There is a comedian… and I can’t for the life of me find her name… if you know it, PLEASE tell me, because I want the clip…

She has a bit about men grilling.  The set up is basically this…

Men don’t cook, they grill…

And when they grill they are unrealistic about their role in the preparation of the meal.  The man cooks the meat. The wife makes bread, four different sides, a salad, and bake a pie for desert.  When clean up time comes, the wife asks for a little help.  The reply from “our hero” is “What do you want from me?  I cooked the meal!”

Yet the reality is that it was only a small part of the total meal…

Discount brokers are becoming “that guy.”  I am seeing more and more discounters that are advertising themselves as “full service.”  And yet, to market the property they put it on the MLS… and that is it.  ok, maybe they make a flyer.  And put out a sign.  Craigslist?  Property Website?  Trulia?  Realtor.com Enhanced Listings?  Blogging about it?  Open House?  Broker Caravan?  Postcards?  Email Blast?  Newsletter Promotion?  None of those.

And the worst part is that they are in line with public perception…

There are a lot of people that think that all we do as real estate agents is put a sign in the yard, get a flyer printed and put the house on the MLS.  For the purpose of marketing, that is just a small portion.  The time and financial commitment to a listing should go FAR beyond that.

But Marketing is just a small part…

In the overall picture, the marketing is just a small part of the total job.  Negotiation?  Compliance with Fair Housing Laws?  Contract Compliance?  Keeping everything on track?  Inspection?

Many people think they can handle all of these chores… and some certainly can.  Others aren’t nearly as equipped to handle these aspects of the sale as they think they are.  I talked with a seller recently that had a sale fall through at the last minute.  Her comment was that after she got the offer, it was like a full time job keeping up with everything going on with the sale and trying to keep it together.  Ya’ think? It IS a full time job.

If you really are equipped, that’s cool…

I can help you with the parts you can’t do (getting on the MLS) and leave the rest of it to you.  Flat fee.  No problem.

If you think you would be more efficient at YOUR job, and want to leave the sale of the house to me, that’s cool too…

I’m not going to toss out part of the meal on the table and call it done.  I want to deliver a REAL full service real estate experience.

Anywhere…

Or close to it.  I have an amazing network of people in the real estate business everywhere in the country that feel the same way.  Real professionals.  Some are in the Diamond Dwellings family, and some aren’t.  That isn’t the criteria.  The criteria is that these are people I trust to send business because their performance reflects on me.