1/2 percent realtor for you Grand Rapids flippers...

Dawn M. · 2019-02-01T05:58:15-08:00

If you have a realtor that you work with regularly on your flips you probably have a decent discount already-this won’t be for you. For the rest of you-We’ve done a handful of flips in Grand Rapids Mi. Our last two houses were sold by an up and coming company we found that offers an introductory rate of as little as 1%. (maybe you’ve seen their signs on US 131). They do everything digitally, you know how buyers use the internet to find homes they want to buy, theses guys are offering sellers the chance to do the same thing- use the internet to put your house up for sale. If you have just the slightest idea about where to find a parcel number and your property taxes you could do this. As offers come in, you get an alert immediately. You can look at them, compare them and decline or accept an offer all within their site, you have the power. They are there (all licensed realtors) for any questions you might have in the process. Also they could be a source for homes to buy too as everything on their site is not on the MLS (Its up to the seller if they want to pay that fee) The company is GetMovin’ Realty. Great guys! Smooth transactions and both homes sold in 24 hrs for asking price and the other one -above. I’m not affiliated with them in anyway, just trying to give some exposure to them because they really saved us thousands and did a great job and also to help fellow flippers save on their bottom line. (So I just went to their site and the 1/2% introductory is over. They are doing 1% now....) I couldn’t figure out how to edit my post title. Apologies, Not trying to be misleading....

Tim Johnson

Lender · Grand Rapids, MI · Member since 2018 · 703 posts · 446 votes

7y

great to hear, by the way, man its cold here right now, lets hope we get a heat wave soon

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Dan Farkas

Real Estate Broker · Grand Rapids, MI · Member since 2018 · 77 posts · 33 votes

7y

Interesting concept of what they are doing. There will always be a huge debate of how to effectively sell a home. It is also always good to have choices.

I do not know this comapnay personally and these comments are not directly related to this company.

I know a few guys that discount their commision around west michigan and as a buyers agent on the opposite side I was not pleased over several dealings with a couple of them. I wont mention any names however it has been my experience that those who heaviliy discount their comissions may potentailly have a reason why. It is important to note here that this is based on my experience only and does not reflect all brokers or agents discounting their comisissions.

I have been on the buying side representing buyer clients who have submitted offers that have gone unacknowledged by a few discount brokers and agents. Despite several attempts I did not get any response for a few days. In which the response was “I am working 18 hours a day trying to keep up” In this scenario my clients lost out on the house and I wonder how much was actually lost to the seller should our offer be accepted or even used to strengthen their other offer.

I have another example where the service and response was also not there due to “being too busy” It also was about me submitting my over list price offer and having no acknowledgement of reciept of the offer despite several attenpts through several methods of communication. By the time I did get ackowledgement it was too late. The home was sold. Did this cost the seler more than 1 or 2 %? I’ll/we will never know. I do know that in this sellers market having more than one offer significantly improves a sellers position to negotiate from a higer strength and ideally, that means more money in a sellers pocket. Not very hard to make up a few percent there in many situations.

I am not suggesting that this one or all discount brokers are bad either. I am suggesting that everyone do their homework and find an agent that they understand and has time for them. Looks out for them. Does the due diligence for the client and has experience in the capacity of which you wish to use them for.

Everything they have set up as far their website and technology is not exclusive to them either. Many of us have the same if not better tools to offer our clients. We all use electronic forms where you get to see the offer right away. I also use electonic keyboxes and a program that lets the seller decide when or what time a home can be shown and controls that whole process. There are automatic electronic feedback forms sent to the seller so you can see what a buyers agent who just toured the home thought of it . That is of course if the agent who just showed it has the time to do so.

There has been agents in our area for years that have discounted the selling side of their comission or have offered flat fee MLS fees. Many operate under what is called limited service agreements and have been around for years. They can opperate under an agreement (potentially) that removes certain job duties of which a full service broker has to do.

