Digs Realty is fully operational in Westchester!
After almost six years of success in New York City, and many requests from clients moving to the burbs, Digs has expanded to be a full service rebate broker in Westchester. More companies have adopted our model in recent years, in particular in NYC, but we haven’t seen the commission sharing model being utilized in the surrounding areas of NYC.
Homebuyers and sellers everywhere are seeking discount real estate brokers who are GOOD.
How do we know this? We often get calls from people who are looking for homes in New Jersey, Westchester, Long Island, Colorado, Florida, etc. who ask us if we operate in those regions. There is a need and a want for great brokers who cost less. It would benefit home buyers and sellers if more brokers embraced our mission: saving clients money without compromising service.
Why hasn’t the model of taking less commission to save your clients money been adopted more widely?
It was a no brainer to us when we first opened Digs Realty in 2014. Almost nobody was doing this in New York City, but it made no sense. If someone could get just as good (often better) service and advice from us for half the price, why wouldn’t they go with us? Very quickly, we learned they would go with us if they knew about our model. Of course, it also helped if they heard from current or former clients about their experiences with us. Nothing is better than saving money with a warm referral!
Yet, it took years before other competitors joined us in the NYC market.
Our competitors, for the most part, were adopting our commission sharing model. However, they weren’t adopting our core values of transparency, putting clients’ interests first or adding value through knowledge and good advice. Some of their websites hid who they were. There was no way to find out who the agents were, what deals they had done, what their experience was, etc. This is likely because they were new to real estate and didn’t have any transactions or experience. It is very easy to get your real estate license in New York State, but that doesn’t mean you are equipped to represent clients. Training and experience is key to be able to add value to your clients. You can’t save your clients money even if you are sharing your commission if you don’t know how to properly price a home and negotiate.
We always believed it was important to tell people who we are, what we do, how we do it, what we’ve done, and what we stand for. You don’t need to call us or sign up on our website to find out what your rebate amount will be, what our clients think of us, or what our experience is. This is all front and center on our website. We can’t hold ourselves out as honest and transparent if we don’t share this information. We can’t claim to be experienced without showing our transactions. Will you believe we add value if we don’t back it up with client testimonials? Digs carries this honesty and integrity over to our dealings with other agents – we do not hide that we share our commissions with our clients, and agents like to work with us because we are professional, thorough and help get deals done.
So, why haven’t more jumped on the rebate broker bandwagon?
Perhaps it is greed (it isn’t easy to give away 67% of your commission). Perhaps it is a lack of knowledge (not everyone knows this model exists or is legal). Maybe it is fear (agents may worry clients will think they aren’t as good if they cost less).
Whatever the reason, we have yet to see the rebate model adopted more widely in Westchester and Long Island, so that’s where we are going! Buyers and sellers should be able to get great service and save money at the same time. We have hired an experienced and great agent, Michael Robles, in Westchester to represent our clients there. He embraces our core values and mission, and we know you will agree once you work with him. We are very excited, and we hope you are too!
