How to get the maximum 3% commission on selling a property
In October 2017 I attended a two day course run by Hartamas Academy for people who were interested in joining the real estate industry as a REN - a licensed Real Estate Negotiator employed by a Registered Real Estate agent or REA. I paid RM600 out of my own pocket, which included light refreshments, a folder containing slides used in the course and perhaps, the most valuable thing I got for my $$$, participation in a Whatsapp group for networking.
Picture credit: Austin Distel, Unsplash
The highlights of the two day course for me was a one and half hour presentation on Ethics & The Real Estate Profession. This presentation by a senior REA concluded with some advice how to avoid the top 15 mistakes by real estate negotiators.
Most of the “mistakes” on the list were as far as I could see, clearly ethical failures. A few of the “mistakes” might I think but cannot be 100% certain, constitute a breach of contract, if both parties had signed written agreements. But one “mistake” stood out as the worst thing a new REN couid commit - “Undercutting professional fees” set by the real estate industry's regulator, BOVEA.
By “Undercutting” I think the REA presenter meant RENs who find out their competitors are charging the full 3% whack, then slyly get hold of the buyer’s mobile number to offer to sell the same property at a lower commission.
Don’t ever be tempted to cut your 3% maximum commission or professional fee to attract more business. Instead, why not consider a better way to justify your full 3% commission or professional fee.
A popular 1970s advertising slogan “Because I’m Worth It” comes to my mind. The tag “Because I'm Worth It” was first run by a French cosmetics company that successfully pitched it against its less agile competitor. After a span of 50 years, that advertisement is now a marketing classic.
What should a newbie REN reply when a buyer says her proposed 3% commission is negotiable? I suggest you counter with the classic “I’m worth it” tag? But of course, you are going to promise your client to sell it a higher price, so the net proceeds after deducting your professional fee of 3% will still be higher.
In Real Estate Marketing 101 I will talk about Digital Marketing tools for real estate professionals that work :
How to identify Unique Selling Propositions- and what I call the “X Factor” of the MIllion Dollar KLCC property you client has just entrusted you to sell. Use a property's Walkability Score (copyright by WalkScore.com) to differentiate your property listing from the competition. Learn how to identify USPs using an actual example, Straits Residences, an upmarket Seafront Serviced Residence at Tanjung Tokong, Penang.
How to make your own video tours that you can send to potential buyers using FREE software like inSpot or Quik. TBA See Rig #1 and optional Rig #2. Learn how to embed inSpot or Quik videos on your website.
How to make your own 360 Virtual Tour using your smartphone plus a cheap fish eye lens, a Bluetooth rotator device and a cheap tripod. TBA. See Rig #5 below.
How to establish your Personal Online Brand by setting up a Squarespace.com website to showcase your professional expertise. Learn step by step how to customise your own website from a template (360KiranaResidence.com).
How to set up your own LinkedIn profile that sets you apart from the competition. Includes PROVEN strategies on how to grow your LinkedIn network from zero to 500+ quickly.
How to set up a Facebook business page to funnel prospective clients to your personal profile on a property portal. TBA
Notes & disclaimer:
I do not have a REN license. But what I do have to offer to newbie real estate agents is my wealth of experience in marketing Financial Products to both institutions and retail consumers.
In the mid 1980s, I set up 3 unit trusts for DBS Bank. I also have first hand experience developing marketing campaigns for the unit trusts that I set up.
I wrote training manuals for branch managers on how to cross sell these unit trusts with their fixed deposits and currencies. I participated in a successful TV advertising campaign for unit trusts, the first ever in Red Dot Island. And I wrote the advertising copy for Issue #1 of “BankLine”, an innovative monthly IBD newsletter designed to cross sell my Investment Banking Department's (IBD) products and services to the bank’s retail customer base. “BankLine” in fact was so successful in selling unit trusts to their customers that after just 3 issues, Public Affairs department decided to step in. Suddenly BankLine was no longer an IBD marketing tool but Consumer Banking division’s marketing tool.
I left DBS Bank to move into investment research (Singapore & Malaysia) at a small regional start-up stockbroking house, C***. 30+ years later, C*** is now a global IB, famous for its iconic blue and yellow logo.
I still have Issue #1 of “BankLine”, printed on a single A4 sheet in two colours to market the bank’s first unit trust product - the Shenton Evergreen Growth Fund. Even after leaving DBS Bank, I kept track of my first real marketing success and watched “BankLine” evolve into a full colour marketing newsletter of 8 pages.
After more than 30 years , I still remember what the SVP Consumer Banking wrote in the margin of my one page memo for starting BankLine, “Supported. But IBD to bear 100% of costs.”
Copyright Hartamas Academy
Copyright Hartamas Academy
Copyright Hartamas Academy
Copyright Hartamas Academy
Copyright by Hartamas Academy
Rig #1 Budget rig for shooting real estate videos with your own smartphone. Cost below RM250 for the plastic smartphone cage, 100 bulb video LED light + rechargeable battery, and a cheap microphone. You supply your own smartphone.
Rig #2 : Remote controlled dolly with smartphone holder to shoot B roll video RM220
Rig #3 Smartphone gimbal for shooting stabilized real estate videos RM350
Rig #4 DJI Osmo Pocket camera gimbal >RM1500
Rig #5 Asteroom rotator, fish eye lens and tripod RM550-600 to shoot 360 Virtual Tours, requires Premium hosting account
Rig #6 Insta36O camera with extension rod to shoot 360 virtual tours >RM1,500
