It’s not often that I get genuinely animated about anything in property these days.

Of course, I still love foreclosure and tax deed auctions; it’s in my blood. But as a co-owner of PropertyOnion.com, I have lately found that being part of a company growing like weeds has given me fresh energy and enthusiasm.

There is much going on within this company’s confines. I could drone on forever about the exciting things we will be adding to the website in the coming months.

One project that I’m really excited about — one that I have been working on for well over a year — is now coming to fruition. PropertyOnion.com is ready to share our suite of real estate agent-level tools for real estate agents and brokers or as we call it “Agent-Level Membership“.

How Our Agent Level Membership Was Born

As I mention in the Agent Webcast we held at launch, a very good friend of mine, Leanne, asked me if it would be possible to offer a service similar to the MLS but with off-market properties.

I replied glibly, “Anything’s possible without giving it too much second thought.”

But Leanne had subconsciously sewn a seed in my head that was going to manifest itself into six million lines of code and take 12 months of development.

I’ve spoken to many real estate agents and brokers over the years, and I’ve been told over and over that becoming involved in county foreclosure auctions is far too time consuming and difficult.

That was the preeminent thought in my head when I sat down with Damon, his programmers, and his developers to create our Agent Level Membership.

What Exactly Is PropertyOnion.com’s Agent Level Membership?

In this article, I will not go into every detail of what Agent Level Membership does. But suffice to say, after beta testing these past three months, the feedback my partner Damon and I received has contributed to my unbridled excitement for what is about to come.

What we learned from the beta testing and study groups was how easy it is to use our website.

Agents and brokers were so complimentary about how quick and easy it was to send their clients reports on foreclosure properties that were available for sale in a particular county auction where their client’s specific interests lay.

Overwhelmingly, our test group of real estate agents and brokers could see that a willing client who wants to participate in a county foreclosure auction or county tax deed sale will realistically achieve a 10% commission for representing properties to these types of clients.

We also designed this new program with the legal documentation attached. The client has a contractual obligation with the real estate agent or broker to pay a 10% commission on a successful bid.

Because this is such new territory for most agents and brokers, we want information to be readily available, making the process as simple and educational as possible.

Damon came up with the idea that, upon signing up for the Agent Level Membership, you’ll receive a welcome email that includes simple training videos and articles explaining how the program works.

This is not a two-year master’s degree, just 8 minutes of agent-level feature walk-through video. If that is not good enough, just for overkill, we will be offering one-on-one phone support.

It was not my intention to make this article a sales pitch, but when putting finger to keyboard, I could not help but be loud and proud about this new concept. It is disruptive to an industry that was, up until now, the preserve of investors who were buying real estate under market value.

But That’s Not All!

Here, I think, is the clincher for any agents or brokers still holding their chins in deep thought.

Of the over 60,000 visitors to our website monthly, I suspect a majority are cash buyers intrigued by the chance of buying undervalued Florida property.

We thought, why not introduce a real estate agent’s or broker’s business card on rotation attached to properties on our website in a specific geographical location?

A potential individual buyer looking for a house representing great value or an investor who wants to start or add to a portfolio will see a real estate agent’s or broker’s details.

There is a good chance of being contacted for better details on the area, the property itself, or similar conventional real estate in or close to the location.

I thought it was a great way to get a lead and, in the spirit of honesty, saw it as a chargeable add-on service. Damon thought differently.

Two bottles* of Kendall-Jackson later (our preferred method of negotiating company policy), Damon convinced me that we should include the leads at no charge.

*By way of explanation, Damon and I socially distance and have chosen to work from two separate locations, so all discussions are via Skype or Zoom. We each provide our own wine, hence two bottles for our after-hours meetings.

Developing the white label system for a real estate agent or brokerage to send a list of county foreclosure and tax deed sale properties together with detailed reports on each property took hundreds of hours of design and programming.

The result looks amazing; each report lists the agent’s or brokerage’s details, and both focus groups scored us at over 80% for importance, look, and feel of this function.

How Will Your Commission Be Paid?

The simple explanation: The real estate agent’s or broker’s client will put money equivalent to 10% of the pre-agreed maximum bid into an escrow before the auction takes place.

This guarantees that, on a successful purchase by the client at the county foreclosure auction or tax deed sale, the agent or brokerage will get paid instantly (or the tenth day following a foreclosure sale).

From our beta testing program, an existing Premium Member who was also a real estate agent upgraded to our Agent Level Membership and started offering clients foreclosure and tax deed sale properties, which he was doing for himself anyway.

He has concluded one tax deed sale for an investor client but discovered something none of us accounted for.

Upon introducing county foreclosure and tax deed sale properties to his existing and potential client base (because he now had a more comprehensive offering), he was perceived as a complete industry professional and was getting a longer attention span from these clients. That resulted in listings and representing buyers.

Other beta testers have experienced the same waterfall effect whereby they gained clients by initially advertising and offering county foreclosures and tax deed properties. Because of the interest generated, a client ended up buying or selling a conventional home through the real estate agent.

This unexpected side benefit of Agent Level Membership becomes obvious once you think about it; although not by design, it is nevertheless fascinating and profitable to boot!

We’re Excited to Support Real Estate Agents and Brokerages

Our marketing department has definitely been challenged by our new disruptive technology and how best to offer it to real estate agents and brokerages.

However, word is starting to spread amongst real estate agents and brokers; those who were slow to react to the soft launch a month ago are now taking a second visit.

Through articles like this and others who have just joined, positive word of mouth is a powerful aid to the exponential growth of Agent Level Memberships.

As I wrote at the top of this article, being reinvigorated by selling a new product is really exhilarating. I find myself explaining this new program to my real estate agent and broker friends at breakneck speed — so much so that I’m often told to slow down.

If you come across me on the telephone, Zoom, Skype, or even on the street (at a respectable social distance of course), my excitement for this Agent Level Membership is predicated on the basis that I think we possess the most excellent product on earth for real estate agents and brokerages.

I guess this does read like a sales pitch and I should apologize, but I won’t — I’m just going to send you off to the promotional information page for “Agent-Level Membership” of course. I’ll see you on the other side nodding your head with a knowing smile on your face.