What started our journey: The seeds were planted for 1 Percent Lists when two newlyweds had to sell a home. Grant had purchased the home about a year earlier and after being married the new couple decided to move. Grant had purchased the home but had never sold one and they decided to interview two agents.
The first agent had their neighbors home under contract and charged them a total of 5%. She seemed nice enough and the neighbors were satisfied.
The second agent was suggested to them by their family and she was a huge producer in their market. Her required fee was 6% which led Grant and Kelly to ask why she was more expensive than the other agent? The answer they received was a threat, “if you pay me less I will do less marketing.”
Grant and Kelly caved to family pressure and hired the more expensive agent. A short time later that very same more expensive agent begrudgingly agreed to show the home to a client that she didn't think would like it. That client wound up purchasing that home and an assistant who is a total stranger to Grant had him sign paperwork securing both ends of a 6% transaction for their agent doubling that agent's payday.
Leaving the closing Grant realized the threats of less marketing were hollow because he was the only reason the house was sold. The newly wed couple felt unappreciated and had a very bad taste in their mouth from their first real home selling experience.
That bad experience with a top producing agent prompted basketball coach Grant Clayton and his new wife Military veteran Kelly Clayton to become real estate agents.
Their very first transaction was a relocation listing in which they convinced the seller to pay them 7% but after paying the relocation company 40% for the referral and their broker 50% of the remainder they made less than 1% on the sale of that home. They didn’t like the way they felt encouraging their seller to pay ever higher fees and also didn’t appreciate the middle men who soaked up so much of the commission.
As they interacted with more and more “top producers” they began to realize that being a top producer doesn’t mean you are a good person or a good agent. They began to feel like they were being encouraged to become similar to their agent that left such a horrible impression on them.
Despite all the negatives, Grant and Kelly did learn one very important thing and that is the path to being more successful in real estate is to list more homes. No matter what positive thing you are trying to accomplish in real estate, listing homes will help you achieve it.
