This week I had the unfortunate displeasure of working with a "discount" real estate service. They list a house with a flat fee of $3500 and claim to save you money.
While they claim to save you money, here is a perfect example of how they cost their client money this week.
My client was a buyer, living in Hawaii, and we made an offer at nearly the asking price. I faxed it over and expected to hear from the agent, since regular agents call right away when you send an offer, to go over the details and see if there is anything we need to adjust before presenting, such as closing time, special terms, etc.
This dicsount agent didn't call. FOR 3 DAYS. I left numerous messages, sent numerous emails, kept calling and calling, nothing. The receptionist said, "he will get back to you right away," to which I laughed out loud at her.
After 3 days, I get a 2 sentence email. "The seller got a full price offer. We will be declining your offer."
This is full service? If the agent had told me there were multiple offers, we would have offfered more. If the agent had counter offered, we would have accepted at least 20k higer. So this agent cost their seller at least 20k! 20k even in Hawaii goes a long way. My buyer was furious at the seller's agent.
How is that any discount? The only discount was the house! If you want to make the most money, you gotta go with full service. The discount agents just DON'T CARE about you!
For Full service Real Estate, Call me.