How one seller lost $10,000 when he thought he was saving on Realtor fees - and how another gained $33,000 when he gave us a chance

Let me introduce you to two sellers, Nick and Mike (names changed for confidentiality).

We met first with Nick, who had a townhome to sell. We toured his home and presented him with a market analysis, which put his home around $225k with the improvements he was talking about making.

Nick mentioned he had some private interest in the home. Everyone knows what that means - why would he hire a real estate agent, when he could save the fee and sell it directly to a buyer?

We explained that we could create a win-win situation for him: We could list the home for him, and he could take offers from his private buyers. Once we had multiple offers, we could compare the offers we procured for him against the private offers he had.

If the offers he already had were better for him, bottom line, then we would step aside and he could complete the sale with a private buyer.

If one of our offers were better for him, bottom line, he could take that offer, plus benefit from our professional concierge services throughout the transaction.

Nick understood (or so I thought!) and appreciated our candor. We agreed to keep in touch...

About a month later, however, we learned that Nick took a contract with a private buyer for $200k! He said he liked our presentation, but wanted to keep more of his money, bottom line, by selling privately.

Is that what happened? You be the judge...

Private sale:
Purchase price - $200,000
Closing costs, tax prorations - $10,000
Net price: $190,000

The Pluchar Group sale:
Purchase price - $225,000 (conservative)
Closing costs + commission - $22,500
Net price: $202,500

So our guy Nick thought he was saving money, but he actually cost himself $12,500, at a minimum!

Naturally, we didn't say this to him after the fact - no need to rub it in. Instead, I saw this partially as my fault - I was not assertive enough about putting more money in his pocket.

When our friend Mike found himself in the same situation, I was - pleasantly - more persistent.

Mike was prepared to sell his house privately for $401,000. It was a cash deal through a co-worker, and they felt it would be a fair price for the house.

I had been in touch with Mike about listing his home, so I offered the same win-win scenario as I had for Nick: Let's list it publically and compare bottom lines. If the bottom line you have is better than what we can get you, no harm done, you keep that offer. If our bottom line is better, now you have an option to walk away with more money!

Mike agreed, and we got his home on the market very quickly (turnaround of about 2 days, including professional photography). We listed for $420k.

Well. You'll have to take my word for it, because we're currently under contract, but Mike stands to gain nearly $33,000 extra, over and above what he was going to net with the private sale, by giving us a chance to make him more money.

Listen - I know a lot of people are apprehensive about sales, and Realtors, and Realtors making sales. It feels like saying "yes" to a meeting is like tying a weight around your neck and being forced into a whole process you're not ready for.

It's not like that with us. I despise that process and eschew much of what the industry teaches. What I focus on is what is best for you - do the numbers make sense? Does the process work for you? Will you get where you need to go, when you need to be there?

That's really what it's all about for us. If we can help anyway, including comparing bottom lines, please let us know!