My advice to anyone is to know what you are signing with any broker or agent. We can all opperate under several ways and capacities on or off the MLS. Knowing that and understanding what you are getting from each agent or broker is paramount..

It may not be just about the 1% or 2% discount up front.

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Hai Loc

Specialist · Toronto, Ontario · Member since 2012 · 2k+ posts · 891 votes

7y

Discount brokers are bad for business and image of realtors. You really think they will fight for you or just try and close the deal for their commission.

Home owners/buyers think that the market will dictate how much they will buy and sell a house so using realtor A vs B is the same so why not take the person who charges less. You get what you pay for.

Realtors who defend their commission really believe in their service and identity. The same realtor who would walk away from a listing with a seller who is unreasonable of the listing price. Why would you jeopardize your identity by taking an overpriced listing and waste your time that will never sell. But a discount broker would have a different mindset and take the listing anyways to get more exposure. But to me its more like being exposed of how they weren't really looking for the sellers best interest and let the listing sit for months wasting everyone's time.

With my experience I wouldn't mind using a discount broker because all I really need from them is local area knowledge and access to comps. Every other aspect of the transaction I will be fully engaged.

In Toronto or even Ontario the leading discount brokerage is called ComFree and now they have an affiliated Purple Bricks. They are a flat fee brokerage that charges I think no more than $1000 for any listing but are not full service.

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Dawn M.

OP

Flipper/Rehabber · Grand Rapids, MI · Member since 2015 · 9 posts · 4 votes

7y

You guys are making sense, if you don’t know the first thing about listing or selling a house, don’t use a discount agent. It’s an intimidating process and usually you get what you pay for. Get Movin’ doesn’t claim to do it all for less. They’re saying- we built this platform, if you do the leg work and list your own house we’ll get you the comps and do the end paperwork and we do if for way less than the norm.

for sure, you need to be hands on before and during the process, but as flippers, don’t you love the DIY option to save a few thousand?

It’s not going to be for everyone but just because they’re doing things differently than the industry has seen doesn't mean their service is second rate. Give them a try and get experience for yourself.

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Dan Farkas

Real Estate Broker · Grand Rapids, MI · Member since 2018 · 77 posts · 33 votes

7y

I guess what I am trying to say is there a potential for money lost in the negotiation, knowledge and marketing that a full service, full time broker brings to a transaction IMO.

I could comp out a home for 20% above or below actual sales price depending on the comparable I used and the time spent on it. I could quickly use Zillow to come up with Data and comps in a few minutes. Anyone could. Or you could look at data driven from zip codes, individual blocks of houses. Absorption rates..... You could spend a ton of time on that like I do. Recently I sold a home for 20% ABOVE the Zillow estimate. There wasn't multiple offers on that one. I actually negotiated that last $4000 out of the buyers agent by using a great tactic. In that case that was close to a 3% difference in price right there.

I try to spend a huge amount of time on the data before a listing. I spend an additional amount of time with my unique marketing. I also monitor the traffic of showings, feedback and other factors to determine what direction a seller should move in with their home.

Additionally the law looks at limited service agreements differently than those who have a full service contract. There are different requirements by law with these types of relationships and I wanted to point that out. Read the documents and understand what the agency relationship you are getting out of ANY real estate related transaction. Even full service.

I have never said their service is second rate. I would never suggest that. Quite frankly, I don't even care how they do business as they are free to do business how they see fit. What I do care about is people understanding what they are getting out of a transaction and a brokerage. If you are ok with that I am too. I do not think it is fair to them or other brokerages (full service or not) to group the two types together for an apples to apples comparison in many cases just by looking at commission rates between any real estate brokerage model.

Again. It is not my intent to undermine or disparage their business model and also think it is great for consumers to have options. Just know there is probably a difference in what you are getting.

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1/2 percent realtor for you Grand Rapids flippers...

1/2 percent realtor for you Grand Rapids flippers...

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