While Help-U-Sell offers a modern approach to real estate, the company is certainly no newcomer to the business. Founded in 1976, Help-U-Sell leapt out of the gate with its set-fee, full-service business model, breaking the traditional mold from the onset. Now serving more than 100 offices in 26 states (and counting), the company has stepped up its value proposition with an in-house IT department that offers an all-in-one tech and marketing solution for affiliates. In this special interview, COO Robert “Robbie” Stevens and Chief Development Officer John Powell give us a look under the hood to find out how the Help-U-Sell engine runs, and why its approach to the real estate business has never been more relevant.
Maria Patterson: Help-U-Sell has been around a long time, and now has more than 100 offices serving 26 states. Why does your model still work in today’s market?
John Powell: The model is even more relevant today because of the way the real estate business has changed over the years. Today, technology has solved many of the problems buyers and sellers once had. In 1976 when Help-U-Sell was founded, buyers wanted a free flow of information, and that’s what we did for years. We’d give “information without obligation,” giving buyers addresses and phone numbers so they could drive by and look at properties. Today, that information is available whether brokers like it not. For years, brokers had a monopoly on information, but it’s not a secret anymore because of Zillow, Trulia, realtor.com®, etc. Technology has universally given the consumer the information that Help-U-Sell has been providing for a long time.
MP: What sets Help-U-Sell Real Estate apart in terms of technology?
Robbie Stevens: We created our own IT department eight years ago, which offers our brokers a big advantage. Our IT team only works with our offices, which creates a much better relationship between them. We know all of our offices’ online strategies and goals, and, therefore, service them more efficiently. If you hire a third-party tech firm, it’s hard to get a quick response time. Instead, we developed the tools needed to fit our business model. For example, we handle all the MLS data in-house, which allows us to service our brokers quickly and provide them with new listing data and market statistics. We have that information in real-time.
MP: You’ve opened several offices recently. Is your technology offering part of what’s fueling that growth?
JP: Yes, technology is a big part of it, but overall, most brokers join us because of the pressure of competition from other firms. In today’s environment, many brokers are discounting, which lowers their bottom-line profit. Brokers are getting squeezed tighter and are working harder. They need to be able to increase profitability. We, on the other hand, have a proven, 40-year system, which is built around our fee structure. Brokers save the consumer thousands of dollars, and become more profitable.
There are a lot of new business models unveiled every day—and these models are just that: new. They’re experimenting. We’re not experimenting. We’re …read more
From:: Real Estate News