About
After spending a number of years in the manufactured home business and being a real estate investor, I decided to become a Realtor. I’ve always been very passionate about all aspects of the housing industry. After buying and selling a number of homes through Realtors, I knew I would love helping others find and sell homes. I got my Texas Real Estate License in 1999 and for 11 years, I worked under several different Brokers, including Coldwell Banker and Keller Williams. While I most assuredly learned a lot from the training and experience of these reputable Brokers, I felt limited in what I was able to do for my clients. I had to list homes for a minimum of 6% and was encouraged to try to get 7% many times. The typical 6% commission is split evenly-3% goes to the Listing/Sellers Broker and the other 3% goes to the Broker representing the Buyer. Then, the Realtor sales agent splits the 3% commission with their sponsoring Broker. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with this, I believed there must be a better way for clients to not have to pay so much of their home equity for real estate commissions.
Doug Bunnell
(Owner/Broker)
I was observing how technology was changing everything in our society. All of us were using the internet to help us research all businesses and began to make many purchases online. In real estate, clients were able to go online and research homes. As a Realtor, we used to have to do all the research for a potential client whether they were buying or selling a home. Now, with available home search sites, such as Realtor.com, Zillow, and Trulia, clients can see listings and determine what they are interested in. When they were ready to sell, many had a very good idea of what the value of their home was. Conversely, buyers could research homes and advise their Realtor what homes they wanted to see. Everything was changing rapidly, however the standard 6% commission did not change. Again, I believed there must be a better way.
It was through this I realized the ONLY way I could do this was to become a Broker instead of a Sales Agent. It is not easy to get a Broker’s License in Texas. It requires a lot of additional hours of courses and exams, in addition to passing the difficult Texas Real Estate Brokers Examination. I began this journey in December 2010 and completed all requirements to become a Licensed Broker in April 2011. Finally, I was in a position to be an Independent Broker dealing directly with clients. I wanted to list homes for my clients with a reduced commission and split my Buyer’s commission with my client.