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Why Do I Need An Agent

In the United States almost all real estate transactions involve real estate companies. Many people in Mexico however, particularly in smaller towns, involved in real estate transactions are reluctant to use a real estate company. Perhaps they have had a bad experience with a real estate company in the past; feel that their property will "sell itself"; or feel that the commission fees are too high. In most cases, these misgivings come about because of a lack of understanding of the importance of using a legitimate and experienced real estate company, and their trained agents. Sellers who have established a relationship with a good, qualified company and agent understand their value and importance and always go back to them for their future real estate transactions. This pamphlet is being offered to you, the seller, in order to inform you how an experienced real estate company works and what it can do for you.

There are 3 methods of selling your house or property ... selling without a real estate company, selling with a small independent real estate company and selling with a large international based real estate company. 

Selling Without a Real Estate Company

The only advantage to the seller of this type is that they pay no commission fees. In every other way this kind of seller is hindered in selling their home or property. This is particularly the case if the seller has a home or property which would cater to a tourist or foreign buyer. Without the use of a real estate agent the seller has to rely totally on the chance that a potential buyer happens to pass buy their real state for sale. Furthermore, if a seller does happen to locate a buyer, is that seller capable of answering all the buyer's questions ... what are the zoning laws in this neighborhood? Can I build condos on this lot? Who can I get to renovate this house? What is the process for a foreigner buying property in Mexico? What is the difference between buying Ejido land and private property? How much are my closing costs going to be? Can you explain to me the different types of financing? A qualified real estate agent can answer these questions and help to ease the concerns of any buyer.

The biggest disadvantage to a seller of this type though is that other than having a home-made "for sale" sign in the yard, the seller has no means of promoting or advertising their home or property and usually it will take much longer to sell, sometimes years longer. Also, a seller, who is not in the real estate business, can only guess as to what their home or property is worth. Generally, most people believe that their property is special and as such is worth more than it really is. The seller sets his price based on personal bias, which is not an objective way to determine a sales price. On the other hand, it is not uncommon to find a seller who under-values their home or property value and settles on a price below current market value. If the seller really wants to sell their home or property in a timely manner, they really need to have a real estate professional determine what the value is, in an unbiased fashion. 

In order for a seller to realize the goal of a successful sale, he must first realize that his home or property is only worth what someone will pay for it.

In actuality, most buyers, certainly foreign ones, won't even consider buying homes or properties "For Sale By Owner", as this type of seller portray themselves as not only being stingy or cheap, but also as someone who thinks they know everything about real estate, when they likely do not. Most buyers will not have any confidence in this type of seller. In all likelihood, after a lengthy period of time, the seller will sell their home or property through a real estate agent anyway as in almost all cases buyers will insist on using a qualified real estate agent to help them through the offer and sale process, in order to protect their interests in a home or property purchase.

Selling With a Small Independent Real Estate Company

Unfortunately, for most Mexican people, particularly in smaller towns, their first and sometimes only contact with a real estate person is through a small independent real estate company or agency. In most cases these "agencies" consist of nothing more than a single person, perhaps 2 people, working out of a small office, their home or even their car and in some instances they may not even have a business license of any kind. 

Usually, the only objective of the small time independent agency is to make themselves as much money as possible, with very little regard for their clients. They have little money invested in their business, no agents or staff to speak of and since they do not have an affiliation with an international franchise, such as Coldwell Banker, they do not have to abide by the same high standards and codes of ethics used by them. Sellers in our smaller Mexican communities, having used these independent companies, have no doubt experienced for themselves, or heard the stories of renting their homes unknowingly, or worse yet, selling their home or property for more than what the seller has asked for, only to keep the extra money for themselves. These kinds of practices cannot be practiced by a real estate company affiliated with an international firm, such as Coldwell Banker. Each office is independently owned with a large financial investment by the owner. To participate in unethical business practice means the risk of losing their franchise rights. 

Furthermore, anybody with $150 pesos and access to a computer can have a website and by simply saying that they will advertise your home or property on their local website means very little, if nobody finds their website! The internet is a complex medium of marketing and one needs to understand it well to make it work for them. Websites need to link up with similar ones and have lots of traffic to them, in order to place well in the search engines. This high placement in the search engines can cost thousands of dollars, which small independent agencies cannot and do not invest in. Coldwellbanker.com is an international website and has the most activity of any real estate website in the world. If a seller's home or property is advertised on Coldwellbanker.com it will be seen, and by buyers specifically looking for something in the seller's area.

Here is something else to think about, regarding a one person real estate company. If the same person who is listing a seller's home or property is also the agent for the buyer, who is that agency working for? The buyer or the seller? On one hand, it is their obligation to get you the best price for the seller, on the other hand it is their obligation to get the buyer the best price. It's like having the same attorney in a lawsuit. It is a conflict of interest.

Unfortunately, due to things mentioned above, many Mexican property and home owners have their doubts about working with any real estate company.

Selling With an International-based Company (Coldwell Banker)

With over 4000 franchise offices (45 in Mexico) and over 100 years of experience in real estate services Coldwell Banker is the most well known and respected real estate company in the world. As such Coldwell Banker can give the home or property seller the highest probability of selling, in the shortest amount of time.

Coldwell Banker Tropicana, in Melaque, Jalisco provides the following services to their sellers:

- International and national advertising on the following websites: coldwellbanker.com, coldwellbanker.com.mx, realtor.com, coldwellbankertropicana.com, coldwellbankertropicana.com.mx, googlerealestate.com, msn.com, point2agent.com as well as local broker websites.

- Unlike most of the real estate companies here in our area, Coldwell Banker Tropicana will work with any legitimate, reputable and licensed real estate company. We certainly show homes and properties, listed by other companies, to our buyers and furthermore, encourage other real estate companies to sell homes and properties listed with us. Therefore, if a seller's worry is that no one else can sell their property, just because it's listed with us ... absolutely they can! In fact, when we take on a new listing, we have a "Broker's Open", which means that we schedule an "open house", where we invite other agents to come and see the home or property. We also distribute flyers to their offices, to make them aware of our "new listing".

- A professional flyer will be created on the seller's home or property upon listing with us and will be distributed outside our office in one of the office wall-mounted display cases; our portable display cart, located in front of Intercam in Melaque; each of the reputable real estate offices; our own in-office "Home & Lots for Sale" binders; shared with walk-in customers and available to print on line, through our websites.

- We take all of our agents on tour, each Monday morning, visiting our new listings. That way, each of our agents are aware of all of our listings and are familiar with each one.

- During high season we will schedule at least one "open house" for potential buyers.

- We also have a 12 passenger custom air-conditioned mini bus, which we use in high season for "real estate tours" available to the public, in which we drive them around, looking at our available homes and properties for sale.

The services provided by Coldwell Banker Tropicana, including all internet exposure, is only available for clients signing listing agreements with us. Obviously, without a listing agreement there is no incentive to invest money and time in to selling a home or property. The commission rates are as follows:

Homes to $200'000 usd - 6%

Homes above $200'000 usd - 5%

Vacant Property to $100'000 - 10%

Vacant Property over $100'000 - 8%

If you have any questions or comments, before making your decision, we would love the chance to discuss them. Please drop in to our office and meet with one of our agents, or give us a call at 315-355-9083

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