Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'd look at who sells more homes in your area, and go with them. We listed with a one-office, local company that gets over 50% of the listings in our neighborhood, rather than one of the Weicherts, C21's, etc., that everyone knows. While it's true in many cases that the listing agent isn't also going to be the selling agent, there are companies like the one we listed with that focus their sales and marketing efforts on certain neighborhoods, and therefore will bring alot of traffic to your home.
We had probably a dozen showings, and only two of them were agents from other firms- the rest were from 4 or 5 different agents from the listing office, and the buyer ended up being brought in by the listing agent himself.
I wouldn't get hung up on the "name brand" office. And while it's important to feel comfortable with your agent, it's also important to see how their listings fare in the market- the agent could be a very warm and fuzzy person, but if her listings don't move as well as some other firms, that could be a problem.
How do you find out how many properties they've sold in the last few months? Is that information online or do you ask the agent directly for the printout?
How do you find out how many properties they've sold in the last few months? Is that information online or do you ask the agent directly for the printout?
Ask the agent directly for their stats as well as their office's stats. This is something they can print out directly from the MLS.
How do you find out how many properties they've sold in the last few months? Is that information online or do you ask the agent directly for the printout?
Any agent worth what your paying him/her will give you a list of all sales in the area for the recent months. Those sales will show who the listing broker was, as well as how long the house was on the market, and the original listing price and final sales price.
So just what is a 'Boutique Real Estate' firm. I'm meeting someone who works for a company like this, and I'd really like to know what it is before I meet her! Thanks. Ed
So just what is a 'Boutique Real Estate' firm. I'm meeting someone who works for a company like this, and I'd really like to know what it is before I meet her! Thanks. Ed
A "Boutique" Real Estate firm would be one of the smaller firms in your town that caters to a specific town, and generally only has a small handful of agents working there--normally less than 10. They normally do not have the backing of a national company such as Prudential or Remax or Century 21.
The one benefit is that you will have more attention from your agent b/c they are not normally working as many deals or listings.
The one major downfall is that because of a usually smaller advertising budget you generally get less of the much needed advertising to sell in this type of market.
Hi, my name is Bob Murray with Re/max Rouge River Realty Ltd. [URL="http://www.home4u2.ca"]www.home4u2.ca[/URL] and [URL="http://www.bobmurray.ca"]www.bobmurray.ca[/URL]. My Brokerage is one of the largest in the GTA and I consider myself a "Boutique Realtor". Quite honestly, a "boutique" brokerage should only call itself that if they have individual professional realtors working on their own and not on a "Team". That is what a "Boutique" realtor is. That should answer your question as to who to choose...don't worry about the brokerage so much as the realtor themself. Feel free to contact me anytime!
Interesting!
When we sold my mom's house in 2005, she chose a boutique agency and I wasn't thrilled. He was nice but he didn't seem to market her home very well and mind you....this was in 2005 (good times for sellers)
We also chose a boutique agency when we sold our home in California because the agent was our friend (MISTAKE). To be fair, he went out on his own just before we listed so we did not intend for that to happen. We thought he'd be our agent at the big firm.
When we bought here we went with the big YELLOW agency. She was the best, imo and no....I am not in real estate, lol
Make sure the boutiquish co offers IDX, this is seldom heard of on this site, (or by the public). IDX (Internet Data Exchange) allows listings to be populated over other broker's websites. This means if Brand Y lists your home, it will also appear in Brand X's websites, provided they both participate in the IDX program.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Boutique Real Estate.........
