You may be wondering if the title of real estate consultant is a significant one, and if it signifies anything completely different from the identical old licensed real estate brokers with a vested curiosity in the fate of a property. While it is true that anyone can call himself or herself a consultant, the term is not meaningless window dressing. For those who take their real estate consulting business severely, it represents a distinct model, a special approach to real estate practice.
The first and most necessary difference is objectivity. Whereas a real estate broker typically is paid contingent on an end result-in other words, they obtain a fee-a real estate consultant is paid solely for their expertise. They have no stake in the outcome. Salespersons are paid only for getting a result-a sale. Real estate consultants are paid for his or her professional advice only, and by design haven’t any stake in achieving a particular end result to a particular transaction. This provides them the capacity to be more goal and inherently more trustworthy than a traditional real estate salesperson. Think about it-even essentially the most sincere salesperson will unconsciously try to steer you toward a sale. After all, that’s where their pay comes from-from selling! The consultant is paid the way other professional advisors or service professionals like CPAs are, with a retainer regardless of outcome.
Consulting can involve a variety of skills and areas of expertise. You possibly can hire a consultant for legal advice, market research, or to locate doable properties to spend money on, among different things. Since they are paid as much for his or her time in the event that they advise you that there are not any properties in an space value investing in as in the event that they advise you of dozens of viable properties, they haven’t any stake in anything besides supplying you with the most effective advice possible. After all, their future business is determined by word-of-mouth endorsements from buyers like you.
In case you are looking for properties to spend money on, a real estate consultant can tip you off to developer closeouts and bulk opportunities, equity partnerships, joint ventures, and presumably even some very unique and profitable turnkey investment opportunities. The consultant is selling information and expertise, and therefore can provide you with a layer of insulation between you and the people selling the properties. They’ll work out a lot of the main points and business prospects of a property earlier than you must talk to a salesperson. When you face the salesperson, you can approach the negotiation totally armed with an array of appropriate information, and thus keep away from being bamboozled and negotiate from a position of strength.
If, then again, you are selling properties, especially when you have a variety of properties to sell, a real estate consultant can assist you create a strategy to sell the units earlier than you get involved with actual salespeople, which can have many advantages. For example, you possibly can sell a number of properties in a comparatively brief time without creating the appearance of a bulk sale by having a real estate consultant distribute the properties amongst a number of completely different sellers.