Deliver A Better Value

Michael LaFido, the vice president of marketing and operations at ERA Team Feinstein, is a top-producing agent and real estate consultant in the greater Chicago area. He recommends that agents new to the market try to work with all the leads that come their way. When asking for their commission, he reminds clients, “It’s more about how much they will net when selling, versus focusing on how much I charge in commission.” LaFido recently charged 4 percent more than a competing broker, yet he was ultimately able to attract 16 percent more than the asking price. 

LaFido’s approach is based on delivering better value, and developing and maintaining relationships with his clients so that he can serve them with the highest standard of customer service and respect. He uses staging, a “superior marketing plan,” prices homes correctly and adjusts the price as the market dictates based on feedback and lack of offers. The price adjustments, Lafido says, are an essential aspect of the job for a “full-service” Realtor, and a perfect example of the type of intangible service most sellers don’t even know they need or want. When it comes to asking for his commission, LaFido says people just have to realize that they get what they pay for.

“I tell sellers, ‘If you think I’m expensive, try hiring an amateur and see how much you net with them,’” he says.

Specifically, LaFido has more of a “menu-style” commission structure. He shows them an array of options he can perform to help sell their home – staging, decluttering, signage, online marketing, etc. – and each additional service is under a different commission percentage category. For example, the additional task for LaFido to hire an expert stager to make sure the listing’s space is utilized to the fullest and presented in the most pleasing way possible could cost the seller 8 percent commission (buyer agents would get 4 percent), because LaFido pays for the stager’s services himself. LaFido rarely receives resistance from clients, and if he does, he reaffirms his commission structure with his sales statistics. For example, a seller in Mokena relisted with LaFido recently; after sitting on the market for 1,239 days, LaFido sold the home on the third day he had the listing. In Mokena, only one home had sold for more than $700,000 at this point, and LaFido sold this recent listing, listed at $795,000, in three days.

Since he has a different commission structure depending on what the sellers choose, LaFido will sometimes use the higher split commission as a marketing tool. For this Mokena listing, for instance, he did the math and added that agents with a buyer for the property could earn about 40 percent more on their commission.