I am in the process of getting my broker's license and would like to open an Exclusive Buyer Broker agency. I have decided that I just don't really like working with sellers for a number of reasons.

I have talked to an agent friend of mine with her own company and she is willing to take the listings for me when I have a client that needs to sell in order to buy. So that problem is solved.

What are your thoughts on the success of these Exclusive Buyer Broker Agencies? Do you think the public really cares or even understands the difference?

My other question is - do you know any of these types of agencies in your area that are doing well.

its proven to be a pretty bad business model..
hard to achieve any volume
there is one in my market..
not even in the top50% of brokerages in the mls
and they have excellent seo and rank for most buyer related search terms..
lots of traffic,..very little actual sales..
makes me nervous..
but each market is different.
good luck.

There is an organization of EBA's but with the glut of properties on the market right now, the perceived need for an EBA by the general public is pretty low.

Try googling Tom Early or Jay Reifert or The Buyers Agent. These are three I know were very successful in the late 90's and early 00's runnig buyers only brokerages

Remember, Buyers come in to the market to find property . . . . NOT to find a Broker to represent them.

People often try the exclusive Buyer Agency thing only to find that they don't really have any product to put in the window to draw in Customers. You usually need some kind of "bait to serve as a drawing card.

I liken Buyers to being "free as a bird, free to flutter around and land anywhere, with allegiance to no one.

Sellers on the other hand, are stationary, "like the doggie in the window".

Sellers have to wait for someone to come by . . . . and buy. They have only one thing to sell, and that serves as a control point . . . . they have far fewer degrees of freedom.

True, Buyers may sign a Buyer Broker Agreement with you one day, but you'll often find them looking at property with a new beau the next day.

I don't know of a single such Agency that hasn't reversed itself and again started taking on Listings. Listings are the Bread and Butter of the industry.

Thanks for all the input. I will definately consider these things. But as far as not having anything to advertise, with the IDX and HUD homes that's really no longer true. For most of this year I have only advertised HUD homes and done very well. I guess that is why I'm thinking of doing this.

I think the internet makes all of this a lot easier too than it was in the past.

I love this input - keep it coming. Thanks!

the internet made it alot harder too..

in the consumer mind..
why do i need some buyers agent..
when i got realtor.com, trulia, zillow homegain, and 1,000 of your competitors with free idx?

Personally, I don't know why you would start out in the business closing the door on half the prospects. You might change your mind some day, or have agents working with you who want to list property. Branding your company as exclusively for buyers seems like a limitation that would cost more business than it would gain. It's hard enough to make it in this business, tying one hand behind your back might make for an interesting hook for some business, but ultimately I think it will hurt your chances for success.

deepsea - yes that is sort of what I was worried about as well. What I may do is not brand myself that way but just work as an exclusive buyer's agent without marketing it that way. For instance, when I get listing prospects, just simply send them to someone else but not put on my marketing material that I never ever take listings. There may also be a few that I might want to take from time to time. If the sellers are reasonable and will price appropriately I wouldn't mind doing that occassionally.

A lot of the comments are validating what I already thought. So keep them coming people. LOL

I realize the public is generally a fickle lot; but, what about an exclusive niche of a buyer - the first-time buyer or the high-end home buyer or the buyer who wants to buy new?

First-timers may not be the most brilliant (yet they think they are "because I read it on the internet" and even some of those will think they don't need an agent.

Then there are those buyers - first-timers and been-around-the-block-before buyers - the ones who think they don't need their own agent and run off to a subdivision builder more times than I can count.

Then there's the higher-end buyer - I would certainly hope spending $500k and up on a house that they'd think they need one; but, I take that back - I've had a fair number of them run off to builders too. Once they sign in with the builder, it's too late...and you want to cry on my shoulder? That's $5,000 I charge for every 15 min. increment to cry on my shoulder.

Maybe, just maybe if buyers had to use their own cash to purchase a home, they'd think a way lot more about getting their own representation. With financing, the mindset is still 'it's someone else's money."

Every night before I go to bed I pray my competition will implement your plan.

LOL - That's too good Bigtoe! After really thinking about it, I think that I will simply specialize in buyers, refer out the sellers for a referral fee and simply carry on with what I have been doing.

Even after talking to the one and only EBA in my area, I'm simply not convinced that there is a distinct advantage to permanently cutting off the other side of the business (the dark side I like to call it). Apparently, anyone can go to their annual conference, the fee is a bit higher, but the difference between public admission and member admission is still lower than their annual dues AND I don't have to commit to never taking a listing.

See where I am, buyers sign an Exclusive Buyer-Broker Agreement. So I told him that once that is signed and Limited Agency is waived, I am an Exclusive Buyer Broker for that client. He said not really, and they are trying to get the states that use that verbiage on their forms to change the name of the form so that people can't say they are when they don't belong to NAEBA. Super nice guy but I think they have a real uphill battle on their hands. They can't name an association after a state approved form and then ask the states to rename the form.

Hey thanks for all the input and if anyone else has any other input I'm open to it.

Regardless of the letters after an agent's name or the recognition (and many, many times the lack of recogntion by the public) of an association's name, I can't see any way an association could force THEIR name to be on a buyer's agreement as the ONLY buyer agency.

We can all still be real estate agents - we don't need NAR's endorsement for that - same stands here.

Besides that, I can attest to experience with one ABR who I am just waiting to see their name in print in the r.e.board's violation reading section someday - he was AWFUL. And, I USED to have the ABR until, who is it NAR?, started giving away ABR info to ALL realtors. Decided it wasn't worth paying annual dues while they give it away to others for free.

You want to learn how to be a good buyer's agent - just start reading your r.e.board's violations section online - if they have one, and, take real estate risk classes every time you see them. If you belong to NAR, I believe they have a section of law where cases were even taken to court - immense educational reading, let me tell you. There's always this 'should have known' thing that hangs over our heads.

My saying is always, "Protect your butt first, your client's second."

That's very generous of your friend to help you solve that 'problem'. I wish you the best of luck in your new business, but I would caution you against not working with half your potential clientele (specially since it's the half with something to sell).

There may be a little confusion here:

An Exclusive Buyer's Agency does not list properties - ever
A Buyer's Agency Agreement (like we use here) only covers one transaction.
And these agreements apply to the brokerage, not the individual agent.

I forgot about NAEBA, I thought they disappeared years ago.

Thanks Maui for your input, but sellers have never been 1/2 my business so it's not like I'm giving away half my earnings each year.

Listings have always been the part of my business that I have absolutely positively hated dealing with. I have tried all kinds of things to get myself to enjoy this part of the business but I just can't. I know most wouldn't understand that since they love listings. So that's why I was considering becoming an Exclusive Buyer Agency.

But haven't seen any real reason yet to actually declare that I won't take any listings ever. And from what I can gather from internet searches, buyers don't really understand the difference or care. I think it's a distinction that we recognize being in the industry, but no one else.

bigtoe,..me too...
I will gladly take the dark side of the business of thier hands..
Its waaaay more profitable with the least amount of hassles..

Come west young man - I have some listings for you! LOL

I'm not really convinced that it is more profitable to do listings. My time logs show that I spend less hours per transaction with my buyers than my sellers. I usually have my buyers under contract in 3 showing appointments and closed in 30 days. With a listing, unless it's priced super competitive, its a lot longer than that.

I definately can see that an agent can carry more listings at a time than buyers. But that's a lot of stuff to juggle. I think listing agents need to hire assistants a lot sooner than buyer's agents that's for sure.

Are buyers in UT not as picky or is there not much to choose from?

Wow lucky you to get thodse motivated buyers..

in my market it takes at least 20 hours to get a buyer contract start to close..
I spend about 2 hours to take a listing..
1 hour of paperwork..cma, input listing, actual listing appointment..

In MY market..
It takes on average showing 12-16 homes..
thats 6-12 hours..
then inspections-2-4 hours- appraisals-1 hour

It's not so much luck as a weeding out process. I get about 100 leads or so a month from my website and other advertising (I advertise HUD homes). I have some criteria before I start working with them. Such as, if I think they are realistic about their area and price range, pre-approved, lease is up soon etc.

Also, in my market, most agents don't go to the inspection. It's a time for the buyer to converse with the inspector about the home without interference. Seems to be a point in lawsuits that the agent was there and then the buyers claim the agent minimized what the inspector was saying so unless the client really wants me there, I don't go. I get a copy and we discuss it afterwards.

Same with appraisals. We don't even know when they are going out there because they call the listing agent for the appoitnment. I review it when it comes in to check sq. ft, and other pertinent items so only takes a few minutes.

On the listing side, you also have to count the time spent taking calls for showings, update and check in calls with the sellers, the appraisal may be more of an issue if you are the listing agent you want to make sure the place appraises.

So in summary - you are probably right if your buyers are taking a lot of time to look at each house and then looking over a long period of time then you would be spending more time with buyers than sellers. But with sellers, you have a lot of little bits of time - scheduling showings, update calls and visits etc.

I always go on inspections with my buyers. I've been to enough inspections that when I notice the inspector is not talking about something I believe he should be talking about, I interject a question to get him talking.

I realize risk management says we're supposed to just sit at a table and have the buyer and inspector go through the inspection themselves, but, I don't want the buyer's inspector glazing over or missing something entirely when I've been through it a gazzlion times and believe he should say something. This is the buyer's first inspection ever. They don't know what to expect whereas an experienced agent should and I don't like issues and non-issues glazed over or completely ignored.

Hey I have another question for everybody. Right now I advertise HUDs and one other agent's listings. In exchange for letting me advertise her listings she gets any listings I have come my way without having to pay a referral fee to me. So basically free listings.

A lot of her listings have been selling lately and I'm considering talking to other big listers to see if they are up for this. If someone approached you on this idea, would it be something you would consider? It doesn't change any of your buyer activity, just additional advertising that you could show your sellers you are doing to get their house sold.

Thoughts?

I see nothing wrong with it, particularly if you and the other agent have a smaller supply of listings. In my MLS, as I would think in others, even a listing pulled up on my own website still disclosures "listed by XYZ Company" even though I am ABC Company.

I think it's nifty. I did this with an independant broker I knew until she crawled back to a franchise. Plus via the IDX listings, I pick and choose all listings that I want on it as 'featured listings. I don't even bother with office listings as it is a button on the side of the page. Those I want SHOWN go to 'featured' which shows immediately on the first page.

You really should get the broker's permission if it's not IDX-connected - at least in VA, all listings belong to the broker, even though an agent's name may also be on the Listing Agreement. IDX agreement allows us to show each other's properties on our websites.

A lot of agents will let you advertise their listings without you offering them free listings. Why not? You are helping them do their job.

You should get a referral fee from any listings that come your way. A lot of people pay 30%, you could be generous and take only 20% and agents will line up at your door.

Am I misunderstanding this referral thing?

If I list one of YOUR properties, but, because a homeowner saw my ad (or whatever) and decided to list with me, I should PAY you a referral fee?

If so, I don't think so....

I was suggesting that in that scenerio if he doesn't want to be a listing agent with that person he should GET a referral fee from the agent he sends the listing to. He is doing that agent enough of a favor by advertising their listings.

Oh I'm so glad to see that other agents weren't automatically saying no to advertising their listings. I called several agents in my current brokerage to see if I could advertise their listings and they ALL said no. It was literally bizarre in my mind. I explained that it would help them show their sellers that they were doing everything they could to sell their homes and they still said no. That and a couple of other issues with my brokerage is why I'm currently doing the coursework to get my broker's license. Not a whole lot of reasons to stay with a brokerage and pay them fees.

As for the referral fees, at this point to get it going I'm probably not going to charge them a referral fee, but if I end up referring quite a bit then I may add one later.

And yes - the broker's permission probably would be good to have since they are not IDX driven, but what a pain. The last time I did this the broker wanted to meet with me and then spent a half hour trying to convince me to join his brokerage. I was trying to be nice. It took everything in me to not to say - why in the world would I give you about $20k of my earnings every year?

Before I had IDX, what I did was, after I went out on my own as an independent, was call the other independents I knew (the one-man bands), asked them if I could advertise their properties on my website and in exchange they could advertise mine also. It worked well because the 'listing' company name was still attached to the listings so it wasn't misrepresentation.

well said, i told that to several brokers in my case 60k to use thier name? heck no

I have told agents in my office they could advertise my listings if they want to, so long as they mention that it's listed by me in the ad. A few others in the office have said the same thing. Then I can happily tell the seller that there is even MORE exposure for their listing; they like it.

When I first started out I advertised a few lakefront listings of others in my office. It was great. I'm all about helping one another rather than trying to be a freaking lone ranger all the time.

Just don't do things without asking - don't steal my pictures, don't steal my content, just ask...and I'll probably say yes as long as you give credit where it's due - a simple little line like "This property is listed by Perky Realtor" in parentheses at the end of the ad is fine.

great attitude and good tip..

I think when you approach the listing agents..

you should say..

and I will give you credit in the ad..thus increasing your brand recognition..
good tip perky..
im going to use it..
to ask permission from the bigger agents..

I am the Executive Director of NAEBA and one of our members sent this link to me. I was hoping I could clear up a few misconceptions.

Choosing to be an Exclusive Buyer Agent or Broker is just choosing to specialize in one area of real estate. I have found that I can explain it best to buyers by comparing it to other industries. If you're having heart surgery, go to a cardiologist, not an internist or podiatrist. If your Toyota breaks down, go to a Toyota dealer, not a Ford or Honda dealer. If you're buying a home, go to an Exclusive Buyer Agent. They usually "get it."

As far as giving up half the business, are you telling me that a cardiologist is giving up income because he chooses to specialize in hearts instead of doing general practice? Is a Toyota mechanic really lamenting the loss of Honda and Ford owners? The majority of our members are doing well and keeping busy (and a decent income) by just working with buyers and some are even turning buyers away in this market because they are too busy. It's all about marketing oneself as a specialist. Many buyers don't get it, but the educated buyers do.

Probably most importantly, Exclusive Buyer Agency and Exclusive Buyer Representation was actually referred to by the National Association of REALTORS as far back as the 1980's, before the invention of any Exclusive Buyer Agency Agreements I've seen. According to the National Association of REALTORS and the Real Estate Buyer Agency Council, Exclusive Buyer Agency/Representation is where the COMPANY takes no listings and never represents sellers. A number of brokerages then became Exclusive Buyer Agencies and founded NAEBA based on that definition. NAR, REBAC, and NAEBA still use that definition today (check out the listing of agency types in the ABR manual) and since no one other than the industry associations legally define it, that is the legal definition. In other words, one is only an Exclusive Buyer Agent if one works in a company that doesn't take listings nor represents sellers regardless of that person's agency agreement.

Home Seller Guru: I'd be happy to put you in touch with some of our members who are always open to helping someone set up an Exclusive Buyer Agency and who can also share the pros and cons and any setbacks they've had. Please feel free to call our headquarters at 888-NAEBA99 (888-623-2299).

Kimberly Kahl, CAE
NAEBA Executive Director

Kimberly

I don't buy your analogy, using the example of the cardiologist, if you translated it to real estate the real comparison would be having one doctor specializing in the right ventricle, and another doctor in the left ventricle of the same heart. But if you want to get carried away how about agents only showing homes on streets that run north and south, while other agents only show homes on streets heading east and west.

Secondly, I have never found a true exclusive buyer agency in my experience that practiced only buyer agency, the process of finding buyers caused them to constantly overlap all the time to the selling side. Common example, they found some one looking to buy a home but the prospect had a home they needed to sell. Some of the brokers solved the problem by establishing two separate offices one of which practiced only EBA, technically EBA but...

In my experience they couldn't help but cross over to the other side for awhile. I once suggested to one of the new self proclaimed EBA brokers that they refer the listing to me for a fee, and work with the seller under a EBA to find their new home, the first objection was but I want my sign out front for sign calls and my signs and the leads from open houses. I said your welcome to hold it open as often as you want. Answer, but you will still have your for sale sign out front the rest of the time and I want mine there to get the buyer leads.

He finally said he would co-list it with me, which is fine but the real fact is he would not be exclusively a buyers agent only any more, but he felt by doing it that way he would only really be partially pregnant and not really pregnant. Forget the pretense, forget the co-list, just list it and join the evil forces of full real estate service. Of course specialties are nice, you can get to "know more and more, about less and less, until you know everything about nothing."

Partially preganant...lol...!!!

I used to have the ABR designation. Out of all the buyers I have had, only one was ever impressed, only because his agent on the selling side of his house was an ABR also (hahaha), and had their GRI (same as me) and had their broker's license (I was working on mine at that time).

All the ABR articles I was receiving were showing up via Realtor magazine or online articles emailed to me outside of the ABR designation (I believe NAR took over the ABR). Why pay the fee every year for something that's being given to others for free?

Because I take my licensing SERIOUSLY, I function extremely well as a buyer's agent and/or a seller's agent.

It's about the education, not the designation.

Funny. I take my mid-1960s Lincoln and my mid-1990s Jaguar to the same mechanic. Totally different eras, manufacturers, and technology, and yet my mechanic can diagnose and fix even the most obscure problem on either car. Silly me; I had no idea I've been such a fool all this time.

Now, I will freely agree that I wouldn't take my Toyota to a cardiologist...

Wait, now where was I?

Oh, yeah.

EBA is not a superior business model. It's simply "a" business model. Plenty of people can do both sides with complete competence. The decision to do EBA is simply a personal choice that has its potential upsides and downsides just as much as any other business model.

In my experience, most buyers who need to sell (and most sellers who need to buy) prefer to do both with the same agent if reasonably possible. Less confusion along the way, and it helps keep both transactions better organized, especially if one has to close concurrently with the other.

Not trying to be a downer on buyer's agency. I tend to enjoy handling the buyer's side far more than I enjoy handling the seller's side.

Kimberly, thank you participating on this forum and sharing with us some of the aspects that make it advantageous. And although I can see the reasoning behind your statements, from practical experience I see that by exclusively working with buyers I would lose business from the selling side (and the buyers that having listings inherently brings).

And other people have decided that they don't like dealing with Buyers. But to make transactions, we somehow have to deal with homosapiens on both of sides!


It's too bad that there isn't a business model that would allow us to go about our business and not have to deal with any homosapiens . . . . but I look around and see that they appear to have all the money and all the power; and personally, I believe they are responsible for all of the corruption in the World. Where's everyone else ?

I'm banking on the possibility that, some day in the future, our robot overlords will need homes...

He who has all the listings..Has all the buyers..PERIOD.

Buyers DONT WANT AGENTS...read that again..

BUyers WANT HOUSES...

they will tolerate an agent..to get to the houses..

Its why trulia, zillow and those are sooo popular.

Dont believe me?

run ads featuring nothing about houses..

say something like..

Buyers..Hire An Agent..

let me know your response rate on that..

Vermont envisions "a business model that would allow us to go about our business and not have to deal with any homosapiens". And I agree. I love this business except I have to deal with people. Ask anyone who has worked a few years in the retail business. They all have tons of stories.

Unfortunately, if we don't work with people, we would have to work with a different species

In my next life I will just take either the buyer broker exam or the seller broker exam, why bother with both? The same goes for my E&O, maybe I'll get a discount?

Hey thanks for all the responses. As for NAEBA, I have looked into it - great organization, but not sure I really want another fee to pay each year. I will have to decide after passing the broker exam.

I've been a licensed real estate broker in NYS since 1973 and have represented home buyers only since 1992. The decision to represent home buyers only is a tough one. Yes, I give up 1/2 of the business. However, I refer sellers (my buyer clients and others) to various listing agents for a 25% referral fee. I search the MLS for active and sold listings in the area the sellers home is located and contact three agents that I think will do the best job for the seller. I contact all three agents and get a referral agreement signed. I then refer the seller to all three agents and suggest they meet with all three before deciding which to use. I spend very little time on the process and sometimes make as much or more then my normal buyer-side commission especially when the seller is moving to California and buying a home for $1 Million plus.

I don't miss the listing side. I love working with buyers. I consider it the "honest" side of the business. When listing I can't tell a buyer how overpriced the home is or how they could do better buying something else. The real estate regulations in NYS as well as other states requires a listing agent to disclose any known defects. I find listing agents in our area don't really want to know what the problems are as then they have to disclose them. I find problems all the time in homes and the listing agent couldn't care less. However, as a buyer agent I can (and buyers expect me to) be honest, open and blunt about any homes we look at. I can immediately tell them a home is overpriced, point out potential issues and direct them to better homes. They really appreciate that.

The beauty of representing one side is that I know exactly who I represent. I'm not switching back and forth between buyers and sellers. I am a specialist and advertise and market myself as such. It is my unique selling proposition. I operate a conflict-free business model. Traditional real estate firms operate with conflicts every day as a basis of their business model. Any conflicts I have, such as representing two buyer clients on the same property, are handled at the time of initial contact and signing of an exclusive representation agreement. I work with the first buyer who expresses an interest in buying a particular property. Any other buyers are informed that I can't represent them on that particular property. If they wish, they can cancel my agreement and attempt to buy the home through another agent; or wait out the existing transaction to see if it goes through or not; or skip that property and continue to look for another home to purchase.

I don't believe that the EBA model works well in a small community. I think it does work well in a larger city or metropolitan area. I've been very successful in Rochester, NY and now Albany, NY. It is true that most buyers don't understand the real estate industry, dual or designated agency or true buyer agency. However, many do understand the difference and actual seek out true EBAs. NAEBA has a very successful referral program that generates a consistent 3 to 4 leads per month of serious home buyers to me that are already sold on the concept of having a true exclusive buyer agent on their side. NAEBA charges a 15% referral fee to its members, a fee I'm more than happy to pay. Besides these leads my own online and offline marketing generates plenty of buyers for my business. I'm currently in the process of increasing my marketing efforts in order to expand my company and hire more agents. Tom Wemett, Home Buyers Best Realty LLC - Albany, NY - www.hbbrealty.com

Welcome to the Board Tom. Thanks for your input, a very interesting and different perspective that seems to work for you.

I agree TomEBA. I really like not having conflicts everyday. I personally think that dual agency should be against the law. No one benefits except the agent. Absolutely no one is being fully represented AND THEN the agent gets twice the pay! It just seems absurd to me. But I know most agents do their best to represent both parties, but your hands are just simply tied.

Pikes Peak

Sellers Broker Exam, Buyers brokers Exam, love it, LOL.

On the serious side, I am waiting for the law to catch up. Back when dinosaurs roamed the west, I had a Japanese delegation tour my office, I'm positive I've told this story before, but they were highly interested in our commission structure, and why we had it that way.

One area I covered in detail was agency. Later found out they established the policy of the buyer contracted with an agent, and the seller contracted with an agent, and each paid their agent directly, even if they were in the same office, they were considered separate agents and thus no dual agency. Don't know how it is now, but it is a model I could live with.

I would strongly encourage you NOT to do it. I'll share my story.

I was 24 years old in 2002. I put in about $1500 in advertising in 4 atlanta real estate magazines (the small ones you see at the store, Real Estate Guide and Real Estate Book which had 2 editions for North East and North West Atlanta). I got them to agree to float me another 60 days of partial credit witn a down payment.

I closed my first transaction on my 7th week in the biz. Made like 7k.

However... my overhead was huge. It was a monkey on my back. The only way to get buyers is to do passive advertising with some kind of toll free call capture (I used ArchTelecom.com and later Proquest). I got several other agents in the office agree to let me advertise their inventory.

I made like 8-15k a month as a brand new agent in a
booming market. But I could only handle at most 3-5 HOT buyers... and if they were not triple A buyers with motivation, money and equity I threw them off to other agents in the brokerage for a 20% split.

I had NO LIFE. They owned me.. i Was their (female dog). I put about 50k miles on my Grand Marquis I bought that year. Between costs for business (1k a month for remax, 4k a month at my peak, about 600+ a month for car and cellphone costs) I was working like a mad man for about 40-60k a year.

Buyers are great if you have assistants. But you cannot leverage your time or build a systematic business off them. They are the frosting if they are triple A buyers who agreed to sign a 90 day Buyer Brokerage Agreement... but they are becoming slim in this market place.

That system works overseas, like in Germany, where buyers pay the commission, however, our cooperative MLS system and the seller having the cash vs. the buyer needing every penny to qualify, is not geared toward a system where agency is very defined based on who pays the agent. We just seem to muddle along keeping customers confused of who works for whom.

I'm confused on this one Pike. My wifes best friend spent
two weeks with us this Summer. She just bought a condo in
Berlin, Germany. She went to university with a guy who is
now a agent and he took the time to show her the different
area were she could buy. This guy couldn't show her any units
because they are all Exclusive Listings. She had to watch
different sites for ads and then call the listing agent.
This resulted in her viewing 20 diferent condo's with 20
different agents. There is no MLS system. She said she
would much rather have worked with her friend who she
liked and trusted. Agents charge 6%-7% to the vendor/seller for a exclusive
listing, there is no sharing the money with another agent.
Our next visitor this Summer was my wifes niece who is doing
a 2 year apprenticeship in real estate working in the south of Germany and she confirmed the same storey. With english being a slight barrier I understood you need something like a 30% downpayment for a bank to give you a mortgage.

The problem with the Germans is they are well off financialy and they all get 6 weeks paid holidays so we have never ending visitors who dont just come for a week, some come for a MONTH.So next time you are in the Caribean on holiday DONT talk to the pretty German girls or the same will happen to you.

I know, it's an archaic system. Normally you see a buyer commission on a listing like the one below:
Provision:
Die Käuferprovision beträgt 3,57% vom Kaufpreis (inkl. MwSt.)
(The Buyer Commission is 3.57% included is the value added tax.)
Six weeks only? They must be young, the length of vacations is determined by age in Germany, I probably qualify for several months.
I've been there twice this year and miss the beer and food.

Hey, thanks for the post.
I have been trying to figure this out for 5 years and
you sound like you know what you are talking about. I just
ran into my wifes study to see how the commision worked for
her when she sold a property she inherted from her grandmother
and she couldn't remember due to it being 3 years ago,
Bruchsal, Baden/Wuerttemberg.
I'm sure language has been my obsticle with trying to figure
things out. The quality of the food in relatively basic
Open air Gaststaetpe is always superb and the beer speaks for
itself.

We hope to be in Berlin for christmas, the Christmas Markets are a joy to visit and people say WEIHNACHTEN/Merry Christmas as opposed to Happy Holidays which is retarded because it is CHRISTMAS..

Erik: I agree that if you are spending big bucks on advertising and brokerage fees then this just doesn't work as well to do buyers only. But with free advertising like Craigslist and using referral systems and networking groups I think its a definate viable business model. Also getting with a brokerage that doesn't take a huge chunk really helps too.

As for time being yours - well I set pretty good boundaries with my buyers. I also have other agents who handle my business when I'm not available. So I don't feel so stressed and have a schedule that allows me family time. Even if the family just wants me out of the house. LOL

I was just listening to a KW Agent Mountain Interview with a realtor named Bob Cenk. He does about 900k-1m a year in revenue and uses craigslist with Craig Proctor ads for like 99% of his advertising. I am looking into it. The technology may have shifted.. several of the guys in those interviews said they have gotten away from print and call capture to go pure online.. mostly craigslist.

Yes the Craigslist stuff does work. The only trick with it is having enough listings to post. I met with some agents last week to see if I could advertise their stuff in exchange for any listings I come across. They said yes. So I think that I'm going to continue down this path.

Nice thing was that I have passed out 3 listings in the last 3 weeks. So they can see I'm serious about it. Funny thing is that I told all of them I didn't know what would happen and was unsure how many listings I could send across to them since I'm not prospecting for listings. I just didn't want to make it sound like I would make them rich off the idea - wanted to be realistic. I guess you get what you ask the universe for. Now they are happy and I'm happy.