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Tourlie

3,069 Views | 22 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by Red Pear Realty
Red Pear Realty
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Howdy Ags!

We've got a really cool update for both Consumers and Agents:

Consumers
We wanted to introduce you to an awesome new service called Tourlie that we at Red Pear Realty have been using for the past year or so, with great results. Essentially, Tourlie allows our agents to book showings for our clients via an on demand network of agents (Tourlie Guides) who will show houses when we can't. Think UBER or LYFT but for real estate showings. This is HUGE for consumers, because now, we can show houses for our buyer clients across the great State of Texas, and even be in the same place (do multiple showings) at the same time!

To reemphasize, we are currently members of the following MLS markets, with the ability to expand into additional markets with about 3-5 business days notice. So if you are looking to buy in any of these markets, we would love to help you!

  • Houston
  • Dallas-Fort Worth (Red Pear agent in this market soon)
  • Austin
  • San Antonio
  • Bryan-College Station (Red Pear agent in this market soon)
  • Tyler
  • Waco
  • Kerrville / Hill Country

Agents
Not only can this help our Red Pear clients, but Tourlie can help you too! With Tourlie, you can free up valuable time that might otherwise restrict you from growing your business. For instance, say your kid has a soccer or baseball game, but a client asks to see a home at the same time. Now, you have the ability to schedule a showing with a Tourlie Guide and do both. Huge win. Tourlie makes their money with a monthly subscription, and then the fees for a specific showing go straight to the Tourlie Guide. Lastly, if you are an agent that is just getting started, Tourlie can be a great way to make some money while you are getting your book of business off the ground.

If you sign up with the promo code REDPEAR2021 , you will get 30% off your subscription, FOR LIFE.

https://www.tourlie.com
Sponsor Message: We Split Commissions. Full Service Agents in Austin, Bryan-College Station, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. Red Pear Realty
Diggity
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I wonder if that's who RedFin is using.

I've recently received a few showing requests from a 3rd party that is booking showings "on behalf" of a redfin agent (who is sometimes out of state). I was confused by the whole operation, but that would make sense.
HomeFinderCody
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There was a service doing this in D/FW within the past few years...cannot remember the name of it, but it didn't last. I knew a few agents that used it, but had a hard time getting the requests filled in a timely manner, and a couple had issues with the "tour guide" trying to steal the client (according to clients).

Hopefully this one makes it.
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Diggity
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nm...he just told me it was a different service that was giving him trouble.

Tourlie has been working great for him
Red Pear Realty
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They are operating nationwide now, and most of my booking requests for major MSA's are filled within about 5 minutes of the request. For rural areas, it can take a bit longer, and the showing fee typically runs about $200 to get someone to do the showing.
Sponsor Message: We Split Commissions. Full Service Agents in Austin, Bryan-College Station, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. Red Pear Realty
HomeFinderCody
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Red Pear Realty said:

They are operating nationwide now, and most of my booking requests for major MSA's are filled within about 5 minutes of the request. For rural areas, it can take a bit longer, and the showing fee typically runs about $200 to get someone to do the showing.
Glad it's working for you. I think it does fill a need.
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Diggity
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It does fill a need in certain scenarios, but if I'm an agent that does a lot of buyers rep, I would be nervous about outsourcing "value add" services like home showings. When I used to show homes more frequently, my clients wanted me to give my opinion on a home/area more often than not (or at least they claimed to).

I've often heard the argument that all a buyers agent is getting paid for is "to open doors", and now we have established a value for that particular service. I saw my job as more of a consultant, especially for first time buyers, to help them avoid the pitfalls of home buying. I'm not sure how you can do this if you don't even bother viewing the home with your client.

The more agents start to subcontract services like these, the less value they have in a transaction and the harder it will be to defend their fee. Guys like Jamie at Red Pear understand this, and have built a model where certain things might be outsourced, but the buyer saves thousands of dollars, so it's a fair trade in my opinion. If I'm claiming to be a "market expert" and don't bother touring homes with my clients, then I'm really not adding value.

The logical conclusion of all this is companies like Toruley (or similar) adding a "limited service" offering where buyers can contract directly with the company and pay for an entire suite of buyer's agent services a la carte. ($50 bucks per showing, $50 for a CMA, $500 for contract negotiation, etc.).

