Check out the MapChoice interactive google map based searching on America’s Choice and 2.5% Real Estate Direct sites.  Start to conduct a search for properties and choose the MapChoice icon.  This tool dramatically cuts down your home search.  Try it.  It is so much better than typing in search criteria in the old systems.  What do you think of the panoramic street views?  Scary technology to say the least.  You really can drive right down streets, make turns, and see the homes all from  your computer.  I was playing with it today and saw a woman exiting her car.

This morning on Father’s Day it is sunny and warm across upstate New York.  To celebrate the day, I camped out with my four children – two sets of twins – in our back yard last night.  We are preparing for a pancake breakfast with their grandparents.  As a father I appreciate the opportunity to be there and to serve for my children.  The same is for my business.   America’s Choice and 2.5% Real Estate Direct have grown and matured over 15 years.  We have become a staple in the communities we serve.  I take pride in the fact that we are a true, caring business.  Our employees are there for our customers.  We continue to give back to our community.  In Rochester we are supporters of the YMCA’s mission to help the young and the elderly.  We give each year because we can. In Buffalo we have been at the forefront in a successful effort to build a new day school.  Naysayers said it couldn’t be done.  Yet perseverance and determination prevailed. All of this has been accomplished because we have a successful business. That success stems from continuing to provide the absolute best in what we do.  We may charge less, yet that does not mean we provide less. To the contrary, our program is no doubt the most costly to maintain and the most successful for our customers. Our agents at 2.5% Real Estate Direct are truly phenominal. So today, I thank you, both buyers and sellers, who trust us with your real estate needs.

I have been thinking about a perplexing phenomenon. Over the years I have seen highly motivated, intelligent, and seemingly rational people exhibit a rather strange behavior.  They are the people who cut short their listing with America’s Choice in order to list with a real estate broker charging 6, 7, or 8%.  What do they have in common?  Each of these people, while listed with America’s Choice,  staunchingly refused to reduce their asking price, or if they did reduce their price, they did so for only a very short time. Yet, once listed with the high commission agent, they reduce and reduce their price.?!

Susan Payne, one of my Rochester agents at 2.5% Real Estate Direct, joined us this year after successful years at Nothnagle.  This week we received two calls from long time successful agents in the Buffalo area inquiring about joining us.  Why would successful agents seek us out to work for us while at the same time other agents are telling another story to potential sellers?  Let’s explore.

Attractive as super low cost or no cost house listings on the Internet may be, the strategy to sell your home on your own by simply listing your home on FSBO sites and free listing services is not a professional or effective way to sell your home for the highest price in the shortest period of time.

The reasons to use America’s Choice or 2.5% Real Estate Direct are basically the same reasons to use a good competing 6 or 7% Real Estate Broker.  They are:

1.  You will get a higher sale price with America’s Choice and Real Estate Direct then you will receive using Craigs List, FSBO sites, and local unknown MLS only brokers who do not advertise. Extensive research over many years conducted by real estate scholors at the Univerisity of Madison proved that point.  You receive about 16% higher sale price with America’s Choice and Real Estate Direct – because of our advertising.  This result is on par with the results pubished by the National Association of Realtors. Our program more than pays for itself, results in the same increased sale price as a good 6 or 7% real estate agent, but puts the money in your pocket.

2.  The National Association of Realtors research has shown that buyers are using the Internet themselves to find available homes.  In Rochester and Buffalo and Erie americaschoice.com is THE site for buyers to find homes at 0% commission.  Buyers know this.  Research shows that americaschoice.com continuously receives thousands of new and returning visitors. No other 0% commission site comes close or is even in the ballpark.  Most of those sites do not even register.  Buyers simply look to americaschoice.com on one hand and to realtor.com, buffaloniagarahomes.com and homesteadnet.com on the other hand. Thus, they get just about all the available homes.  The only way to combine both sites and get all the buyers is to sign up with America’s Choice and go on the MLS with Real Estate Direct as the same time.  This results in more buyers then you could get with any other real estate broker, and they are charging more than double.

