Ad #4 on the Radio*
* This Ad is fictional though based on a real TV ad
After you watch the Ad, scroll down for the TRUTH.
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"For $500, we have tons of agents working for us, right?"
The Truth:
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This seller has NO ONE working for him. And in all probability, he has just thrown his $500 away.
There is no question that even in today’s Internet world where data is freely shared; the MLS is still a uniquely powerful marketing tool. When used by agents, the MLS brings buyers and sellers together, but more importantly, because idealy, each side has representation, both buyers and sellers receive the guidance and the advocacy that allow them to get the best value when they buy or sell.
But here’s the rub: the MLS was designed as a professional tool between licensed agents, not as an advertising medium for an unrepresented seller. When the MLS is used as intended, agents know that they will have a licensed “partner” on the other side that will not only provide the guidance and fiduciary counsel to their own client, but also complete the many tasks that are required on both the listing and the buyer sides. |
“MLS Entry Only” listings notoriously get few showings because buyer agents know they will have to deal directly with the seller and often have to do the work on both sides, since there is essentially no listing agent. Because of fewer showings many “Entry Only” listings do not sell, forcing the seller to then hire a full service agent and forfeit their “Entry Only” fee. Sadly, even if their home does sell, it usually does so for thousands less than it should have. The seller saved a commission, but lost far more.
Another problem with “Entry Only” listings is that many agents and their brokerages, understandably, do not want to take on the added liability of working with an unrepresented seller. Even in states that have transaction brokerage, a company still runs the risk when it places the seller’s listing in the MLS, that the seller will assume that the agent is representing” them, even if they’ve signed a disclosure to the contrary. Frankly, most any agent worth their salt would never want their name on a listing if they wasn't involved in negotiating and troubleshooting the transaction.
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As a child, do you remember reading the story of the Goose Who Laid the Golden Egg written by Richard Cummings? For those who need a refresher, the goose in this story would lay a golden egg each day and the farmer was getting rich. But the farmer got greedy and one day, cut open the goose in order to get to all the eggs at once. Unfortunately, he just killed the goose.
The MLS (the goose) was designed as a cooperative between licensed agents who could share information for the benefit of their clients. When used as designed, the MLS has historically been the producer of lots of golden eggs - enabling sellers and buyers both to come together in a cohesive environment through their licensed representatives. But when you try to bypass the "cooperative," there are no golden eggs.
There are reasons that states such as Texas are establishing minimum service standards in real estate. This is not “restraint of trade” as some press reports would have you believe. On the contrary, this is consumer protection. As Blanche Evans of Realty Times said in her article “Are Minimum Service Rules a Disservice to Consumers?”: “It’s the nature of consumers to try to “beat the system” until costs have dropped to the point where the consumer is endangered. But it’s not the nature of consumerism to look down the road and envision the end result of their downward pressure on fees. For instance, they don’t see the day when air travel becomes unsafe because ticket prices have dropped so low that maintenance is cut or deferred”.
The correction of this misleading ad brought to you by: Bonnie Cox.
Any agent can call themselves
a "consultant".
But if you want the
real thing,
choose TeamCox.
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Or Call Direct:
303-400-6060
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Bonnie Cox of
TeamCox
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