Realtor Ryan

I WISH, would have to be my first response to this question. Does anyone in the Realtor community see a benefit to these dinosaur ridden companies that are looking for nothing but a handout? 37.5% as a "referral"?! You have got to be kidding me! This is truly the fleecing of America!

The first scenario goes like this: A client of mine who I had been talking to for months about listing their house, calls me last week and says that they are going to use the relocation company that their company offers. My response, was two things, first that might be good for you, because they will buy you out if you are unable to sell your property. Found out the answer to that one real quick was a big fat, "NO". The second positive to this I told her is that they could assist her in finding someone in their new city that would actually be qualified to help them find a home. Well, after two weeks of working with this person, we found out that one not to be true also.

The second scenario goes like this: A lady calls me out of the blue and tells me that she had found my services online and had been searching my website for houses. I told her that I would love to work with her and help in her transfer from Los Alamos, New Mexico to Chattanooga, Tennessee. After showing houses to her for a week, I receive a phone call from a Cartus Representative. Mr. King, we understand that you are working with Mrs. X and we won't to let you know that their will be a 37.5% referral that will need to be paid on behalf of her relocation. After a few expletives, you imagine the feeling of rape and shake down that I just felt. The next day while looking at homes, I mentioned this to my client. She was furious! She said that they had sent her to some horrible Realtor that had just started in the business and she refused to use. She had told Cartus that she would not be using their Realtor and she would be choosing a Realtor on her own. After much going back and forth with them, my client who was determined to have her way, told them that her Realtor was not paying a referral, they were not providing her with anything as far as relocation services and that they could take their referral and shove it! Needless to say, we are great friends now!

So my question to you out there is this. What do relocation companies really provide to a company? The buyers and sellers are so much more educated than they have ever been. This combined with the fact that Realtor, Mortgage Lender, Title Company information along with all the inventory of houses are accessible online now, makes me wonder. Will relocation companies go the way of the Dodo Bird? When I asked the relocation company the other day why their fee had gone from a raping 35% to 37.5%, their response was, "Our expenses have gone up, so therefore we have to pass that along to you the Realtor".

Where does it end? If you are out there and are so desperate that you need relocation company business to survive, then you need a different business model.

Realtor Ryan, Broker

Real Estate Partners

423.595.7958 Direct

423.265.0088 Office

www.RealtorRyan.com

The first annual Earth Day Chattanooga is finally here. There will be many activities and things to see along Main Street, so come on out and join us for this celebration. Interesting speakers that we all might could learn something from. Click on the link below for more detailed information.

www.EarthDayChattanooga.com

Realtor Ryan, Broker

Did everyone see the article that was printed in the USA Today last week? I have been telling everyone in my posts, that it wasn't as bad here as the media typically lets on. Click on the link and take a look for yourself. Keep the e-mails and posts coming. Love to answer any of your questions that you may have.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/closetohome/2008-03-17-chattanooga_N.htm

Realtor Ryan, Broker

Yes folks, I am blazing a new path in the area of Chattanooga Real Estate. I have just received my Eco-Broker Designation and I am the first one out of over 1,500 agents to obtain such an honor. The closest other Eco-Broker would be in Atlanta.

The Eco-Broker Class has taught me many things about Green Building practices and how to cut your energy almost in half by using passive solar power (basically the direction your house sits). I also have learned how we can all make better choices when buying appliances, HVAC units, water heaters and many other items for our homes.

I truly feel that one day, Americans will have to find alternative fuel sources and we will also HAVE to be educated consumers in the Energy Efficiency category. The Eco-Broker designation will put me ahead of the pack in educating my buyers and sellers about the potential benefits and pitfalls of the home buying purchase.

If you would like more information about how you can make your home more "Green", please don't hesitate to call me or log onto the website http://www.ecobroker.com/ Also, I can e-mail you some great websites that you could check out on your own for energy efficiency.

The Chattanooga Enviroment does matter to me and my number one goal is to provide my buyers and sellers with more knowledge (than my competitors) so that they can make the most educated decision possible. Check out these sites, you may find the information very useful:

http://chattanoogausgbc.blogspot.com/ and http://www.envirolinkhandbook.com/www/docs/9/

Realtor Ryan, Broker

Sorry, it has taken me so long between posts. I have been extremely busy with Christmas and the New Year. I am very excited about 2008 and ready to get back into the groove. The Chattanooga Association of Realtors just released their Chattanooga MLS housing numbers for November 2007. Take into consideration that we are comparing these numbers to a record setting housing year of 2006. Chattanooga Realtors closed 489 homes in the month of November, compared to 618 for November 2006. There was a 16 percent drop from October 2007 to November 2007 (568 homes in October compared to 489 homes in November). Something that we need to consider is that there has been historically a 15% drop from October to November, which puts our recent 16% drop into perspective. On a very good note is that our median home price has not really changed much and we are hovering around the $140,000 mark. This proves that we here in Chattanooga didn't see the over-inflation of pricing that a lot of other markets throughout the United States saw over the last few years. This a great market to buy in and still a great market to sell a home. One of my goals is to post more blogs for your information in 2008, so you will be hearing from me a lot more this year. Happy New Year!

Realtor Ryan, Broker

http://www.RealtorRyan.com/