Doug Schrandt

"Home sellers then find out that they're contractually bound to someone who is being unrealistic about how much they can get for it," says Ms. Garton-Good. "That can turn into a big waste of time."

Doug Schrandt Mortgage Loans

People think Realtors do nothing. They think we drive people around and show up at the title company and collect our commission, or we put a sign on the lawn and show up at the title company and collect our commission. It's our fault buyers and sellers think we do nothing."

Doug Schrandt Real Estate
"Not everyone needs everything," she said, "but with the flexibility come options. With options, consumers may be much more eager to be a team player -- and maybe not. At least they get to decide. It's long overdue."

Extensive Real Estate Knowledge with Doug Schrandt
How you sell your home depends on a variety of factors, including time constraints, how much you can afford to pay for assistance and your past home-selling experiences. For example, a family in a rush to relocate to a new city likely would do best with a full-service broker, while an experienced homeowner who has bought and sold multiple homes in the past may be able to get by on her own. Each approach has its pros and cons.

Doug Schrandt Real Estate Consultant
But what’s the rationale behind multiplying the net hourly by two or three? In a nutshell, it’s to compensate for not just your professional fee/talent and profit, but for the cost of doing business (your overhead) plus down-time, vacation time, and miscellaneous situations when you can’t be productive. Much in the same way a wholesale product is marked up two or more times cost to bring profit in a retail arena, your net hourly becomes your gross hourly to cover costs plus profit for your services. You’re safe using two times your net hourly if your expenses are low; but need to kick it up to three times the net hourly to cover higher expenses.

Real Estate Agent Doug Schrandt
Fueling the increase of FSBO listings are Internet-based services and sellers' desires to hold onto commissions, especially in the face of the slowing economy. Traditional full-service brokers have begun offering fee-based services and charging for individual services, allowing sellers to choose and pay for only services they want.
Real Estate Advisor Doug Schrandt
The move to fee-for-service (which is not yet widespread in the Tampa Bay area) comes in the wake of a survey conducted in 1999 for the National Association of Realtors showing that by 2005, 40 percent of home sales will be for sale by owner (known in the trade as FSBO, pronounced fizz-bo).
Long-Term Mortgage Doug Schrandt
Most of the time, news of a continuing-education seminar for Realtors would be a "so what?" for consumers. But one that's planned for next month might be a different story.

Doug Schrandt Mortgage Advisor

The fee-for-service concept has evolved over the past few years with the expansion of the Internet and online brokerage activities. With many Web sites offering property listings and discounted services, consumers began to expect more flexibility.
Some see this ''consultant'' image as the wave of the future for real estate agents, but it is being met with resistance from traditional brokers.

Doug Schrandt Real Estate Market Research

The end result of your findings may startle you. Not only are you “majoring in minors”, you’re wasting hundreds/thousands of dollars per week by not having someone perform mundane tasks that could free you up to generate far more hours at your gross hourly rate. Many of us sacrifice “doing it all” at the altar of lost profitability year after year after year.