There are many real estate brokers in the U.S. Many of those conduct business in our North Central Ohio marketplace, and some of them are excellent. Each broker offers a mix of services for the Realtors that work under their brokerage.
What general types of Realtors/Brokers are there?
- Partial service: They may place you on the MLS (multipe listing service - there are many) and offer a couple of other services, but open houses and marketing are up to you. It's like renting a truck to move yourself.
- Mixed service: They may offer a menu of services. You can rent your own truck, get some help with just the heavy items, or have them move all of your contents and you just arrive at your new home and everything is already there.
- Full service: The broker handles everything. They handle your marketing, open houses, signs, all communication and negotiations with buyers and prospects, photography, videos, editing, all paperwork, and the communication and coordination with the title company and other entities involved from city inspections to reminding you that you need insurance in place at close and utilities transferred. You arrive at your new home and can start unpacking the small stuff.
Our team started with my father working for a small brokerage over 50 years ago. Gradually the same thing happened to that company as has happened in many industries. It became a bigger company through mergers, take-overs, and simple growth. I came into the picture around 11 years ago. I was a full-time fire lieutenant in a city and also owned a landscaping company. He suggested I try real estate sales and having been around it since I was a boy I thought - "Why not?".
When I started we were both working separately at a well respected regional company called Realty One. It was an excellent company. That brokerage was taken over and became Realty One Real Living, and that was merged into Howard Hanna Real Estate Services.
Now when I say we were working at Realty One that isn't really true. Realtors are not employees of their brokerage. They are all independent contractors. They keep their own books, pay their own bills and handle their own marketing. The brokerage has a marketing program and office space, as well as many other support services but the Realtor you hire pays the brokerage a share of the commission, or the broker pays the agent a share of their commission depending on how you look at it. All funds must pass through the brokerage to the real estate agent and their team.
We have what many people would consider an unusual relationship with the other agents in the brokerage we work under. We refer business to agents in other regions and socialize with other agents in the brokerage. We help and offer advice to each other. But we are also competitors. Howard Hanna dominates many markets because of their outstanding services and brokerage sponsored marketing which makes most of our strongest competitors other Howard Hanna agents.
When you hire a real estate agent you are supporting a small business person. You may get dramatically different services from agents depending not only on what services they offer, but on what their broker provides. Some agents only serve a certain neighborhood, others have a team within their brokerage, and others cover a county or region. Some specialize in condos, others urban living and others vacation property. Most teams handle a wider spectrum because they can. Most individuals handle a smaller area because logistically they can't really provide good service over a large area. One person can only cover so many miles. Often if you see an individual on a sign, flier or website and they cover a large area they are actually a team fronted by a team leader or owner of a the small business.
We've chosen to have a regional team that covers Cleveland to the Lake Erie Islands. We hug the shoreline of our beautiful Lake Erie handling North Central Ohio's Island, River and Shore communities as well as communities that abut that area. It is a fantastic region with a rich and diverse population. The communities vary dramatically but they all have one thing in common. Our great lake and the businesses and neighborhoods that surround the rivers and shores. We also have a team that has team members front and center. I am now the "Team Coordinator" and may be on the front of more publications, but it is important for us to co-list listings other team members bring to the table so they can participate and also have their name and number on the sign. We truly work as a team and offer strive to offer our team members services in addition to those offered by our amazing broker Howard Hanna.
Howard Hanna is a family owned business that has proven to dominate the areas it moves into with superior marketing, internet presence, and training for it's agents. We are courted on a regular basis by other brokers and some of them are very good, but we've chosen to remain with the full-service broker who can provide both our team and our clients with the best service in the industry.
If you are thinking about purchasing real estate I hope you will contact us. If you are considering selling a home, development, land, commercial property, or just want additional information please don't hesitate to contact me at 440-315-6000 or LeeHisey@howardhanna.com. We proudly serve "Cleveland to the Lake Erie Islands" and other North Central Ohio communities.
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