HomeWise Real Estate Pioneered Flat Fee in Ohio
How I pioneered flat fee
Hello! This is Sharon Young Jebavy. HomeWise Real Estate is my business, and I am the Broker. I started my real estate career more than 30 years ago in Columbus and practiced traditional real estate for several years. I earned my Broker license in 1996 and opened my own company.
In June 2001, I watched a FSBO show on cable, and it occurred to me that these FSBO sellers might list in the Realtor MLS if they didn‘t have to pay 6%, divided as 3% for the listing company and 3% for the buyer agent company.
Mailing Out The Idea
I copied down 30 addresses from the FSBO show and mailed out flyers offering to list them in the Columbus MLS for $500 upfront, and sellers would only pay 3% to the buyer agent’s company at closing! What an idea! We mailed 30 flyers and got five listings!
I knew I was onto something!
I fumbled with the idea until I figured out all the ins and outs and created a real estate flat fee business…the first in Ohio in June 2001. That’s all she wrote! I began without even having a website; I mailed flyers. Soon I had two full-time people who just put my listings in the MLS. I ended up as the main story on the front page of The Wall Street Journal…my 15 minutes of fame! I joined other Ohio MLSs in large metro areas all around the state. It has been growing ever since! Real Estate has been my life, and I am great at my job!
There is no unique formula
Some things every seller should know…be assured there isn’t anything any Realtor can do in selling or buying homes that every other Realtor can’t do.
Real estate listings are all the same.
Don’t be fooled by Realtors that don’t have your best interests in mind
I had one Grandview (Columbus burb) area seller who listed his $700,000+ home with me and changed his mind the next day. Another Realtor had told him that “HE could offer him a virtual tour,” and this seller listed with the other Realtor and paid $21,000 more in commission at closing than he would have paid if he listed with me…all for a virtual tour that he could have purchased separately for about $350. All a seller has to do is have a photographer do a virtual tour, send it to me, and I post it to the seller’s listing! I am sure the house sold before the virtual tour was even finished! $21,000. Unreal. This is why I started my brokerage. There had to be a better way!
I am available all the time by phone…call or text. If you have to leave a voicemail, I guarantee to return your call within minutes, not hours! My tagline is “Service by phone 24/7,” and I mean it.
I have earned a Real Estate Technology Degree from Hondros College, the premiere business college in Ohio. I was licensed in February 1989 and usually sold over 100 homes yearly. Most agents doing good generally sell about 20 homes a year +/-. I also hold the Accredited Buyer Representative designation from the National Association of Realtors, so I have an in-depth understanding of buyers!
Try me! I guarantee you will like what I can do for you and the money you save!
Sharon is also a pioneer of real estate Flat Fee Law in Ohio!
If you have any questions please email Sharon or call: 614-432-7325
Email: Sharon@homewisemls.com