most positive traits. With a discount service, on the other hand, you are not likely to receive a quality photo to help draw in a greater number of interested buyers.
Marketing Materials
Many discount brokerages do not bother with placing sign in the yards of the homes they have listed. Yet, these signs are an important form of advertisement that can help get your home sold more quickly. Some information that is generally found on these signs include:
* Main office phone number* The agent’s voice mail or personal cell phone number* A Web site address where more information can be obtained
The signage may also include specific information about the home that distinguishes it from other homes in the area.
In addition to placing a sign in front of your home, a full-service brokerage will also create a variety of other marketing materials to help sell your home. This may even include creating four-color flyers as well as direct mail pieces.
Simply put, you need to consider the market as well as the level of service you expect to receive from your real estate brokerage firm. If you want to get your home sold as quickly as possible and if you want to have a better chance of getting the price you are after, hiring a full-service brokerage firm is likely to be worth the extra cost.
Ryan Lynch is part of the marketing team for an Austin real estate company. They specialize in River Place real estate and Steiner Ranch Austin, and they help both buyers and sellers of residential properties.