I am wondering if you would be interested in being interviewed for a real estate publication about Costa Rica. I really like your perspective on real estate in Costa Rica. Here is the site http://www.vivarealcostarica.com/

Hope that you have an excellent 2009!

We still haven't cracked the code for how best to sell a property, but here are some options.

One is, as you say, offer a fat commission. My associate Rod and I here in the office find that a high commission, or a "spiff", paid on top of the normal commission, is a nominal incentive. It's actually more of a bonus if we sell the property. I know, "what the heck does that mean?

Well, when prospective buyers come into the office and describe what they are looking for, we just focus on that: what they are looking for. Now, if we determine that a property by a given developer fits what they are looking for, we'll be delighted to recall, at that time, that there is a fat commission, or a spiff on the property. So, it might offer a slight edge to the seller, but probably not a marked change over just offering a standard commission. The commissions here are, of themselves, pretty good. We get 8%, and since there isn't an MLS, there isn't a listing agent/ selling agent split. So generally, the whole amount flows to one agency. There still remains, however, the problem of getting the listing information to all the agencies and following up to make sure that they are mindful of the listing.

A second option is to take advantage of this situation that is developing with the "Association of Realtors" or whatever it ends up being called. We have a meeting scheduled for the 24th of this month, and have been asked to bring our 3 favorite listings to share. I suppose that agreements will be made by participating agencies to definitely get the listings posted to websites, and present the properties to prospects. If in fact this arrangement works out like it proposes to, you could give your development to an agency as an exclusive listing, and have that agency represent your development to the Association so that all participating agencies would have the listing.

Commissions:
You can offer the standard 8% and negotiate the split in the event that another agency sells a property. It could be that 5% would go to the selling agency and 3% to the listing agency, or something similar.
If you are in the position to offer an amplified commission, you could structure your deal with the agency something like this: If the listing agency sells it, you will pay that agency 8% total commission. If another agency sells it, you will pay them 8% and 3% to your listing agency, or 11% total commission. Variations of this theme will work ie. 10% overall commission paid out on a 7/3% split, something like that. What this does is ensures compensation to the listing agency for any listing related work they do and still offers to all agencies the incentive of a full commission, even though it is shared.

Listing services provided by your listing agency could include, taking the time necessary to get to know the property well, understanding the water, electric and road situations. Knowing the status of permitting, soil stability, cost to build in the area, what, if any, seller financing is offered, etc… Your listing agent could also help other, lesser informed agencies with presentations of the property to their clients, since now there is something in it for them.

Otherwise, there is the old time tested method of visiting all the agencies personally, making sure that they all have your information, and just offer whatever commission directly to each one that you decide.

Please let me know if you'd like to meet to discuss ideas. My particular area of expertise is Uvita, so I'd be interested in a crack at marketing and selling your project.

It is understandable how we got to where we are. The forming of an association of realtors indicates that there is interest on the part of the agencies here to grow up and move on to a model that provides a better service for buyers and sellers – and by extension, increases the real estate professional's income.

I suspect that we are going to end up with a standardized system, essentially an MLS. I think that I'll bring up your thoughts regarding a standardized input format for listings at the next meeting and see what steps would need to be taken to implement it.

Thanks for you input Brian. I'd love to hear how your market works there in Columbia.

Ben