First-of-its-kind book rates a 10

First-of-its-kind book rates a 10

Source: Florida Today Robert Bruss ©2001

REAL ESTATE A LA CARTE, By Julie Garton-Good (Dearborn-Kaplan Publishing Co., Chicago, 2001), $17.95, 250 pages. Available in stock or by special order at better bookstores, public libraries and www.amazon.com

Real Estate a la Carte, by well-regarded real estate broker, speaker and author Julie Garton-Good, explains how home sellers and buyers can purchase only the services they want and need. Although this isn't a guidebook on how to sell your home without an agent, it shows consumers how to hire professional agents and attorneys to provide partial services and pay less than full sales commissions.

This first-of-its-kind book emphasizes the benefits, primarily for sellers but also for buyers, of purchasing less than "full brokerage services." Equally important, Garton-Good explains how to locate qualified, experienced agents, as well as other realty consulting professionals, who want to provide services on an individual-fee basis.

For many years, Garton-Good has spoken at the National Association of Realtors annual conventions and at smaller nationwide seminars. She is a licensed real estate broker in three states. In this ground-breaking new book, written for both consumers and agents, she explains why many sellers and buyers don't need or want to pay for full service. Equally important, she emphasizes how savvy agents can profit from providing partial services on a fee basis.

The primary idea behind real estate fee-for-services, Garton-Good explains, is saving the consumer money. To illustrate, she provides numerous examples of how sellers can advertise and show their homes to prospective buyers, yet they need professional help with pricing, evaluating purchase offers and negotiation. That's where, she says, smart agents welcome opportunities to provide assistance at hourly fees or on a service-provided basis.

Garton-Good does an admirable job explaining how sellers and buyers can locate qualified local realty "certified consultants" who are specially trained to provide fee-for-services. She just happens to be the founder of the National Association of Real Estate Consultants. Graduates of her training courses are entitled to the designation Consumer-Certified Real Estate Consultant (C-CREC).

Local certified real estate consultants can be found at the association's Web site www.narec.com). Garton-Good is quick to point out that consultants specialize in various realty areas, such as relocation problems, avoiding foreclosure and other consultation specialties. Checklists for readers show when a consultant should be hired and when one probably isn't needed.

Although the book goes into considerable detail about the different "levels" of realty services a client might require, it is rather vague about how much these services should cost the client.

For example, if a seller needs a C-CREC to prepare a competitive market analysis to help set the asking price, prepare a purchase offer when a buyer wants to buy, negotiate with the buyer and close the sale, it's difficult to predict how much the seller should expect to pay. But it will obviously be much less than a full sales commission.

There is definitely a huge need for an excellent book like this to explain real estate fee-for-services. It will alert agents to the new opportunities available for providing services and earning fees. There has been a need for well-qualified real estate consultants, and this book shows how to find them and benefit from their services. The book is certain to change the way sellers, buyers and agents view typical home-sale transactions.

Chapter topics include The Consumer Is the Financial Winner in the New World of Real Estate Services; What To Pay for a la Carte Real Estate Services and How To Pay It; The Seller's Fee-for-Services Road Map; The Buyer's Fee-for-Services Road Map; Seller's Applications; Buyer's Applications; Unique Real Estate a la Carte Applications To Save You Money; Locating and Contracting with Real Estate Fee-for-Services Providers; and Deciding What Help You Need if You're Stuck Midstream.

This real estate book, the first of its kind, is certain to stir up thought-provoking controversy in the real estate sales industry. The highly regarded author, well-known within the industry, adds prestige to the concept of fee-for-services as an alternative to traditional real estate sales commissions. On my scale of one to 10, this well-written book earns a solid 10.