The fallacy of real estate without commissions
We explain why betting on a low cost real estate online can make you lose money and time when selling your apartment or house
In recent years, a new type of real estate business has proliferated, mainly through the online environment, which offers the promise of real estate without commissions. A slogan with which they want to introduce themselves as an alternative to real estates that we accumulate decades of work and dedication to our clients, with the unreal promise of a supposedly cheaper cost.
Reality, however, is very different from how these low cost real estate agents want to sell it to us. Under the supposed brightness of their promotions and promises, companies hide that they can make you lose money and time when they try to sell your house. We explain why.
The real cost of real estate without commissions
The main promise of this type of online business is clear: they are real estate agents that will sell your property without charging you a commission. Does this mean that they won’t charge you anything? Of course not, since every company has to make money in some way.
Most of these commission-free real estate agencies establish a fixed fee payment, which, in practice, is nothing more than a commission with a different name. Some of them even adapt this fee to the value of the property, that is, the higher the price, the higher the fee, which further demonstrates the “no commission” label scam.As if that was not enough, there is another practice shared by several of these low cost real estate agencies: the collection of this fixed fee in advance, so you will be obliged to pay it, even if, later, they do not manage to sell your apartment in the established time.
Many others establish a time limit during which the fixed fee will be valid, and, in case the apartment or house has not been sold, they will force you to renegotiate the price of their services upwards.
An unprofessional valuation of your apartment
One of the main problems we encounter when looking at these real estate agents without commission is their lack of professional experience. Many of them are very recently created, and do not have knowledge of the market in the cities in which they operate that real estate agencies do.
As a consequence, many of them tend to set a too high selling price, which will make more difficult to sell your apartment and will force you to waste precious time with an apartment for sale whose price is out of market.
But that is not all, even, some of these companies, we find the opposite practice. Some of these low cost online real estate companies promise to buy your apartment directly if it has not been sold within a certain period. For this, they set exaggeratedly low prices, since the same real estate agency is interested in keeping the property, reforming it and then selling it at a much higher price. They are making you lose, therefore, benefits that should be yours.
Cheap is expensive, also to sell your apartment
It is clear that in this world nobody gives us anything for free, and that traditional real estate agencies are not, far from it, swindlers, as some of the real estate agencies without fees seem to imply. Many of these companies charge a lower price to their clients by cutting back on the services they offer, such as visits, selection of interested parties, photographs, publication on portals … Some online real estate agencies even require an extra payment to offer any of these services. Cutbacks in the set of actions that is essential to successfully complete the sale of your apartment.
On many occasions, in addition, the agents of these real estate agencies make a telephone service without a real knowledge of the apartment or the area in which they are located, which will make more difficult for them to explain all these details correctly to the potential buyer.
Experience and commitment as the best alternative
At Monika Rüsch we accumulate nearly thirty years of experience in the real estate market in Barcelona and Catalonia, both in the sale and rental of real estate. We know in detail the market, the neighborhoods and what we can ask for your apartment or house, and most importantly, we are 100% committed to selling your apartment. In short, our commitment to our owners is absolute.
Unlike real estate agents without commissions, at Monika Rüsch we will put all our resources at the service of your property: we will make personalized prior visits, a session with a professional photographer, a video, and even a virtual floorplan from the hand of an architect.
We will highlight your home in the main national and international portals, which will guarantee more visibility and therefore more interested contacts and more chances of sale. All this added to a complete promotion strategy on our website and social networks, in addition to a study of possible candidates so that only those who have a chance of success will visit the property.
The importance of psychology and personal treatment to sell your apartment
Another important point is personal treatment, closeness, direct and visual contact with the seller and the buyer. Unlike low-cost real estate agents online, we do have a face: that of our agents, clients and owners. We are in direct contact with you, we know your needs, we create empathy in a serene and pleasant negotiation environment. At the end of the sale, we all left feeling that we had reached the best agreement for everyone.
Run away from the fallacy of real estate without commissions and trust Monika Rüsch and our 30 years of commitment, closeness and experience. We will give all of us to sell your apartment. Find out today.
