I was speaking to my attorney today and he re-taught me a lesson that I had forgotten.
We were drafting some documents and he told me that he had some templates that he could work off of from a past client. As a joke, I remarked that the fees should end up being lower since he didn't need to draft from scratch. His response was the the time would be less and the bill would be less, but that I should look at the deal as paying for the value of his work. This also was a little bit of a joke since I can't remember the last time I paid full boat over there and he was truly kidding, but it brings up a good point.
Real Estate Agents should not be afraid to charge for the value of the service.
I guess this is a little reminder for our friends that do a lot of buyer representation. If you think that driving all over town is a waste of your time, either don't do it or figure out a way to make a buck on it. Not everyone is going to agree with me here, but I have no problem with charging a buyer prospect an hourly rate for trying to find them a property.
Would I also keep the commission over the hourly rate? I will leave that up to your imagination.
Do you have questions about distressed assets, receivership or bankruptcy sales, auctions? Email me at rfk@gryphonusa.com and I'll try to answer it in an upcoming post.
Richard F. Kruse is the President of Columbus, Ohio based Gryphon USA, Ltd. (www.gryphonusa.com). The Gryphon Organization includes Gryphon Asset Management providing receivership and consulting services in the distressed marketplace, United Country Gryphon Realty & Auction Group (www.ucohiorealty.com & www.ucohioauctions.com) providing real estate brokerage and auction services throughout Ohio and OnlineAuctionUSA.com (www.onlineauctionusa.com) providing commercial asset liquidations from the Midwest to East Coast.
United Country Gryphon Realty & Auction Career Opportunities Available. Call 614-885-0020 x 17
Everyone likes to feel like they are getting value for their service, but in the end we should charge what is appropriate for the desired result. How long it took should only matter to those who are actually doing the work. Unless of course the time is directly related to determining the value. Is that confusing enough for everyone?