You Get What You Pay For

In a conversation with a prospective commercial property Seller last week, one of the questions was why use an agent. "Why not just sell it myself?"

I went down through my tried and true list, which I will elaborate on in a future post. He was unconvinced. Mostly, he called me with attitude to start with. I was polite, and reminded him that he had called me. He started haggling about commission. Basically, I came to realize, he wanted and needed assistance but didn't want to pay me for the expert advice he was requesting.

In the end, he said he felt he could do it cheaper himself. Then he started asking me questions . . . ready for this? . . . on how to set up his "for sale" listing.  I decided at that point that he would be best served by another agent, if he can find one he wants to work with.

I concluded with "I wish you well, and if you change your mind please let me know." His reply, a repeated, "I think it will be cheaper to sell it myself."

Well . . .

Move To Sperry Van Ness Marks New Opportunities, My Pledge of Continued Quality Service

Recently, I moved to Sperry Van Ness/Gryphon Parker, a leading commercial real estate brokerage in Ohio.

This is a forward-looking organization, with a great national network that will enable me to serve my clients with the same quality they have come to expect.

I didn't make this move lightly. I would not have stayed with Prudential Commercial, which was recently acquired by Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, for all these years if I didn't think they were great organizations. I have been with both companies just shy of a combined 10 years. No, this was a personal move, driven by some new ideas I have about taking care of commercial, investment and institutional clients' needs. And it was coupled with the new focus of Berkshire Hathway as primarily a residential real estate brokerage. Truly, I wish my colleagues and many friends at BHHS Professional Realty, a really fantastic and growing organization, every success. David Mussari, managing broker and owner, is my friend. And even a trusted counsel. He understood. I hope we have many opportunities to work on several CRE deals together in the future.

Finally, I thank Shawn Parker and Richard Kruse for making me feel so welcome in the Sperry Van Ness family. I had the opportunity to spend a day at the SVN national meetings in Orlando with Shawn about a month ago and came away absolutely jazzed. Sperry Van Ness is an exceptional organization and I look forward to meeting more of my new SVN colleagues across the nation -- many of whom I already know via virtual relationships on Twitter and LinkedIn.

From the SVN web page:

"The Sperry Van Ness system^® is designed to achieve the highest potential for real estate investors. Year after year, transaction after transaction, our Advisors work to ensure that maximum cooperation equals maximum value in every type of transaction.

"Why do we do this? Because it’s the right thing to do for clients."

I couldn't have said it better myself.