More Random Thoughts on a Topic that's been Beaten to Death

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By: Darin "Sid" Cameron, CRS
Thu, Aug 10th, 2006 8:47 pm

I have some additional random thoughts on the topic of the past few days- getting licensed to sell your own rehabbed homes vs. hiring an agent...

If you think all you need is to get your property in the MLS and it will sell itself or want your home in the MLS but want to manage your own marketing, you should know that there are discount and limited service brokerages who will give you MLS access for a small transactional fee (and let me add, I’m not one of them so don’t ask).

However they can be found all over the internet or in phonebooks. It’s honestly a cheaper way to find out how valuable (or unvaluable) the MLS really is prior to starting your own brokerage to do the very same thing.

Just sign a 30-60 day agreement, and if it doesn’t work you can change your direction (sell it yourself or use a full-service agent).

If you determine you really want a full service solution that gives you marketing, contract management, etc, then just build the commission expense into your construction budget and go interview agents until you find one you are comfortable working with.

Remember, you get what you pay for, so the person who’s the cheapest (or only trying to sell themself with a cheap commission) is probably that way for a reason.

But with that said, if you're paying a premium commission rate and you're getting nothing more than a discount broker's services then you should also be reevaluating who you're using as an agent. Premium commission should mean premium levels of service.

The same is true for property management.

More important, if an agent does a crappy job, DON’T USE THEM AGAIN! It amazes me the number of rehabbers and builders who stick with agents who repeatedly give them lousy service.

A final note is that as an unlicensed rehabber you can treat every property differently- selling some yourself as FSBO's and using agents (and even different agents) for others (although the best agents probably won’t want to work with you long term if you are only giving them the dogs).

The same is true for property managers. Who says one company should have all your business unless they have proven themselves? Also, don’t sign long term agreements that aren’t industry norms and make sure there are no cancellation penalties should you fall out of love with your agent/broker/property manager. If you have questions regarding a contract that isn’t being fully explained to you, seek legal consultation from an attorney prior to signing anything.