By George Capsis
Every once in a while I get a young voice on the phone that wants to know if I want to buy a building or sell mine. I sympathetically offer them from my own youthful experience that there is nothing worse than doing a “cold call.”
But recently I got a call from a very confident voice that wanted to come see me and wanted to advertise his ability to buy and sell homes. That voice was Thomas Lee, now with Compass, and he got his confidence by renting real estate for his father, who owned several buildings.
Compass offers what they call their “Concierge” service. They will clean, repair, and even furnish your townhouse or apartment to make it irresistible to the now 95 percent of home shoppers who go online to electronically tour the offerings. And this is not walking in a few items of fancy furniture that Lee is offering. He goes up on the roof to see if it needs to be repaired. He acts like a real buyer.
Compass offers to lay out the cost for these services and only collect when the sale closes. And they offer it as an increase in the selling price—$400 per thousand.
I did not have to sell Tom the ad in WestView. He knew what he wanted. He knows how to fairly price a building or apartment to easily move it from somebody who wants to sell to somebody who wants to buy.
A few days later I met a couple in Cafe Panino Mucho Gusto who asked if I knew someone who could help them buy a home in the Village, and I instantly referred them to Tom Lee of Compass.