In reality, these changes are already on the way, but agents appear to be more than willing to finance their own demise (just look at the original Zillow model as another example).

mazag08
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Quote:

I've often heard the argument that all a buyers agent is getting paid for is "to open doors", and now we have established a value for that particular. I saw my job as more of a consultant, especially for first time buyers, to help them avoid the pitfalls of home buying. I'm not sure how you can do this if you don't even bother viewing the home with your client.
Real estate agents and the national and local associations who run them are made up of some of the stupidest and most short sighted people.

10 years ago Zillow actually had on their website that their goal was to disrupt the real estate industry and become the premier source for buyers and sellers. Within five years NAR had a contract with them. Their thinking was that they could keep them in check if they handed them access to agents and data. It's a very similar approach democrats take in foreign affairs. Give away everything while getting nothing in return and losing the battle in the end. What does Zillow turn around and do? They sell ad space to agents for buyers and sellers who were previously coming to them anyway.

Then you have things like this which should really only fill a need for discount agents or agents who are so freaking busy that they can't possibly tour each of their clients every day. But watch.. you will have big box brokers pimping this out to their entire catalog of agents and maybe even paving the way for full blow association support.
HomeFinderCody
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Diggity said:

It does fill a need in certain scenarios, but if I'm an agent that does a lot of buyers rep, I would be nervous about outsourcing "value add" services like home showings. When I used to show homes more frequently, my clients wanted me to give my opinion on a home/area more often than not (or at least they claimed to).

I've often heard the argument that all a buyers agent is getting paid for is "to open doors", and now we have established a value for that particular service. I saw my job as more of a consultant, especially for first time buyers, to help them avoid the pitfalls of home buying. I'm not sure how you can do this if you don't even bother viewing the home with your client.

The more agents start to subcontract services like these, the less value they have in a transaction and the harder it will be to defend their fee. Guys like Jamie at Red Pear understand this, and have built a model where certain things might be outsourced, but the buyer saves thousands of dollars, so it's a fair trade in my opinion. If I'm claiming to be a "market expert" and don't bother touring homes with my clients, then I'm really not adding value.

The logical conclusion of all this is companies like Toruley (or similar) adding a "limited service" offering where buyers can contract directly with the company and pay for an entire suite of buyer's agent services a la carte. ($50 bucks per showing, $50 for a CMA, $500 for contract negotiation, etc.).

In reality, these changes are already on the way, but agents appear to be more than willing to finance their own demise (just look at the original Zillow model as another example).


Yes, agree...when I say it fills a need, I certainly don't mean it fills a need for me.

I offer full service, which includes touring homes with my clients, giving input on areas as we drive through, helping to point out features or pitfalls while inside homes, etc. You cannot add that level of service if you don't spend time with your clients in homes. Now, if I've been out with a client many times, we are concentrating on a small area that we've discussed at length, and they NEED to see a home on short notice at the same time I'm in a closing, this service might work for a tour of one home. But it's a narrow set of circumstances.

My full service, customer oriented style will always have a place in the market. There have been discount brokerages for a long time, but at the end of the day most people want a hands on agent that fights in their best interests, negotiates hard for them, and puts themselves in the clients shoes. They want someone they can build a relationship with...In my opinion, you cannot effectively do that solely from behind a keyboard.

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Diggity
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To be clear, I wasn't implying that you weren't offering full service or were cutting corners.

I was just using your post as a jumping off point for my feelings on some of the "PropTech" and how it will affect our industry.

Sorry if you thought I was lumping you in there.
Red Pear Realty
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Time for some real talk....

You are the best person to represent your interests, no matter if you work with us or a traditional broker. I'm a strong believer in personal responsibility in all facets of life. We come across a LOT of other agents who frankly don't care about their clients best interests, and we (and other brokerage shops) take advantage of that. Both Diggity and mazag08 point out above that new models are poking holes in the traditional structure, and there's a reason for that.

I didn't start Red Pear to get rich, I started it to help people, and have had a great time doing that....and the market has rewarded us for it. We did 75 deals last year and are on pace to beat that this year. 100% of our advertising dollars are spent on TexAgs, and we don't plan to market elsewhere any time soon. Almost all of our clients are from TexAgs, and we really enjoy helping Aggies. Y'all are good people.

