SELLING A HOME WITH U.S. REAL ESTATE DEPOT

1)  The first and most important thing about selling a property is you cannot be emotionally attached to it. You will not make sound business decisions with regards to the offers. Selling a home is a business transaction, not a marriage or partnership between buyer and seller. The buyers and sellers are not friends, buddies, or enemies. They are simply two sets of people coming together to see if the buyer's offer will interest the seller enough to become a willing seller. That's all. There is no reason to become emotional about an offer. Everyone wants a deal, even if it seems like a low ball offer it could still possibly lead to a deal somewhere in the center. An agent that does not counter an offer from a qualified buyer is doing their seller a disservice and should not be working as an agent. If you let egos or emotions get involved the transaction will have problems and we want smoothest transactions possible. We firmly believe in capitalism, the free market system and the fact that supply and demand are the major factors in the market value of real estate. Obviously, location is the next major factor.

2) We will create a CMA (comparative market analysis) that we will review with you so we can determine a reasonable starting point to list your property.

3) Our flat fee is $6000 regardless what the price the property sells for. This does not include any commission offered to a cooperating broker who will be representing the buyer.

4) If any broker or agent tells you they can sell the property offering less than a competitive buyer's agent's commission, the odds of that sale are in the low single digits.

5) We place the property in the most powerful marketing mechanism available, the MLS. To do that we have to offer the buyer's agent between 2-3% as compensation if they represent the buyer. The amount is determined by the median being offered in your area. We want to be competitive. If you are being told that by an agent that the MLS alone cannot sell the property for top dollar then you are being handed a load of horse-waste to justify higher commissions. If you are being told that a broker can sell your property for a 3% full commission, 1.5% to each agent, once again we believe the odds of that happening are in the single digits. That may have worked in 2004-2005, but it is not happening now. If we are wrong about this then why are all the properties still on the market while the fancy marketing plans that agents explain in their listing presentations are still being fully utilized? We utilize no frills marketing that is proven to be the most powerful available and as a result keep the excessive commission out of the transaction. Thus, keeping the property from having to be priced higher to compensate for the exorbitant commissions. Pricing a property right is what sells them, not unnecessary marketing used to justify a higher commission. There is no proven correlation between this other marketing and how quickly or how high a price a property will command. Be careful of the listing to selling price ratio that some brokers are touting as their proof of the high price they are getting for sellers. The truth is, it is not the original listing price they use to figure the ratio. It is the current listing price. So, they could have just lowered the price more toward market value and then the property sells within 1/2% to 1% of the listing price and the brokers will use these statistics to show you they have the magic beans to get more than any other agent. It is not true. The statistic is useless. It means nothing unless it is the original listing price to selling price ratio.

6) We personally take the maximum allowed number of digital pictures for the MLS and our website.

7) We place an estate quality sign will be on the property for buyer drive by exposure.

8) Secured electronic signatures are utilized online for almost instantaneous document signing with only a web browser and email address, no special software is necessary. This saves time and money and again that is not put into an agent's pocket, but passed onto the client.

9) There is no $50 expense spent each time there is paperwork that can be sent by a messenger. We scan documents and email them for free thus creating more savings of our time and again it is passed on to our clients.

10) Electronic lockbox placed on property for easy agent and prospective buyer access to preview property.

11) Professional looking color property flyer emailed to you for printing to place out for buyers that have toured the property for easy reference later.

12) Neither agents, appraisers, owners, or websites can determine the market value of a property. It is worth what someone is willing and able to pay. That is the true market value and it may or may not be what the seller wants. The market doesn't care how much you like the house, how much you owe, or what price you want to get. If these criteria are part of your decision making then you might consider changing the timing of your sale. Inasmuch as we believe in letting the market determine the true value of a property we do not therefore contractually force our clients to pay a commission based on a full price offer. If there is a lot of action and interest in the property then let's allow the market force to play out for all it's worth. If there is very little interest or action on the property then maybe we should examine the price.

13) We hope you will give us a reasonable amount of time to sell your property, but we do not hold you hostage with a specific length of term contract. You can cancel at any time.

14) We provide a monthly update via email of market activity in your area. The format of this update varies depending on the MLS board that serves the area.

15) We stay in contact with the escrow company and make sure all parties are staying on schedule providing their required reports and disclosures. If necessary we help you with anything you may need to acquire (i.e. homeowners insurance) for escrow or the lender to move forward with the transaction.

16) We follow through with repair recommendations, handle all the negotiations, utilize online transaction management software to give you 24/7 access to the transaction, even stay in contact with you until you have the proceeds from the sale in your account for a complete secure transaction.

17) This is all included for our exclusive ethical flat fee commission of $6000 whether the selling price of your property is $500,000 or $1,000,000, or once again even $4,000,000.