“Oh, you don’t belong to one of the large national real estate brokerage
companies?”
Honestly, in the five years since I opened my doors at Lambros
Realty, LLC I can count the number of times I have been asked this question on
one hand. However, the question did come
up this week from a client, so I feel compelled to write about it today. The fact of the matter is that in 2017, it
does not matter…let me explain why.
The internet has proven to be the great equalizer in our
industry. The traditional thought is
that “if I list my house with Big Box Real Estate Firm, my home will be exposed
to more agents that may have a buyer for my home”. Ten years ago this statement held water. Back then, when an agent got a new listing,
they would forage through the office trying to pitch their listing to
interoffice agents to see if anyone of their coworkers had a buyer. But now? Now your home gets put on the MLS websites regardless of brokerage firm,
and is distributed directly to the home buyer within minutes. Not only has the internet given exponential
power to the buyer or end consumer (92% of buyers use the web during their home
search), it has also allowed for agents to show their true talents. Marketing is no longer billboards and mail
flyers, it is about how you market your listings online using various
techniques that are not limited only to the Big Box Real Estate Firms.
It is not the Big Box Firm’s named broker that you interact with,
it is the agent. This doesn’t just hold
true for real estate, but across all industries; Happy, thorough and results
driven agents/employees make the world of a difference in your experience as
the end consumer. Take the review from
one of our clients and see what they have to say about their experience:
“Lambros Realty completely came to our
rescue in the middle of a discouraging and unsuccessful home search. After having no luck with an indifferent
agent from a large real estate company, working with Michael was a breath
of fresh air. We found the perfect house the day it was listed, and Michael
made it a priority to get a showing scheduled for that same day. We fell in
love with it, and Michael didn't delay in putting in our offer, negotiating,
and getting a contract drawn up. Michael was always accessible for questions,
concerns, and advice throughout, which we greatly appreciated as first-time
buyers. He checked in frequently with us about the home inspection, appraisal,
and loan approval processes to ensure that we would get our dream home. Michael
is personable, dependable, and sincerely has his clients' best interests at
heart. We were so satisfied with our experience with Lambros Realty and cannot
recommend them more highly!”
Now does it sound like this buyer choose their
representation based on the brokerage firm, or the agent? The point I cannot stress enough is that you
as the consumer need to vet your potential agent thoroughly. Ask them how many buyers and/or sellers they
are working with in your market. Ask
them for recent references. Ask them
question after question because many of these big box firms hire anyone with a
real estate license and that can pay their outrageous firm fees. They do not consider the quality of the
agent, the values they possess, nor the passion they have to serve their
customers. After all, real estate sales
is a service-based business. Choose the
agent that you feel will represent your interests best before you consider the
name of the brokerage firm on their business card.
-Published by Michael Lambros, Broker
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