Hello Everyone,

My name is Shawn and I came up with this idea when I was selling my home FSBO in another state and we had to move prior to the home being sold. BTW, we're a military family so we've had to move numerous times and purchased several homes over the last 12 yrs.
Since the house wasn't sold before leaving we had to find a realtor to sell the home and pay the 6% fee.

Once the house was listed with the agent, I began to research real estate licensing laws in that state and others. Well, six months later, I've formed a corporation based on this concept.

Yes, an attorney has reviewed/researched the idea and the legal formalities but I really need some feedback from others. So here goes...

My business will target sellers that are selling their home through "For Sale by Owner" sites. My business would include: a home showing service, a cleaning service and a staging service. The home showing service only consists of "showing the home for the owner when the owner isn't available" to show the home themselves. It could also include holding an open house, if the homeowner chooses to hold an open house. In the home showing capacity, I will act as a "FSBO Consultant" to the home seller. I would give callers the information about the home supplied by the seller, but have them contact the owner for further details. If the homeowner wants the person to "view" the house, I or someone who works for me, would open the door for viewing. We will not try to sell the features or the neighborhood just be there to meet and greet. We then let the prospects view the home without pressure. The business will explicitly say that we are not realtors, agents or the like; we will not negotiate any contracts for the seller or buyer; we cannot assist with setting the sales price; we cannot offer legal advice of any kind; we cannot and will not "market" the property. We are only there to assist the home seller when they aren't available to show the home. Additionally, the business will be licensed, bonded and insured.

I've reviewed the Virginia board of real estate's regs and what I'm proposing does not constitute "selling or negotiating" contracts. I just need someone to assist with setting up this business and reviewing my service agreement. Lastly, for more info the website is www.essential-home.com.

So, please review the website (yes I did it myself) and provide any feedback about the website, the contents, the idea, anything. I would really appreciate some feedback.

Thanx,

Shawn

Hi Shawn,

I think that your idea is great. I have a rather different approach to the medical sector that doesn't require me to have any kind of license or medical degree. You have done some out of the box thinking. I once thought of doing something similar to that but I decided to go with my passion which is medicine. You could do this over the web and have employees in all 50 states. They could take people to see the properties. Or once you are up and running and this is successful you could always frachise it. This would be great for a lot of moms that need to work around their children's schedule. Another reason it would be great is because like my best friend their are a lot of women that don't possess a lot of skills using office equipment and such and this would allow them to do this with out having to learn a ton of programs on a pc. Go for it I think it is a great idea. There are a lot of people trying to sell their houses on their own because they don't want to pay some realtor a ton of money. If you keep your fee reasonable and make sure you are following the letter of the law you should do great. Good Luck!!!

Hi Shai:-)

Thanx sooooo much for the feedback. You have pointed out EVERYTHING I intend to do with this biz!!!!!!!!!

The real estate market will always have it's "low and high tides" but there will always be those, myself included, who will be FSBO customers.

To insure that I am doing everything I should to stay within the "letter of the law" I'm having a second attorney review my files, website, contracts, etc. Once this is done, I'll feel a bit more at ease than I do now about this business model I've created.

As I think about it, once I've truely learned the do's and dont's of doing this, it will certainly be franchised!!!!!!!!! Again, we are a military family and I know it could benefit lots of military spouses or those who want to start their own biz with low start up costs.

In fact, I received a private email from someone asking the same questions about the biz and franchising. Guess I better look into doing this real soon.

Again, thanx a bunch for your input. I keep you posted as to the progress and please review the website and give me any pointers you may have about the site.

Sincerely,

Shawn

Hi Shawn,

I reviewed the website and I think it is great. For doing it yourself I think you did a wonderful job. I am happy that your going to franchise this. My best friend isn't really good with computer programs and all she knows the basics of the computer and she could learn the rest but she isn't good with a lot of office things. However she is a people person which this business would be about for the most part and I am interested in helping her to get one of your franchises when you do this. She doesn't have a lot of money and not that I am rich but I can afford to help her. She is interested in it. Her name is Wendy and I told her I would teach her more about the computer. She is a single mom and this could work for her. If you would like to contact me my email is
shaiinfomed@yahoo.com I would love to talk to you more about this opportunity. Thanks for you kind reply.

Hey Shawn,

I just read your profile and I am from Norfolk VA. My mom lives in Chesapeake VA. Wow how cool is that? I now live in AL with my husband and children. My best friend lives in Tenn. She is 5 hours away from me. We talk on the phone all the time. I just wanted to let you know that plus I thought I recognized the phone number as being in the Hampton Roads Area but I was busy surfing the site so I didn't really pay much attention to it. But wow that is neat.

I think it's a real good idea. While you have focused on the FSBO market... with any downturn in real estate, agents will be scrambling to differenciate themselves from each other... and might be willing to partner with you... where they pay you up front to provide services to their customers. Help them earn the 6%. Couple of good agents with listings that move and you could easily grow your business.

Good luck.

Graydon
Marlin Creek - Idea Seeds
http://marlincreek.com

I was thinking that this idea looked familiar... I touched on it over here...

http://marlincreek.com/content/view/88/35/

Good luck again!

Marlin Creek - Idea Seeds
http://marlincreek.com

I'M BLOWN AWAY BY THAT ARTICLE. YES, THAT'S IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THANKS SOOOOOOOO MUCH FOR THE UPDATE AND LINK TO MY SIT

I'LL KEEP EVERYONE POSTED ON MY PROGRESS.

Shawn,

I love your idea. Would you please email me I have some questions for you. My email is samantha72ky@yahoo.com.

Thanks,

Samantha