Rapidly changing industries, from healthcare to manufacturers and fast-moving consumer goods (think grocers) to technology-related fields, have faced challenges in recent years. For various reasons, how they do business has changed and must evolve to keep pace. Now it's the real estate industry’s turn.
This summer, an earthquake of sorts shook the National Association of Realtors. The industry is still feeling the aftershocks, and agents are adapting to best help people buy and sell their homes. Buyers and sellers who learn to navigate the emerging housing market can save significant money during home transactions, especially on luxury homes, and one local real estate brokerage, RME and Advisors, offers a new approach to make that possible.
The epicenter of this industry-wide event was a court settlement that came down in response to a series of class-action lawsuits filed against the National Association of Realtors. Those filing lawsuits questioned things like why there was no variation in charges if their house was sold before pictures were taken, or they challenged why they had to pay a full commission if they found the home online and simply asked an agent to write up an offer. Claims like these are why the bulk of the settlement saw the country’s largest trade organization agree to a slate of industry-wide changes and payments of over $400 million in damages.
This settlement changed how real estate transactions are conducted, impacting how agents are paid. This means that sellers are no longer automatically covering buyers' agent fees, and buyers must now sign a contract before touring any homes.
There are many great brokerages and agents in our community that can help you navigate this evolving environment and take care of your every need, but the rule changes are making some people more receptive to doing business beyond the status quo, and RME offers a new choice in real estate where every home sold or bought is treated as a project.
“My background is in business and operations, not real estate, so I remember when Pat and Ryan [Manicom] first introduced me to the concept. From a business standpoint, it just made sense,” says Alison Hollingsworth, Director of Operations for RME. “The real estate market can be intimidating, so a focus on transparency and consumer education makes sense.”
Pat Manicom, RME and Advisors Broker and Co-Founder says, “We have developed a system to treat the process like a project with variables to meet the needs of the property and the consumer.”
With their consumer-minded model, tasks and hours needed to sell a home are evaluated, the level of expertise needed to complete those tasks is factored in, and third-party costs are stated up front. In short, you only pay for the services you need.
“Some consumers have a perfect home that will sell in three days. Others need more help; some consumers have sold many homes and need less help.” According to Pat Manicom, “There are also many advancements in the internet that save a lot of time and money for consumers and agents.”
Once their checklist is completed, there is still room to change which services you might need as things develop. If a project has unforeseen problems, the cost is reevaluated, and a change order is completed to achieve the optimum outcome.
RME and Advisors pride themselves on not leaving any steps out. Full compliance and fiduciary responsibility are strictly adhered to, the consumers are fully educated on the facts, and transparency and accountability are paramount. Plus, as the value of your home goes up, the percentage you pay on the sale goes down. The traditional model of buying and selling a home uses very little scalability in savings, while the RME approach does.
“We are not a discount broker; we couple expertise with transparency and accountability that saves the consumer money, especially in the luxury market,” says Pat Manicom, who proudly declares, “Let’s demand more of our industry and ourselves. Let’s analyze our work. Let’s empower consumers with facts. Let’s let the consumer choose with as many facts as possible.”
It is a philosophy echoed by the company’s backers. RTM Partner Ryan Manicom says, “RTB is proud to support RME and its goal of protecting the consumer, its effort to shake up the industry and provide services that the consumer deserves.”
For more information, go to www.mreandadvisors.com