All Forum Posts by: Zach Sikes

Cole directory is a good one. They integrate with Vulcan7 if you want an auto dialer. 

@Chris Lynch 

That's exaclty what I'm saying. It's the old 80-20 rule. About 20% of the agents bring in 80% of the business (or even more in my market). In our market, there are several brokerages that will put a "cap" on what we pay in. For example, my office will take a cut out of the first $2,000,000 in sales. After that, I basically get to keep 100% of my commission for the remainder of the year.  If you are going to grow a business on real estate sales, why not grow a team? 

@Chris Lynch

I've been an agent for 4-5 years now, and so far the benefit of being a part of franchise or existing brokerage far outweighs the benefits.  Our office books are open, and we (as top producing agents) make much more money that the brokerage does.  It might make sense after you develop a team to open a brokerage, but there are so many things that make being a part of a bigger office worth it for now.

Hao

What part of town are these properties in?  Did they just come on the market the last couple of days?

Lower price and as-is. A typical retail buyer wouldn't buy it anyway with the work that needs done, so that means an investor would be your target market. Most would prefer to get a better price and do the work themselves. 

@Adam Johnson 

Thanks for the info. How many options did you look at when you decided on your system?

In our MLS, Realtors are required to set a property pending within 2 days of an executed contract or run the risk of being fined. Having good data is very important!

@Bill P.

Thanks for your help!

@Bill P.

How did you trial of Buildium go?  We are looking at it and a couple of other options to manage my properties and for a few of our clients.

I don't believe real estate agents are becoming obsolete. Our roles have definitely changed though. In the past, the agent controlled the data. Now, the buyer has more access to information about properties through the Internet. The agent's value now comes down to market expertise, marketing, listing preparation, convenience, peace of mind, and service.  As long as agents continue to add value, they will not become obsolete.