Accredited Consultant in Real Estate Program Launched
January 15, 2007
Mollie Wasserman and Paula Bean launched a new program at the recent NAR convention in New Orleans called the Accredited Consultant in Real Estate (ACRE™). Both have practiced successful real estate consulting for several years and Mollie is considered a pioneer in the consulting approach and fee for service business models. Mollie was my inspiration to enter this business with my own approach to consulting and fee schedules. Mollie recently finished the manuscript for her new book "Ripping the Roof Off Real Estate" about "consulting with" not "selling to" clients and the implementation of fee based services. It will hit the bookstores and online at Amazon or Barnes & Noble in early February.In addition, they developed a course for agents to become skilled in this business approach with a followup coaching program that is rather unique in the industry. Learn more about the course at www.acrealestate.info. The Coaching Program will use an online Forum approach that is currently under construction. The Forum will be available to ACRE™ graduates when it is launched later this month (it will be closed to the general public).
More about Mollie at MetroWest Real Estate: The Home Consultants Realty Team, and at My Real Estate Consultants.
More about Paula at www.HomeOrlando.com and www.carib-gulf.com.
Here is an excerpt from Mollie's book:
REAL ESTATE CONSULTING
What IS It? How Does It Differ From the Real Estate Sales?
What IS Real Estate Consulting? Is it just a fancy new catch phrase that means the same way of doing business? Well, we can't speak for some agents who call themselves "consultants" but still remain salespeople in practice, but we can tell you that TRUE consulting is a totally different model - a whole new approach in Real Estate.
Let's look at the differences:
The real estate salesperson usually has only one way of being paid: a contingent-on-a-sale commission. Consultants, on the other hand, can offer a variety of compensation alternatives such as hourly consulting, a flat fee, as well as traditional commissions, so that the consultant can tailor their services based on what the consumer needs to reach their goals. By the way, consultative service is not limited to transactions. As an example, wouldn't it be great to be able to receive (and pay for) just a couple of hours of objective counsel on the real estate market when you're not sure what you want to do?
- The Real Estate Consultant is compensated for their expertise, time and/or the task. If they're paid contingent on a guaranteed outcome (a traditional commission), it is understood by the consumer that will be paying a premium to have this guarantee.
The Real Estate Salesperson is only paid for a guaranteed outcome (one they can influence but not control).- The Consultant is often retained and compensated the way other professionals providing a service are, such as CPA's or most Attorney's.
The Salesperson is compensated the way other salespeople selling a product are. (By the way: this doesn't mean that a consultant can't offer commissions if that's what right for their client - the essence of consulting is providing choices. It's just essential that the consumer understand what it is they're paying for).- Consulting covers a variety of skills and can be used to reach a variety of outcomes.
Selling has one single focus - to SELL something.- Sometimes the best choice for a consumer is not to buy or sell at all! (Or not now). The Consultant is retained to provide the counsel to help them reach that decision.
A Salesperson, when there's no transaction, has nothing to offer (and no way to get paid).
Who might be interested in Real Estate Consulting?
- Any homeowner who's trying to decide whether to "move or improve" and wishes they could get objective counsel...
- Any buyer who isn't sure they're ready to buy but would like some guidance on the market...
- Any consumer who really doesn't WANT to play Realtor but feels forced to go it alone if they need to save money...
- Any consumer who's ever resorted to a Discount Broker or a Discount Commission and found out too late that they got Discount Service which didn't get the job done, or didn't get it done right - thus losing money and valuable market time.
This page is an excerpt from Mollie Wasserman's book:
"Ripping The Roof Off Real Estate"
It's Not What You Save, It's What You Keep
© Copyright 2006 Mollie W. Wasserman All rights reserved
Reproduced here by permission.
Comment on Accredited Consultant in Real Estate Program Launched. Follow this article is off. More articles like this one filed in: Buying & Selling Real Estate , Commissions , REALTORS® , Real Estate
Subscribe to eMail Notifications
Enter your email address in the appropriate box below (email never disclosed)Blogs that link here
Copy this link (Trackback URL) to track this article.Comments
Mark, Great question. I wrote a fairly lengthy article about this back in October, 2005. NAR does not oppose this...but, doesn't necessarily promote it. Promoting different (or any) business model is not part of their mission. It is the business of brokerages to determine their business models.
I am free to operate as I choose as an independent contractor with RE/MAX and negotiate my own fees. Many brokerages would not allow this model as it doesn't fit their old school business.
The concept has been around a long time (Mollie started doing this almost 10 years ago, we have been doing this since July of 1994 when I started our business). Our biggest problem/challenge is educating the consumer that there are Choices and agents that can and will offer fee-based services. Many can, most don't. The vast majority feel threatened or don't understand how it works or how to implement it.
Also see Certified Real Estate Consultant on my business website.
![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://askmerv.choice3realty.com/nav-commenters.gif)
made the following comment on January 15, 2007 10:30 AM
Merv,
Real estate as a consultancy makes a lot more sense than the current practice. I'm wondering, how long has this idea been around, and what factors have prevented its widespread acceptance?
What is the NAR's position on the different fee schedule, for example? I would imagine it's philosophically opposed to anything that changes the traditional commission, but that could be my anti-NAR/anti-(most) realtors prejudice. I would like to hear some insights on where this movement is at.
Subscribe to: 
Valid CSS and
