Revolutionizing Real Estate

2010-02-04T11:54:00.000-08:00

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fsbo hound dog

2009-12-07T21:00:00.000-08:00

FSBO Hounddog

“LooK Mr. Chin, 9 out of 10 fsbo’s eventually list. So sooner or later it will happen.”

Mr. chin was not having it. I’m pretty sure I had lost him, this is the part of the process I call practice, where I just repeat the lines I had memorized or tried new ones that I had not quite honed in and just repeated them verbatim in hopes of

A. converting him at the last moment, or

B. just practicing for the next one.

That was the life of a Fsbo hounddog. Sent on a mission by God, or Broker, to try to convert FSBO’s and break their sprit

FSBO’s were these renegade homeowners who due to their stupidity and spirit of independence wanted to save the commission and try on their own. I was an expert at breaking that sprit.

“ We want to saaaaaave the commission” that’s how they said it,. Or how we heard it. Saaaaave pronounced saaaaeeeeevvvv. I wanted to saaaaeevvv their souls. And make money.

Like any good pastor, my intention was twofold, help these poor bastards and also make a profit.

For me fsbo meant, Fastest Source of Business Opportunity. And I was good. I could walk out one morning and come back with 3 listings a day. Saving was easy and fun.

It starts with rapport and liking. That’s all good selling. They must like you for some reason. So I smiled , I laughed, I sympathized, soon they looked me like a son. You trust your own son right?

Unlike a son I didn’t care. I was the evil son waiting for them to die so I could get my inheritance, in this case their equity. 6% or whatever I could get.

“So. Mr. Chine, actually can I call you Steve, or can I call you dad”

Laughter also important. Helps relieve tension. We’d both laugh, slap each other on the knee and as he laughed I pulled out paper from my briefcase. Without missing beat I said take a look at this.

I now had their eyes on the contract. The contract they violently opposed signing a few minutes ago. But hey we’re family now. Maybe I should staple a photo of me as a child.

I quickly went thru the details. The trick is to assume the sale. I don’t hear the objections. Just keep ramming it home . yes, yes , yes, sign , sign , sign.

No I never said sign. That was the first rule. It was better to say nothing, just leave the pen their or better yet give it to them. When I figured that trick “ hold my pen for a moment” Boom your chances just shot up 80%.

It’s a small window, you fight to get it open and once it’s there, you know you got them. Like a boxer you’re jabbing and jabbing away at their reality of saving the commission.

Jab. Buyers are time wasters

Jab, you need a help your tired.

Jab, do you really want strangers coming to your house.

They give that dazed look at the contract. On the ropes. But the last jab is silence. The void, and just succumb under their own weight. And collapse. Signed

Another one bites the dust.

It’s not over, you need to keep the charm as you put all the paper work away. Deal with buyer’s remorse.

Another soul saved today. Another listing in the bank.

I did this for 5 years. Making big bucks. Saving, stealing, cajoling. Then the market started crashing. And equity stated disappearing

Now it wasn’t a matter of saving commission. It’s a matter of not being able to sell. With little or no Equity, these homeowners needed something new. A new model of selling that would allow them to do it themselves and be able to get out of a bad mortgage.

And that was the beginning of Freeltor

Revolutionize Real Estate

2009-09-04T15:45:00.000-07:00

So I was at the Microsoft Bizspark incubation week in DC for freeltor. it was a great experience. Met some great people. Real interesting education and speakers.

So during one of our sessions with David Drake and Larry Gregory, they were grilling me about the company, what is it we actually do. So I talked about the concept and how I came up with it. How it helps homeowners and Real Estate Agents. But it seems like my answers weren't clear enough for them. So finally in exasperation I said it

" we want to revolutionize real estate"

thats it. Dave liked it.

But is it true?

Its something that people have tried and have failed. Its a very complicated industry. It has changed a lot and will continue to.

So I could stand on a soap box and say I want to revolutionize real estate and have crowds swarm and get on CNN etc... maybe I will do that.

but if I had to be honest about it. really i want to EVOlutionize Real Estate.

by bring in the next new service that is freemium real estate service.

thats all.

Allow information to be free, because it wants to be free.

consumers are smarter. they know how to read data. so lets get out of their way instead of constantly being in the middle.

Why Free MLS?

2009-08-05T11:16:00.000-07:00

www.bizzia.com/.../2009/07/free-workers.jpg

In the information age we are seeing that information is important

information can often mean the difference between life and death. what you know and when you know it is critical. And nobody knows this more than Google.

However Google as you know doesn't charge for its informaiton. They offer all their services for free. They make money on the backend through advertisers

This has strarted a trend that eveything should be free on the interent. Now I'm sure a lot of people don't like that. Stock Brokers, Flight Agencies, and anyone else who used to sell information.

Now for real estate agents the Free trend has been used by zillow and trulia to put their listings on their sites for free for buyer to look at.

Are agents losing control? not necesarily. The best agents know how to use these tools to their benefit.

which brings me to why not offer the MLS for free?

Blasfemy? Think about it. The reason why information on the internet is free because the cost to disperse and produce it almost zero. see Chris Anderson's Free.

