Buyers' Slice Realty

I am slowly, but surely spreading my footprint as a real estate broker along the Front Range of Colorado.   I have represented home buyers in Denver, Boulder, Superior, Westminster, and in between…but never Fort Collins until last week.  My client was pumped to get a $3,200 real estate commission rebate from me…requiring him to bring that much less cash to the closing table!    The REALTOR® who worked as the listing agent, specializes in real estate in Old Town Fort Collins, where this home was located.   He was great to work with, and what a great neighborhood to buy and sell homes.   I hope I can help more home buyers in Fort Collins save money!

I closed a deal yesterday with a wonderful couple who got a great home in Loveland, Colorado.     Afterwards, when they were telling me how glad they were that they used me to buy the house, they said they were going to use the husband’s brother (who is a licensed real estate agent in Colorado) but when they asked him if he’d match my 50% commission rebate, he said “sorry, won’t do that”.     I was happy to rebate these home buyers $4,800….they found the house (which I never even stepped in), and were knowledgable and confident enough that they didn’t need or want me at their kitchen table once a week.  I communicated with them plenty via phone and email, and everything was tight and right.   Win-win.   Sorry, bro.

Bring up the subject of real estate in Boulder, and you will get a variety of stories and opinions.   Some from people who have actually bought or sold a home (or condo) here…and many from not.   (Incidentally, it is interesting to note that nearly as many condos sell each month versus the number of detached single family homes in Boulder.)

Anyway.  Where were we?    Yes.   Boulder real estate.    When you talk about Boulder, whether it be values, trends, desirability of a certain property, I think the answer is usually “depends”.    Boulder can be very “case by case”…and home values my vary significantly with two houses that are just a block away.   Sometimes this can be explained by mountain views, other times there is no explanation.  I actually had one of the top Realtors in Boulder once tell me that the only think he could conclude about the increased value of one street versus another like one two blocks over was that the one had a better (stronger) name!    Similarly, yes part of the market is still super slow…but there are product types moving.

Yes. …and if someone has a better phrase, I’d welcome that too. You see, too many home buyers don’t know to consider me as an option…with many paying thousands of dollars more in real estate commission than they might have to. You may have saw on my home page, that my average client has saved over $6,500 working with me! See that home page for details.

I have sponsored a fantastic new tool at www.CommissionRebateCalculator.com

The online calculator there allows you to quickly plug in potential home prices so that you can see how much a real estate commission rebate can save you the next time you buy a home in Colorado…or anywhere, for that matter.

Remember, most rebates will (and should) be cash back at closing…so the figure you come up with is all money you save because you are bringing that much less cash to the closing table!

This is a question I just got from an out of state REALTOR^®

He wasn’t particularly looking for someone like me who specializes in commission rebates, but found me online here in Colorado from half way across the country while searching for “innovative real estate agents”.   He is looking to get back into the business, and knows that the real estate industry is rapidly changing.   He knows that to succeed he is going to need a model that provides tremendous value to today’s homebuyer.   And he also knows that there is a lot involved in executing a cutting edge model like this right.   He also doesn’t want to be a discount  REALTOR^® because then no one really wins (in my opinion.)   So he thought he’d reach out to me to see if I my buyer rebate program, whereby I split or share my commission, could be copied in his state.   I said “I’d be happy to discuss it” and look forward to the possibility of franchising this model.  I always thought it’d make sense to have offices in Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, Denver, and even Summit, Grand, and Vail counties.   Heck, why not Grand Junction, or even Aspen…could you imagine what 1.4% of the home price would be there!?   That could be tens of thousands of dollars back to the buyer!!!     

I got this question in a phone call just today…and while most of the home buyers I work with are in the Denver area part of the Front Range (Denver, Highlands Ranch, Littleton, Golden, Arvada, Westminster, Broomfield, Superior, Louisville, Lafayette, Boulder, Longmont, Cherry Creek, Thornton, Centennial, Greenwood Village, Ken Caryl, Lone Tree, Wheat Ridge, and everywhere between), the beauty of my real estate brokerage business is that I can be a “mile wide and an inch thick.” So, yes, I can and will help homebuyers with commission rebates, or buyer rebates, in Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, or with a condo on the mountains!

The guy somehow found me by searching for “discount realtor”…neither word which can be fairly attributed to me…but I’ll save that for another post.

I’ve been hearing a lot of talk about “closing gifts” lately.   Some agents in Colorado and elsewhere will do something nice for their home buying customers as a sign of appreciation and/or as a celebration upon closing.   These are some of the things I have heard of:

• bottle of nice wine
• big screen TV
• artist sketch of home
• candles
• personalized stamps or key-chains
• and even a shoe cover dispenser!

Wouldn’t you just like cash better?  I’ll give you cash back as a sign of appreciation for the research you will do in during your home search…and you can decide to do with the extra cash that you will have.   Because if you receive a buyer rebate (sometimes called a commission rebate), you will be bringing a lot less cash to closing.   Typically, this cash will be in a form of a credit that will offset or reduce your closing costs!

Commission rebates, or buyer rebates, are easy.   It takes most people a minute to get their head around only because most home buyers have not heard of a commission rebate, but once they get it, they are like, “that makes perfect sense, simple enough.”     And they are simple enough, but there is right way to make sure they are administered and documented properly.    If you are seeking a commission rebate, make sure you work with a real estate professional who is experienced with them so that you actually get your cash credit at closing…no one wants a surprise at the closing table.