The Consulting Times Reserved (old pro) Blog

Why & when would a consumer prefer hiring an Accredited Consultant in Real Estate?

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:28:56 -0500

By Paula Bean

An ACRE can offer you both the traditional system of real estate services by commission as well a variety of other compensation models, so the most obvious answer to 'when' is always. It's always ideal to work with an ACRE as your real estate professional because with an ACRE you'll have far more choices in how to receive the services you want and need!

To elaborate on the 'why', an Accredited Consultant in Real Estate (ACRE) can offer some more cost effective solutions as you only pay for what you need, and ACREs understand that real estate is not a "one size fits all" business. It's like going to a car dealership to buy a new car, but if all they had were red sedans of the same make and model, you'd go to another dealership where they had more choices, right?

Home Valuations, Paid by Fee (not commission)

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:05:38 -0500

Sometimes you need to get some real estate help, you know it is going to take some time and effort for the real estate agent to do the job, and you'd actually feel better about it if you could simply pay for the service. Often, though, realty professionals are only paid by commission. You can ask one to do you the "favor" but in turn your business (or referrals) will be expected down the road. Not what you had in mind? Time to find an ACRE, who will consult with you on your special project, charge you appropriately, and there will be no lingering sense of obligation for a favor done.

Change #3: The ACRE® Course...Taught LIVE!

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:54:57 -0500

At the end of this month, we'll be embarking on a laboratory experiment: teaching the entire ACRE® course...to a live class.

I've taught consulting before ACRE® was born and have had several requests over the last three years which I've always put aside, mostly for lack of time. However, I received a request two months ago that changed my mind.

Change #2: New Course

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:43:42 -0500

A couple of months ago, I posted on the members-only Coaching Exchange that it was our intention to upgrade the ACRE® course. Counsel Member Tom Pickering (our education guru) is working on this project; taking my "prose" and making it into a true course book, both because it needs to be, and because it will better ACRE®'s chances of being picked up for CE credits.

Once the new course book is completed, it is our intention to raise the bar in terms of the requirements to become an ACRE®. Clearly, in order to become a successful consultant, one needs to not just understand the model, but also have developed a strategic focus (I don't want to use the phrase "business plan" as it makes most agents' eyes glaze over) and most importantly, have calculated your hourly rates and any fee packages that you want to offer. Without this practical work complete, the theory is useless.

Change #1: New Consulting Times Site

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:38:01 -0500

We are busy putting together a new, expanded, and more user friendly Consulting Times. Here are just two of the changes (that I know about!)

First, a new course site will be integrated right here on The Consulting Times. The current course site was set up before the TCT was envisioned and the two sites have never talked with each other, not only providing conflicting information, but making for a lot of extra work behind the scenes.

Huge ACRE® Changes a'Comin

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:27:57 -0500

Well, the lazy summer is over and if you're like me and observe the Jewish holidays, autumn signals a new year and time for new beginnings. And we have huge changes coming to the ACRE® program. The Council members have been putting our heads together and I have been speaking with many of our ACRE® grads regarding what works, what doesn't, what needs to be changed, and what needs to be adapted. Frankly, my goal has always been, not just to have an organization that promotes, teaches, and supports real estate consulting, but eventually have ACRE® become the BEST training program in real estate, bar none. But to reach that goal, we need to make some major changes and we have quite a few that will be coming over the next few months into the beginning of 2010. I'll be posting them in the next days and weeks. If you've been thinking about registering for the ACRE® Program, please do not use these upcoming changes as a reason for putting it off. All new materials will be available through our Resource Library so you won't "miss" anything. Remember, the changes we are seeing in real estate are not going to go away once the market recovers - rather, the changes are systemic in nature and if we are to survive, we need to heed their call. "On the road of life, there are drivers and there are passengers." It's time to become a driver!

Quid Pro Quo? Oh, No!

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 07:52:37 -0500

ACRE® Jennifer Allen, author of "Sell with Soul" and (just out) "If You're Not Having Fun Selling Real Estate, You're Not Doing it Right!" recently sent out a fantastic email to her mailing list. I asked her if I could share it because:

It makes one think.
Jennifer's thoughts are at the heart of consulting where the fundamental question when dealing with clients should be "Is this in my client's interest or in mine?"

Hope you find it as thought provoking as I (and other ACRE®s) did:

Lack of Transparency Befuddles Today's Consumer...

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 10:41:37 -0500

...whether they are dealing with Health Care or Real Estate Services.

I was chatting with a friend of mine last week when he admitted that he had been without health insurance since he got out of college. Given that he's a real estate agent, that's not so surprising: as an independent contractor he's on his own regarding health insurance and many in our industry have simply taken their chances, especially when they are young and healthy like my friend Jack.

