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You must get tired of all the internet marketing of every service you can think of. I do. As it applies to Real Estate, do be careful of believing cute one-liners that sound great – but may not be.
In Alaska, Real Estate Agents are now designated ‘Licensees’ by Statute and this is often confusing. Your Realtor or other Licensee in Alaska is an agent of real estate and represents you within the designated legal boundaries described in the Consumer Pamphlet which you must be given when you start working with your Licensee.
So how do you find the ideal Listing Licensee? First, understand that all dot.com services are essentially national organizations trying to get your attention so they can sell your business to someone else for their own gain. In other words, your information is passed to an Alaska licensee for a referral fee.
The referral fee obviously reduces the remuneration which that Licensee will receive for their services to you, and it may be as high as 30% or even 35% of what they might negotiate with you as their share of the brokerage fee.
Brokerage fees are negotiable between you, the client, and the Licensee who lists your property for sale. (Buyers, generally, ride free because their real estate licensee is remunerated out of listing side commissions).
Stay with the logic now. Let’s say you as a seller were able to arrange a total listing fee of 4.5% of which the listing licensee shares 2.5% of that 4.5% with a selling side office. Your listing licensee agrees to receive 2%.
Let’s say you were referred to this particular local licensee by a dot.com, and let’s say that licensee pays 25% referral fee to be hooked up with you. This would mean, of their 2% list side commission, 0.5% would go to dot.com and their real remuneration for serving you is as low as 1.5%.
The final question that you must ask yourself is what caliber of professional might work for remuneration much lower than a more seasoned professional would ask? Answer – someone who really needs the business.
You will know the expression – “You get what you pay for”, be it Maserati, Porsche or Chevrolet, and the same applies to Real Estate services. Interview several Licensees before choosing one. If you can negotiate fees, more power to you, but the ideal person for your ultimate benefit may not be the cheapest.
