BOLDSF.COM | insights, observations, commentary | San Francisco Bay Area real estate
Showing posts with label brokerages. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brokerages. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Busines Times Rankings
Our company, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices--Drysdale Properties, has been ranked #15 of 25 companies by gross sales in 2015. We're #6 when ranked by number of properties sold!
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
News that makes us feel good
A bit of great news about our brokerage: RealTrends publishes statistics for residential real estate brokerages nationally and within this year's report Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Drysdale Properties is in the top ten brokerages based in Northern California and in the top 100 (92nd, actually) nationwide.
Great to be part of such a growing, dynamic, locally-owned company!
Great to be part of such a growing, dynamic, locally-owned company!
Friday, April 18, 2014
Hypocrisy / Deceptive Advertising
Everyone in the real estate business is always looking for an edge -- something that will differentiate you from the competition.
We've seen brokerages try all sorts of things from commission discounts with reduced service, flashy web sites, focus on high-end properties, free estimates, balloons on for-sale signs, spot advertising on web sites -- it's all out there.
At the end of the day, our business relies mostly on personal relationships. Successful transactions for both sellers and buyers depend on the trust developed between the principal and their agent.
Key to developing that trust is for each party to do what they say they will do, when they say they will do it.
So how do you trust a brokerage that prominently promises on its web site:
Yet, in the last six months this brokerage has seven transactions recorded in the MLS, two of which they represented both buyer and seller!
Let's be clear. In California there's nothing illegal about what's called "dual agency" in which the same brokerage represents both buyer and seller as long as it's disclosed to all parties and agreed to and I have no reason to think this brokerage did not obtain the necessary consent from both buyer and seller in these transaction to act as a dual agent.
But if you're going to promise in your advertising that you will never represent both sides in the same transaction (and by inference suggest that your level of integrity is higher than your competition) and then turn around and do exactly what you promised not to do, what does that say about how you're going to handle your responsibilities in a real estate transaction.
Most buyers and seller don't have the ability to check claims like this since this information isn't readily available to the public. Unfortunately, it's just another due diligence step for buyers and sellers when selecting an agent.
We've seen brokerages try all sorts of things from commission discounts with reduced service, flashy web sites, focus on high-end properties, free estimates, balloons on for-sale signs, spot advertising on web sites -- it's all out there.
At the end of the day, our business relies mostly on personal relationships. Successful transactions for both sellers and buyers depend on the trust developed between the principal and their agent.
Key to developing that trust is for each party to do what they say they will do, when they say they will do it.
What Makes Us Better? We Will Not Cheat On You. Could you imagine going to court and having the same lawyer represent you and the other side? How silly would that be? At XXXXXX, our agents will only represent either a buyer or a seller in an agreement, never both.
Yet, in the last six months this brokerage has seven transactions recorded in the MLS, two of which they represented both buyer and seller!
Let's be clear. In California there's nothing illegal about what's called "dual agency" in which the same brokerage represents both buyer and seller as long as it's disclosed to all parties and agreed to and I have no reason to think this brokerage did not obtain the necessary consent from both buyer and seller in these transaction to act as a dual agent.
But if you're going to promise in your advertising that you will never represent both sides in the same transaction (and by inference suggest that your level of integrity is higher than your competition) and then turn around and do exactly what you promised not to do, what does that say about how you're going to handle your responsibilities in a real estate transaction.
Most buyers and seller don't have the ability to check claims like this since this information isn't readily available to the public. Unfortunately, it's just another due diligence step for buyers and sellers when selecting an agent.
Monday, April 8, 2013
Real Estate business
Warning -- for real estate geeks only.
There's a report compiled by "first Tuesday journal online" that compares the growth (or decline) of the 60 largest brokerages year over year by number of agents. Our brokerage, Pearson Properties which does business as Prudential California Realty was number 9 overall with year over year growth of 11%.
We're #1 for brokerages with significant residential business in the Bay Area:
While we're not the biggest real estate brokerage in the Bay Area, we're growing faster than any other. Agents want to work with us and our broker-owner Gretchen Pearson. From the graph you can figure out what brokerages agents have decided to leave. Not only is this important for agents, it's a piece of information worth considering by clients as they decide who they want to represent them.
There's a report compiled by "first Tuesday journal online" that compares the growth (or decline) of the 60 largest brokerages year over year by number of agents. Our brokerage, Pearson Properties which does business as Prudential California Realty was number 9 overall with year over year growth of 11%.
We're #1 for brokerages with significant residential business in the Bay Area:
While we're not the biggest real estate brokerage in the Bay Area, we're growing faster than any other. Agents want to work with us and our broker-owner Gretchen Pearson. From the graph you can figure out what brokerages agents have decided to leave. Not only is this important for agents, it's a piece of information worth considering by clients as they decide who they want to represent them.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Big Change at ZipRealty
The company is discontinuing the commission rebate program offered to buyers who close a transaction using a ZipRealty real estate agent.They go on to say that surveys of their customers show that commission rebates are not the "primary driver" for choosing a brokerage and real estate agent.
This is a huge change for a company (and especially for its agents) that was founded 12 years ago and been through two major swings in the market under the basic premise that technology would allow them to provide faster, less expensive services (through commission rebates) to its clients.
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