3.  It is easier and faster to use us.  Our homes sell faster because you are in control and are able to communicate with the buyers faster.  Our professional staff supports you the whole way.  We have lots of talented employees. This is a real business, with real people.  Don’t let a real estate agent tell you we simply take your money, give you a sign and leave you.  Our clients tell us they hear this from agents but they know better.  Our overhead to maintain a presense in the Democrat & Chronicle, the Buffalo News, the Erie Times and the Post-Standard along the producing the best full color real estate magazine distributed in expensive Wegmans and Tops is enormous.  The results are worth it for you.  Because of all this buyers keep looking to us for their new home.

4.   2.5% Real Estate Direct is the best real estate brokerage no matter how you look at it.  Our agents are completely full service, licensed, are Realtors, knowledgable and available.  They all sell homes and make a good living at it.  We are simply willing to buck the collusive forces trying to keep commissions at 6 or 7%.  We advertise more, conduct open houses, charge only upon a sale, use the MLS, and every other useful tool. Don’t fall for the arguments that somehow another broker is worth 6 or 7% no matter how your home sells and please don’t listen to the argument that other agents won’t show your home.  It is completely false, wrong, not relevent, and is a fear tactic to force you to feel compelled, unwilling, to list at 6 or 7%.  Get in contact with me if anyone says that to you.

Call us.  Talk with me or Lisa, Laura, Jeremy, or Alyssa.  Think about it. 

Let’s see.  What a week. 16 Heathrow Court in Williamsville, a beautiful patio home, was sold through America’s Choice to our seller of 136 Sundown Trail, a very nice colonial, which was sold to our seller of 143 Ames Avenue, Tonawanda, a nice ranch.  All of these homes sold quickly through America’s Choice.This is a nice triple header with all happy sellers and buyers! What else.  John and Carole Deluca wrote to tell me they just sold their third home with us – the last one is a patio home in East Amherst.  They wrote to say how each experience has been better then the prior experience and how they appreciate the improvements we continue to make to our marketing plans.  Thank you John and Carole for writing.

I see 590 Dunnbridge in Webster and 195 Hillside in Hilton are both sale pending.  Each of these sellers have sold with us in the past.  Congratulations!  We have so many people in Rochester who have sold more than one home with us and we have so many streets in which we have sold multiple homes.  In fact, we printed a page of them in Your New Home magazine.  Take a look.  It is interesting. If anyone knows of a recent triple sale in Rochester please let us let us know here. Regards to all.

 

I received an interesting call today at 2.5% Real Estate Direct. It went like this. “I understand that you provide most of the services of a traditional real estate broker.  So what is it that you do not provide?” Ken asked. “Why do you think we provide something less then other full service real estate brokers, Ken?” I responded.  “Lets face it,” he said. “You charge so much less so you can’t be providing as much.  Just let me know what it is so I can evaluate your service.”

In the current real estate market two new build homes sell for a combined total of just under $1,000,000.  Both are located on Sweet Road, East Aurora.  One sells for $445,000 and the the second, 600 square feet larger, for $489,000.  The total cost to sell?  At 7% the cost is $65,000.  At 6% it is $56,000.  Both sell quickly, with lots of action.  The real estate companies work hard to bring buyers and work through the process.   So, $56,000-$65,000 seems like a reasonable fee to you?

I received a letter from Cathy Zimmerman, who is selling 17 Ashleaf Drive, Cheektowaga, NY.  Cathy is marketing commission free to buyers through America’s Choice while at the same time selling with 2.5% Real Estate Direct through our exclusive agency program. The concept is simple. No commission is paid if the home sells through America’s Choice while a low commission is paid if the home sells through 2.5% Real Estate Direct (as low as 1%). Thus, Cathy is marketing directly to buyers through America’s Choice while at the same time marketing to real estate agents through the MLS and 2.5% Real Estate Direct.

Why do real estate agents attack 2.5% Real Estate Direct when trying to get a listing? 2.5% Real Estate Direct is a member of the Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors, the Greater Rochester Association of Realtors, the Central New York Association of Realtors, the New York State Association of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors.