Greg Salera

I don't believe in admin fees. They are just add-on fees going to the brokerages to help them survive and conduct business as they have yesterday. It doesn't benefit the clients paying the fee and it will not move the brokerage forward. The answer, in my opinion, is for brokerages to cut costs by using technology, consolidating offices, cutting high paid management, and streamlining their businesses. Businesses of yesterday cannot survive today much less tomorrow. Taking more from consumers is not the answer and taking more from the agents is not the answer. Cost cutting and making themselves competitive in todays market is the best direction brokerages can take. Greg Salera Partners Real Estate www.virginiarealtyservices.com

Excellent article and right on point! Great pictures are most definately the first step toward selling a property and the wrong pictures can actually be worse than no pictures at all. I invested in a DSLR camera, zoom lens, and tri-pod for my listings. I almost never use the flash and have also discovered that it is sometimes best to shoot pictures at night (they create drama when paired with the right lighting and camera setting) I don't normally use a wide lens except in cases where that picture can be displayed without being cropped or distorted. I have a mock virtual tour that I take along on listing appointments paired with 3 before and after shots of staging photos to share with my clients. Photo editing softwear is another great tool to help enhance photos and it's surprising how a bad photo can be transformed into your best shot when properly edited. Greg Salera Partners Real Estate 9300-A Old Keene Mill Rd Burke, VA 22015 www.virginiarealtyservices.com

In sales sellers are responsible for the various marketing costs involved with selling their products. In real estate those marketing costs are usually paid to a Realtor to market and sell someones property. Those costs will vary but they do usually include advertising, buyer’s agent compensation, administrative tasks, lockbox, and brokerage fees. Why should a buyer be responsible for paying the Realtor to take them out looking at homes? That's just asking buyers to pay for the sellers marketing costs? Would you ask a buyer to pay a car dealership a fee for selling them a car? Of course not (the burdon is on the seller.) In real estate buyers are struggling to pay down payments and closing costs. Adding Realtor fees to their side of the deal places an undue burdon on buyers. As far as the commission based pay structure goes; it is likely the best compensation model ever created. Commissions keep agents motivated, focused, and committed. The weak end up falling out. Try to get an hourly employee to show passion, interest, and drive while working with clients. Try to get an hourly employee to drop their plans after work because a buyer called at 4pm to see a house at 7 when their shift ends at 6. See the response from clients when they are handled by multiple people in an office opposed to their real estate licensee because of varying work schedules. Real estate is a people business and it's a big responsibility to lead buyers and sellers through the process of home sales. Let the agents stay independent contractors and let them get paid for selling homes. This is what our clients hire us to do. Commissions are always negotiable and better agents will yield higher commission percentages than less qualified agents, just as hourly paid fees to seasoned employees would likely be higher if the pay structure was hourly. The public views Realtors as salespeople and changing the structure from commission to hourly will not change this view. We would just be viewed as employees selling homes opposed to agents selling homes. Greg Salera Partners Real Estate 9300-A Old Keene Mill Rd Burke, VA 22015 www.virginiarealtyservices.com