We are rich only through what we give, and poor only through what we refuse.
Anne-Sophie Swetchine
I was hoping to find a real estate broker who did pro bono work for a post on this subject. But, alas, I could not find one. And I wondered why not?
What better way to promote yourself and the real estate industry than to offer your services to someone free of charge? Based on my research, you would be the first broker to do this. Surely some goodwill and good press wiill follow. It would also help to offset the negative press heaped on real estate brokers.
So I make this Modest Proposal. Be a pro bono broker for someone in your neighborhood. Give something back to the community. Show you are a caring professional.
Give and become rich.
In my experience, agents have always done Pro Bono work for Friends and Family. This may be why no one does it for others in the community? Also, most brokers require fees to be paid regardless of the amount of commission received by the agent, which limits the agents’ ability to work Pro Bono.
With all of that said, I would love to be the first agent/broker to work Pro Bono. Are there any guidelines that you have in mind?
That’s great Brad! We would love to see you do it. Not only would we applaud it as real community service, we would promote it as best we could.
Pro bono work (if and when you can do it) is all about giving something back to your community, showing you care about people, and bonding with the community as a part of it & not just as a business person. It would also help the image of the real estate broker as a professional. It works for lawyers, why not brokers?
Here’s a guideline: Do it where it makes a difference to someone not only monetarily but qualitatively.
Example: A family with young children looking to move out of a bad neighborhood for their children’s sake. By selling their home & foregoing the commission you would put that needed extra money in their pocket when they move to a nicer neighborhood (of course you can get the cobroke fee from the listing broker on the purchase if you found them a new home or go one step further AND forego a portion or all of that commission in a rebate to the family).
Either way, you did something from the heart to help another person. Perhaps the local media will pick up on the story and encourgage brokers to do the same for their communities.
Hope this helps. We are really excited for you. Tell us how we can help.
Please explain - we work pro-bono for the Landlord-client everyday. They do not pay us our fees the tenants-customers do.
The same applies to sales - our customer-the buyer-doesn’t pay us unless we have a signed buyer-broker agreement. The seller-client pays the fee.
Are you suggesting that we receive no fess at all?
An example of what I mean:
Take the case of a seller & young family who wants to move out of his bad neighborhood into a better one. Because of the commission, on the sale the seller will net 3-6% less (depending if there was a co-brokre) . If a broker did not take a commission (did it pro bono) the seller would realize 3-6% more in net proceeds.
If that same broker then represented the seller in buying a new house & gave that co-broker commisison back to the seller, the seller would have netted a total of anywhere from 6-9%. It would put that much more $ in the seller’s pocket, to be used for home improvements or whatever.
So what’s in it for the pro bono broker. Several things. Personal satisfaction of helping someone. Possible goodwill generated from their actions–word of mouth from the grateful seller & his family/friends. Possible free press (print & TV) for this unusual act. Better image of the real estate broker overall.
Attys do pro bono, why not real estate brokers? We have already been approached by 2 brokers interested in the idea. It may not be perfect but it’s a suggestion. Perhaps you can help us figure out how it could work to everyone’s benefit.
Thank you for your comment April.