By offering the MLS for free real estate agents are now in the position to get more buyer leads. more referals and more happy customers. At the very least ifyou are a brand new agent with no clients, you need to offer the MLS for free.

Free is the best way to get clients in the information age.

To place a listing costs nothing more than 5 minutes of your time if that. What you can get for this 5 minutes is amazing.

Why sell For Sale By Owner?

2009-07-15T16:03:00.000-07:00

At the end of the day i don't think its about the money.

i don't think the fsbo is really that .

its about self reliance. that feeling of Independence that I can do this, I don't need an agent.

its not rocket science. there are only 5 steps i selling real estate

pricing

marketing

showings.

negotiating

in the past marketing was expensive you needed newspapers magazine, billboards.

but now with the Internet, costs have essentially gone to zero.

you can now have a Microsoft virtual tour for free.

Google base, Trula, Zillow. its all on line and the consumer knows that, they are not stupid.

but there is one last piece.

the MLS

or Multiple listing service.

the Department of Justice recently passed a hearing to free up the MLS for sites such as Trula and Zillow. but the Realtors still control who gets in.

without an agent you can't advertise on MLS and therefore you cannot be there. untill now.

Jason is wrong part 1

2009-07-07T16:17:00.000-07:00

Jason is wrong

Yes I’m talking about you Jason Preston. Lets see how far we can take this meme.

Everyone loves free. It is a Marketing term. And Yes Google is making money of advertising. They are an advertising company first and foremost. But to the public they are in the search business, and email.

Mark Cuban brings up a scary yet true point. The blackswans will come and eat away at your business. But is Twitter really doomed? What about brand equity?

If there is one company that does brand well its Apple. The perpetual underdog. The Innovative darling that delights customers despite paying 3x as much. They are not free, far from it. I actually switched back to PC after college because I couldn’t afford a Mac. Though I do have plans of switching back soon…

They built their company on being the best and most expensive. The Ferrari of the PC’s. and now its paying off. Their prices are dropping, and now they could give the iphone away for free and make more money from app sales.

A FREE Iphone? Now that would Chris Anderson smile.

Google has a great business model. Twitter doesn’t. But Black Swan Bing is hot on its tail. Just try the image search, you’ll be surprised.

More to come in part 2

Are Real Estate Agents anti Competitive or just Lazy

2009-07-05T14:10:00.001-07:00

I was looking at the Department of Justice website.

EVEN THE GOVERNMENT HATE REAL ESTATE AGENTS

Its amazing. They have ariticle talking about how Agents are being anti competitive with other discount models.

I've pasted the article, but if you want to go to the site here is the link http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/real_estate/models.htm

Competing Models of Real Estate Brokerage

Traditionally, real estate brokers have performed virtually all services related to buying and selling a home, including:

Marketing the home.
- Marketing services include listing the property in the local multiple listing service (MLS), placing advertisements in local media and on the Internet, and hosting open houses.
Reviewing contracts.
- Contract review might include providing advice on pricing, home inspections or other contractual terms.
Negotiating with potential home buyers and sellers.
Locating potential properties for prospective buyers.
Arranging for prospective buyers to inspect properties.
Providing prospective buyers and sellers with pertinent information about a community such as relative property values, most recent selling prices, and property taxes.
Apprising potential buyers of financing alternatives.
Assisting in the formation and negotiation of offers, counter offers, and acceptances.
Assisting with the closing of the transaction.
- Closing services might include assistance with handling paperwork.

For these efforts, real estate brokers typically charge a single fee (the commission) that is 5 percent to 6 percent of the sales price of the home.
Learn more: The Seller's Agreement with the Listing Broker

Other options available to consumers

In many parts of the country, the traditional full-service real estate broker now faces competition from a variety of real estate brokerage models, many of which use the Internet to reduce costs:

Fee-for-Service Arrangements

Brokers willing to sell a subset of real estate brokerage services, often called fee-for-service brokers, have emerged throughout the country. Fee-for-service brokers "unbundle" the package of real estate services typically offered by traditional full-service real estate brokers and charge a set or hourly fee for specific services, such as listing the house in the MLS, negotiating or closing contracts, and pricing the home. These brokerage models typically enable consumers to save thousands of dollars by allowing them to purchase only those services they want.
Learn more: Fee-for-Service Brokers

Rebates and Inducements

Some real estate brokers have increasingly begun to compete for customers by offering cash rebates or other inducements to home buyers and sellers. Rebates that go directly to buyers or sellers lower costs on both sides of the transaction. Cash rebates are usually calculated as some fraction of the broker's commission and can result in thousands of dollars being returned to the consumer.

New business models can save consumers money

Most consumers want to make as much money as possible on the sale of their home and spend no more than necessary when purchasing a home. In many cases, the standard broker's commission can offset a portion of the equity value that has been building up in a seller's home or push the price of a home beyond a buyer's purchasing power. Consumers who want to perform some of the steps involved in selling a home can reap significant financial savings by purchasing only those real estate brokerage services they actually want.