The average agent does something like 5 or 6 deals a year, and frankly, that's not enough to keep up with current market trends. As I mentioned above, last year we did 75 deals, and there have been several instances where we helped our clients make or save a lot of money because the other party didn't know what was going on at that time. On that same note, I think we did something like 10 or 12 deals in DFW last year. So if the average agent is doing 5 or 6, and we are doing 10 or 12 in that same market, who knows the market better? BTW, we will have Red Pear agents in DFW and BCS in the next few weeks. My personal opinion...if your agent isn't doing at least 25 deals a year, you shouldn't be working with them.

No one model is right for everyone. Thats like saying everyone should only drink Dr. Pepper. Which I think is pretty gross. The stuff made with cane sugar isn't awful, but I digress. To this point, I also own a "traditional" brokerage shop where I typically charge the traditional commission setup.

Some of my favorite Red Pear clients have been agents from very large, national brokerage firms (that everyone knows their names) who called me because I'm cheaper than listing their home under their own broker. Those are fun. One of those agents who I helped last year through Red Pear now works with me at my other resi brokerage firm mentioned above.

The internet has changed a lot of things, good, bad, and ugly. The 3% model was set up when agents had to do a lot of legwork before a client could make an offer. The MLS wasn't online...it was mailed or faxed with grainy black and white 2" by 3" photos and a couple of details about the house. Want to know more? Go see it. Today, we have 4k images, video walkthroughs, Matterhorn 3D imaging, drone photography, Google maps, etc. If agents don't change with the times, they will be put out to pasture. And that goes for all business models, not just real estate agents.
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Diggity
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I saw you guys are opening a full service commercial brokerage as well. Sounds exciting!

How do you have time for both?
mazag08
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Diggity said:

I saw you guys are opening a full service commercial brokerage as well. Sounds exciting!

How do you have time for both?


Ever met Jamie?

Dude is a machine.
Red Pear Realty
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Diggity said:

I saw you guys are opening a full service commercial brokerage as well. Sounds exciting!

How do you have time for both?


I asked a lot of questions as a kid, and my moms standard response to the "how did they...?" question was always: "THEY WEREN'T WATCHING TV, THAT'S FOR SURE!"

Also, we definitely started the other company with the aim of making us and our investors/partners rich.
Sponsor Message: We Split Commissions. Full Service Agents in Austin, Bryan-College Station, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. Red Pear Realty
HomeFinderCody
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Diggity said:

To be clear, I wasn't implying that you weren't offering full service or were cutting corners.

I was just using your post as a jumping off point for my feelings on some of the "PropTech" and how it will affect our industry.

Sorry if you thought I was lumping you in there.
Didn't take it that way at all...i was just piggybacking on your comment.
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Diggity
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well good luck. It's an exciting time to be opening a commercial shop.
Kearney McRaven
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I really enjoyed your explanation above, and congratulate you on your success. I am curious how you feel when you take the required Broker Responsibility Course each 2 years, and start on the section covering required competency of your Sponsored Agents. As a Broker, it scares the crap out of me every time I go through that section. Competency on property type is enough of a barrier as you mentioned most Realtors only close 5 or 6 transactions a year, but the required geographic competency is another animal all together.
Red Pear Realty
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Thank you for the kind words! We are very fortunate in that our agents are highly educated, highly skilled, and are physically located throughout the state. We have several Masters of Real Estate, a couple of MBA's, and even a Doctorate (my wife). Many are single family and commercial investors, with portfolios across the state (and the US) as well. So I don't worry too much about that after we bring on agents.
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TxAG#2011
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So if I have a sales license I never use I could theoretically sign up for this and make some quick cash? Seems pretty freaking easy
Red Pear Realty
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I'd love to discuss opportunities. My cell is (713) 303-9025. Can you text me to set up a time to talk?
Sponsor Message: We Split Commissions. Full Service Agents in Austin, Bryan-College Station, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. Red Pear Realty
Claude!
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Red Pear Realty said:

we really enjoy helping Aggies. Y'all are good people.

Don't spend much time on the Politics Board, or the Football Board after a loss, do you?
TxAG#2011
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Red Pear Realty said:

I'd love to discuss opportunities. My cell is (713) 303-9025. Can you text me to set up a time to talk?
Thanks for the interest but I see that it requires the license to be active as well as MLS access of which I am neither. I will need to look into the requirements to get my license active as it's been a minute and probably requires some CE.
flyingaggie12
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sent u a text
Red Pear Realty
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Just about to call you!
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