Olsen Ziegler Realty's Mission Statement for Sellers:
To increase the return on your investment by reducing your expenses and maximizing the sales price of your home.
How we reduce your expenses:
Commission Plan. We provide our sellers with a clearly-defined, competitive, and unique commission plan right from the start which includes a listing broker commission (Olsen Ziegler Realty) and a buyer broker commission. If we bring the buyer, you only pay our listing broker commission--you do not pay a dual commission!
Our commission calculator and commission plan are presented below. You can calculate your entire commission expense (dollars and percentages) so you will know what you are paying Olsen Ziegler Realty and what you are paying the buyer broker. We encourage you to compare our commission plan to those of other real estate companies.
Calculate your own commission:
Olsen Ziegler Realty Listing Broker Commission:Sales Price Commission
Up to 500,000 2%
500,000-750,000 2% up to $500,000, plus 1.5% on the balance
Over 750,000 2% up to $500,000, plus 1.5% up to $750,000, plus 1.0% on the balance
Buyer Broker Commission: 3% on the 1st $100,000 and 2% on the balance of the sales price. For certain eastside communities, we offer buyer brokers an additional one-half percent.
No Dual Agency Commission. When we find the buyer for your home, we do not charge you a buyer broker commission; you only pay the listing broker commission.
Low Title/Escrow Fees. We DO NOT own, nor have any affiliated business arrangements (ABA), Joint Ventures (JV), nor have we purchased shares of ownership in any title or escrow company. We believe in finding service providers who provide the most competitive fees and service for your benefit, not ours. We recommend using Commerce Title Company because they do NOT charge an Escrow/Closing Fee (industry average is $300-$400 charged to both buyers and sellers) as one example of a variable fee. Their total "variable" fees are hundreds of dollars less than all other title/escrow companies we have encountered. Note: there are "fixed" fees and also "variable" fees. The fixed fees are the same regardless of which title/escrow company is utilized and set at the State and County level. The variable fees are set by each individual title/escrow company -- it pays to shop around (or know a good Realtor who does). We further recommend that you find out whether any agent and real estate company you may be considering can say the same, as these are ways in which agents and/or real estate companies add your money to their coffers at your expense.
No Administrative Transaction Fee. We DO NOT charge this fee to our buyers and sellers. Many real estate companies do charge this fee, in fact, it may be pre-printed on their listing agreements and purchase agreements.
How we maximize your sales price:
Evaluation. We determine if there are any obstacles that would prevent a sale and/or have an impact on your sales price.
Home Staging. We are experienced and successful Accredited Staging Professional (ASP) REALTORs. We provide a complimentary Staging Report to all of our clients. Please visit our home staging page.
Redesign & Renovation. A home may have "challenges" that have kept it or may keep it from selling. These challenges generally translate into buyer rejection. Addressing these challenges (via redesign and/or renovation) before it goes on the market may eliminate or reduce buyer rejection. Our experience has proven that money well spent on redesign and/or renovation is oftentimes far less than the first sales price reduction or ultimately far less than the final sales price. Please see our "Shaker Heights" example on our home staging page that encompassed all three concepts of staging, redesign and renovation. We can provide quality, cost-efficient contractors that simply cannot be matched by using a retail general contractor. Moreover, we can take a home from start, which is the first meeting with a homeowner, to project completion in as little as 8 weeks -- including full-blown kitchen renovation as well as other tasks undertaken simultaneously. We also provide our staging, redesign and renovation services to homeowners who are not currently selling or are planning to sell in the distant future and want to benefit from our cost-effective services and ultimately reap the rewards of an easier sale when it comes time to sell.
- Sales Price. We work with you to determine a realistic sales price based on a thorough analysis of all appropriate data.
Marketing. We believe in a strong marketing presence by employing the methods that work in today's market. Please see a few highlights below and visit our marketing page for more details.
- MLS listing with multiple photos and a virtual tour
- Full scale Marketing Plan from Day 1
- Exceptional digital photography
- Create an audio/video Podcast - and broadcast it to Apple's iTunes directory and 80 other podcast directories as well as numerous video portals such as YouTube, Yahoo Video, MetaCafe, Revver, MSN Video and more.
- Syndicate your property listing to over 25 major Internet portals, such as: Google, Yahoo!, AOL, Trulia, Zillow, CyberHomes and Oodle -- to name but a few.
- Showcase listing on Realtor.com
Professionalism & Customer Service. We are confident in our abilities to communicate directly, effectively and with the utmost respect with all the people involved in the sale of your home—especially you, the seller.
- We are always reachable by phone or email.
- We are very responsive to buyers’ agents.
- We ensure that showings are easy for buyers.
- We communicate, educate and advocate using techniques from “Principled Negotiations” to create a win-win for both parties.
- We keep our sellers up-to-date on the status of their home sale including agent feedback, market conditions, and other relevant sales.
References. We know our clients can speak for themselves when it comes to sharing their experience in selling and/or buying their home. Therefore, we provide a list of references to each potential seller and buyer. Please visit our kudos page and see what past clients think about us!
Maximum Flexibility:
Optional Short-Term Listing Agreement. We know that "one size does not fit all". We realize that sellers have different needs. We understand that some sellers simply want to place their home on the market today without preparing it for sale or that a home may be in impeccable shape and ready to go on the market. For these sellers we offer very short-term listing agreements. The initial listing agreement period can be as short as 30 days and can be cancelled with us in writing anytime after 30 days. To continue the listing with us after 30 days, an e-mail or fax can be sent to us confirming the extension for XX days (1-30) and the listing will continue. When we receive a request to cancel a listing agreement, we will sign the release paperwork and remove the listing from the MLS and the sign/lockbox from the property within 48 hours. We will not provide staging, redesign and/or renovation services and podcasting of the home will be up to our discretion.
Standard 6-12 Month Listing Agreement. For home sellers who desire our extensive expertise in helping prepare their home for sale, i.e., staging, redesign and/or renovation, our listing agreement ranges from 6-12 months, depending on the scope of work. The reason we require a 6-12 month listing agreement period is due to the addition of our significant "intellectual property" to help maximize the sales price, shorten your time on the market, create excitement in the marketplace, and hence, increase a seller's net proceeds. Most homes are not flying off the market these days, and it may take months to obtain a contract. We encourage you to compare our service offering to other real estate companies and do a real apples-to-apples comparison -- you will be very glad you did. Please visit our Kudos about what our past clients think, as actions speak much louder than words, and we prefer to let our past clients speak for us.
Please contact us to begin the process of selling your home and maximizing your return on your investment.