Just as the Internet has made it easier for consumers to save money by directly purchasing plane tickets and stocks, it is now making it feasible for home sellers and buyers to do more of the work themselves and pocket the savings.
Learn more: The Internet's Role in Real Estate Brokerage

A message to Homeowners and FSBO's

2009-07-02T10:47:00.000-07:00

Dear Homeowner,

As a real estate agent for over a decade I have seen every type of transaction.

I've seen sellers and buyers leave the closing table happy and content. And I've seen some not so happy.

Real estate agents often with good intentions can get in the way of the transaction. Often times their motivations are different from that of the seller.

For this reason a lot of sellers today prefer to go it alone and try the FSBO route ( For Sale By Owner)

However due to circumstance a lot of FSBO's fail to sell, and end up hiring a realtor and paying out 6% of their equity.

Why do they fail?

First and probably the most common is PRICE. Sellers just don't know how important pricing their home is. Instead think that testing a higher price is smart because they can always come down. Instead they prolong the sale and cause buyers to become cautious when making an offer.

Also the buyers that do make an offer to FSBO's are often bargain hunters looking for a good deal or at least to buy your house discounted the 6% commission. The real serious buyer are looking with an agent.

And that brings me to the most important point: MLS - Multiple Listing Service. It is the holy grail of real estate. If you're not on MLS you're not on the market. MLS is critical to the sale of your home.

When I was an agent, the only way you could get on the MLS was through me. I had the key. I had all the secrets, I knew how to price, how to stage, how to sell. And I made much money with my secrets.

Despite my success, I saw that some people were not happy. Particularly FSBO's. After much thought and reflection I decided to leave the real estate industry and start Freeltor.

Despite all the hatemail I've been getting from my former colleagues, I know that Freeltor is helping people with their Home sales without ripping them off.

Freeltor is lets you into one of the most gaurded and sacred tools of the Agents: the MLS.

Most people pay tens of thousands just to get on the MLS. But Freeltor is offering it for free.

Freeltor is the only company that allows you to list your home for free. And despite the cries from real estate agents, we are not going to stop.

Freeltor revolutionizing the real estate industry. We are on the side of freedom, free information, free MLS, and free selling.

The line has been drawn, are you with the Freeltors or the Realtors?

CEO & Founder

Adrian Manzano

2009-07-01T12:06:00.001-07:00

2009-06-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

2009-05-31T10:47:00.000-07:00

MY THOUGHTS ON WHY REDFIN WILL FAIL.
(Buyers do not pay the commission)

is 6% reasonable

2009-05-07T20:58:00.000-07:00

is 6% reasonable.
what is reasonable to sell someone's home.
people are just trying to get to the next level.
the next phase in their life. its traumatic, its exciting, its a lot of things.

And its crazy expensive.

So people have tried breaking it down.
Appraisal
MLS
Marketing
Open House
Showings
Negotiations
Contract
Close

all this for 6%.

If you catch real estate agents in a moment of honesty (good luck) they will tell you that one thing and one thing only sells property.

without this one thing, nothing else matters.

you can have the house on CNN news network for 90 days straight and it won't sell, without this one thing.

what is its. Its price.

You need to set the correct price for it to sell. There is such a thing as market value. It is subjective, perhaps by 10 to 20k max. thats it. Every property has price at particular time.
And in the future it will have another price, but at the moment it has a price, like stock.

FSBO, For Sale By Owners, often get this wrong. Because they lack experience AND because they want to try it out, "test the market" see if they can get a little more. But in reality they are wasting time and making their house grow stale. Price right from the beginning and the house will sell quickly and a lot more than if you "tested the market"

so is that all, price?

no.... of course not. If you are so luck to get 2 honest answers out of the real estate agent, his first one would be price.

the Second will be the almighty, the grand daddy, the bootylicious MLS. My Lousy Service.

just kidding. It stands for Multiple Listing Service. Created about 20 years ago to help agents work together, it has now become the beginning and the end of the real estate agents life.

So please get on MLS quickly, if you want to sell.

Now Realtors hold the Key to MLS... until now...

Freeltor.com, the first and only website to offer FREE MLS listing.

yes FREE. GRATIS.

Get on MLS and save TONS of money today.

We'll talk soon.

Adrian

Freeltor and whats comming up

2009-04-09T10:01:00.000-07:00

So there was foxtons.
then redfin
then iggys house
zip realty.

and tomorrow there will others.
People love to come up with new business models for real estate. Remax, Century 21, Keller Williams, these guys are very powerful.
what about the consumer, the customer. Do they need to pay 20,000 in order to sell their home?

FSBO, for sale by owner doesnt work. 9/10 are not succesfull. working with a licsensed realtor is the way to go. its the only way. its the way that homes get sold the quickest.

then there is the issue of MLS.

MLS is the beginning and the end of it all. must must must be on MLS. its the only way.

so who ever igores MLS is out.

FLATFEE MLS, is a nice alternative . its probably the best choice.
however , there is something new, something that will beat the Flat Fee MLS.

that my friends is FREELTOR

Freeltor allows you to place you home on MLS for FREE

FREE

no hidden fees no creditcards. just fill out the form, and you will be on MLS today!