Save Thousands by Using Hourly Real Estate Services
Posted 12/13/09
Hourly real estate can save you thousands of dollars on your next real estate transaction. It makes perfect sense that people savvy enough to navigate the Internet for banking services and baby toys would be able to search real estate listings without the help of a broker. Why pay a broker for something you can do yourself. Heres where hourly real estate services come in.Some brokers are now offering their services on an hourly basis, similar to the time accounting and billing practices employed by other professionals such as lawyers and accountants. With hourly real estate, the client is billed only for actual time spent; that time is broken down by billing rates corresponding to the level of service rendered. In other words, professional real estate representation by a licensed broker is billed at an hourly rate that differs from the rate charged for administrative and managerial services or the rate charged for property appraisals and inspections. That certainly makes a lot of sense, doesnt it.
By choosing hourly real estate services, you are assured of paying no more than three percent of the home selling price, regardless of actual hours spent. Agent and client sign off on the estimated number of hours needed to bring the transaction to successful conclusion. Clients must give their consent before any additional work is performed. You will have an entire real estate team at your disposal in an hourly real estate arrangement, which team works under the supervision of a licensed real estate professional. Experts in all aspects of a transaction work under your broker to ensure a more efficient and cost effective method of delivering quality real estate services.
Should the client prefer, traditional commission based real estate services are still available. Some clients simply would rather have their agent search listings for homes that might be a good fit for them. This approach certainly makes more sense in cross country moves, when clients are unfamiliar with the different neighborhoods in their new city. These circumstances certainly lend themselves to full service real estate representation.
Clients will receive the same quality of professional representation whether they choose hourly real estate or commission based real estate services. If you are a buyer, think of hourly real estate as a discount on services or as value received for your personal knowledge of the transactional process.