But as part of the approximately 15% of Americans who are uninsured, Jack has a window on a phenomenon that few of the rest of us ever see: what health services actually cost. You see, Jack was playing softball one Saturday a couple of weeks ago and sprained his ankle. As luck would have it, a member of the team was a physician and offered to take a look at the ankle at his office. After his ankle was wrapped up, Jack offered to pay him.

But here's the interesting phenomenon: the doctor-teammate didn't have a clue as to what to charge him because he had no clue as to what his services were worth! As any doctor today will tell you: their charges are handled by insurance. And the truth is that if the good doctor had not been playing softball with him, Jack's lack of insurance would have dictated that he wouldn't be going to a doctor's office at all - rather he would have to go to the ER if he wanted his ankle looked at and the cost of his care at the ER would have been absorbed by the insured.

Meanwhile, most of us who have health insurance never ask a doctor what they charge because we don't pay for the lion's share of our care - insurance does, so we have been quietly oblivious until the last few years.

So, what does this have to do with real estate?

When a Model no Longer Works...it's Time to Adapt

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 06:10:58 -0500

As I write this, the US government is embroiled in wrangling over how to overhaul our health care system. It seems to me that the system is not so much broken as it is hopelessly dated because as times changed, it never adapted. Our health care system was designed in years past, when you would hold a job for a lifetime. In that world, it made perfect sense to have your health care as a benefit of that job. But how many of us today stay in one job for our entire lives? And what about the growing legions of independent contractors and self employed entrepreneurs who have no access to a "company" plan? Health care tied to one's employment makes about as much sense in today's world as using a typewriter to write a letter. Likewise, in the real estate industry, we continue to practice in a way that is not so much broken but hopelessly outdated. The traditional sales model was conceived in years past when we, as real estate practitioners had a very different role. If you think about it, real estate as a sales profession, paid by commission, made total sense when the agent's only job was to "move the merchandise". But in the 1990's our national and state associations expanded our role - it was no longer enough to simply sell the product, we now were asked to act as fiduciaries: working in the best interest of our client and putting their needs above all others, including, and most especially our own. In fact, our responsibilities as a fiduciary became a part of the NAR's (National Association of Realtors®) code of ethics that we are obliged to adhere to. Yet, when our role was expanded and fundamentally changed, when we were asked to provide objective counsel that was in the client's best interest, no attention was given to how this new role fit with a compensation system that is geared toward salespeople who are free to work in their own best interest. Consequently, real estate professionals today are put in an impossible bind that no amount of "ethics training" can address: we are being asked to provide objective counsel that is in the best interest of our client when how much we are paid, (or whether we are paid at all) is wholly dependent on the client's decisions which we are advising them on!

The World Wide Rave...And I AM Raving!

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 08:27:29 -0500

I'm not in the book review business but I have to tell you that I just got through reading World Wide Rave by David Meerman Scott and it is an amazing book!

As I posted on Facebook last night:

I've been struggling with how to get my book and company more noticed without much in the way of funds, and after reading this book, I feel like I have a new lease on life and work. If you know me at all, you know I don't swoon over much but this book is incredible.

Like many of us ACRE®s, David challenges the conventional wisdom on how to bring online eyeballs to whatever you do. I found myself nodding my head and saying YES! out loud.

AND...if you want to get a taste of what I'm "raving" about, you can go to his site and download his free e-book that started it all: The New Rules of Viral Marketing: How Word of Mouse Spreads Your Ideas for Free.

But, it gets better...

How does consulting business impact the bottom line?

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 10:51:03 -0500

Does consulting tend to impact commission-based business in a positive way - or does it stay fairly level, but with added income from the consulting side and in that way does it help with cash flow and smooth out the highs and lows of commission-based income? AP - New York

How do fees work with brokerage splits?

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:11:51 -0500

Let's say I earn $450 in consuting fees. Would I receive the same agreed upon % that I receive in a commissioned base transaction? I am assuming that the check would be made out to my Brokerage firm. DJ - Illinois

How did you go about developing the forms and documentation that you use?

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 10:59:21 -0500

Did you have an attorney draw up your forms and documentation? What part of this does the broker of record play in the process? If any? What pitfalls do you recomment that we watch out for? What are the absolute "must steps" that are to be taken? LH - Texas

What if you like your brokerage but want to become an ACRE?

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 10:49:36 -0500

What if you like your brokerage but want to do the ACRE concept? GC - Washington

Must consulting fees go through my brokerage?

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 10:24:21 -0500

I've been going back and forth now on your business model. I was discussing it with my brokers. They claim that If I do a CMA, a consultation, etc.. on a fee based per service model, its considered a transaction and has to go through my brokerage? Is this the case with you ACREs? I'm still being charged the transaction fees, E&0, etc.. which would put me upside down on such a model.

Can you shed some light?

AS - Washington