All Forum Posts by: Charlie MacPherson

I was with a large franchise for a while.  It was good training when I was a new agent, but the splits were not great - 55.2% for my own leads, 29.9% for company generated leads.

Worse, the promised training was weak.  There was no organized curriculum at all.  Questions were often referred to online videos, when some real live guidance was needed.  Heck, I did my first listing presentation without ever being trained on it or seeing one done - and with no training in running comps either.  (I did get the listing and had it under agreement within 10 days!)

I found a coach who had the skills I needed to learn and pay him handsomely for his support.  With his guidance, I generated more buyer leads in 10 days than I had in the previous 10 months with the big franchise.

Now, I'm within a week of opening a new brokerage.  I'll take the good from the franchise experience and eliminate the bad.  

Low friction for agents, strong splits, intense focus on high volume lead generation for agents and follow-up accountability. I think that's a formula for success.  

I reserve the right to be wrong, but I'm not sure that's something you'll find in a big franchise.

First, thank you for your service!

I think getting licensed while you have some down time may be a smart move.  You can get a jump on things while you're still serving.

It's going to be hard to get a lot of meaningful experience while still serving, but you should be able to gain some ground even if you just observe and ask questions.  See if the broker or an agent will allow you to shadow them.

Anything you can do to hit the ground running will help.

Right now, I'd start building a list of your "sphere of influence" - family, friends, neighbors, comrades - anybody who will want to buy or sell a property within 12 months.  Be ready to announce your new career as soon as you're licensed - or are getting close.

Best of luck!

Hi Dan.  I live in Scituate and have our real estate office in Norwell.

We cover all of Plymouth, Norfolk and Bristol counties, so we should be able to work together.  

Give me a call and let's get together for a coffee!  781-412-4151.

- Charlie

I suddenly have two different clients who have houses they want to move.  Has anybody had any experience they could share?

I've talked to one company who tells me:

- Use $50,000 as a budget figure.
- The phone and electric utilities have to move wires out of the way at no cost (seems odd, but OK)
- The main limiting factor is the width of the road
- Longer distances (1 mile+), depending on how fast the utilities act to move wires, might result in an extra day's pay of a few thousand.  And they may be forced to park the building in the middle of the road overnight, making me not so popular with locals

Any other advice would be appreciated!

 OK, maybe it's a Michigan thing.  Or maybe there are some other factors you haven't included.

To broad-stroke an entire class of people the way you did is just not right and definitely not fair.  

That's like saying that all wholesalers are out to screw desperate people.  Of all flippers are out to take advantage of the weak or indecisive.  Or all landlords are out to screw tenants.

That's WAY wrong, dude and I'm calling you out on it.

Maybe you had a bad experience.  Maybe an agent wasn't straight.  But due diligence is on YOU.  If you didn't do your own homework, you bear at least some of the blame if an investment didn't work out.

Let's think about being more careful in condemning an entire profession because you had a bad experience - most likely because you didn't do your due diligence.

Let's try to point out the ONE bad apple and not burn down the entire orchard. Doesn't that sound a bit more reasonable?

 Wow, David.  That's a pretty harsh statement that I hope, in a more lucid moment, you'll retract.  Admitting that you shot from the lip isn't a weakness - it's a sign of strength. 

My experience is that most agents are pretty darn honest.  

To paint the entire industry with such a broad brush is at best, misinformed.  At worst, massively misinformed and irresponsible. 

Let's have another think in the morning and see if we can't come up with a more rational outlook.

The time, cost and curriculum vary by state.  Check with any local real estate office - brokers are always interested in recruiting and will be a wealth of information.

When I do comps, I do a matrix on a spreadsheet.  I compare the subject property with homes sold preferably within the last 6 months and within 1/4 mile.  I'll broaden those if I'm forced to, but try to keep them as close in time and distance as possible.   

I want a minimum of 3, preferably 6 homes.

I want the same number of beds, within 0.5 or 1 bath, same septic, garage and basement and close on SF and land area and whether it's REO/SS.

I calculate $/SF for the solds, and use an average of them to calculate the sell price of the subject property.  (Average of sold $/SF X subject SF for an approximation)

I then include a section on the current competition on the market.  The finished property needs to show well against the competition.  Otherwise, why is someone going to buy mine?

Then, I'll make adjustments for differences between the properties to come up with a projected market value.

Here's an example of an CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FLIP/REHAB DEAL in 02066 (if anybody is interested!!)  I've X'd out the address so as not to consider it as advertising.

On this one, there were not enough solds within my target 1/4 mile and 6 months.  As the header indicates, I had to broaden the search to 0.5 miles and sold within 12 months.

The "On the market now" were current as of the date of the analysis.

We're currently in a wild seller's market.  The Days on Market field (DOM) tells you everything you need to know about whether the pricing was right or not!

I hope that helps.

Hi Julio. 

The broker is responsible for transferring your license with MLS and the Board.

First of all, THANK YOU for your service to our country!

It wouldn't make sense to study and take your license exam if you don't know if you'll settle in an area covered by that license.  That seems to me to be the first decision.

Best of luck - and if you somehow end up in Massachusetts, contact me.  I'm looking for new agents!