There are thousands of real estate agents out there looking for listings. They all claim the same thing–that they will give the owners great service. It becomes a challenge to differentiate yourself from the competition because of the large numbers of competing agents. Actually, it is not as much of a challenge as it may seem. How much of the competition seems to stand out from each other?

With everyone offering a variation of the same thing–great service, discounts on commissions and/or free market analyses–it opens the door for you to come up with an offer that is unique and is more likely to help them sell the house. The concept of uniqueness is important because it is tied to value. If your offer is the same as everyone else’s, it is not likely to seem valuable.

One such offer would be a free home warranty. The home warranty costs the agents a few hundred dollars but is well worth it. The home becomes more marketable because it offers security to potential buyers. And the agent does not have to pay for the warranty unless the home sells–making it a no-risk investment. Why offer to discount your commission for what could amount to several thousands of dollars when you can add value to the transaction for a few hundred dollars?

There are other offers that an agent can develop besides home warranties. However, I thought this was an excellent example of an offer not carried by the typical agent that also adds value to the transaction. It would be interesting to hear what other offers you have encountered or utilized when marketing for listings. Sharing ideas, such as these, makes us all stronger in the long run. I would love to hear from you in this regard.