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.
Each state has different rules about charging for an opinion of
value,
so it is possible that this may not be available in all states for a
fee, but real estate agents routinely do a "comparative (or
competitive) market analysis" for homeowners as part of a listing presentation.. Agents have software and solutions for providing this information to potential clients.
When a bank is taking back a home in foreclosure, agents perform BPOs, "Broker Price Opinions", which is much like a CMA, and they do this for a fee.
If you'd like to have a report with the probable buyer's value for your home, an ACRE can do this for you and can be 100% unbiased because the Consultant is being paid to simply provide you that report - "getting the listing" is not part of the formula so there will be no temptation to either inflate or deflate the price (which can sometimes happen when an owner is interviewing several agents: some will tell the sellers what they want to hear rather than what they need to hear).


Awesome post MPH! I particularly like the part about foreclosure. In Florida we are flooded with peole trying to do loan mods, short sales - ANYTHING to avoid foreclosure. It makes up about 80% of my consulting work because why would an agent help you with a loan modification? There is no sale involved.
Stay tuned for more news on this from us. The consumer needs to be informed of the many choices they have when needing anything real estate related.