Ben Thomas Brokerage - BTB

I was a REALTOR for 5 years in my late 20's from 2005 to 2010. In 2010 I left the business, as I wanted more stability for our growing family, plus, the market was horrible.

Since 2010 I have been working in the Risk Management field, most recently as corporate insurance manager for a Vermont insurance company for the last 2 years. My work in the field can be so interesting and challenging, and has great variety. There is always so much to learn.

But this year, I decided I would re-activate my Broker's License so I can show property to close friends and family after business hours and on the weekend (I was thinking about 4 transactions per year). There are things to pay for to support living the dream in Barre, including appliances, gymnastics, vacations, and any luxuries for the five females in my life: wife, two beautiful daughters, and two cats.

So far, I love having my own brokerage . I can write buyer contracts that are in the best interest of the buyer, because I can afford to especially when working with family and friends, and because I am the one who determines the practices of my business as Principal Broker. For example, many buyers are signing EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO REPRESENT BUYER agreements, where the buyer is required to pay a commission to the agency regardless of whether or not the agency assists the buyer in the purchase. But note that as a buyer, it might be more in your best interest to be signing an EXCLUSIVE BUYER AGENCY agreement, which expressly gives the buyer the right to purchase a property by himself without liability to the agency for a fee. Think FSBO, where the seller went that way because they feel the increase in marketing exposure is not worth the commission, or maybe they just don't like agents because they had a bad experience with them in the past. I don't want to get in the middle of that transaction, unless you need my help and market information available through the MLS.

The other thing that is nice is that I actually have time to provide full undivided attention to who I am currently working with, since I only intend to do a handful of transactions per year. For instance, in a current transaction, it's such a luxury to have time to pour over every pertinent detail for my client's transaction (e.g. interesting limitations in the covenants), since I am not challenged to keep finding additional clients to fill the sales pipeline.

So if you are a "Friend", I would be happy to help you out. But keep in mind that I am only available nights and weekends. However I am thinking that if you have a job so you can actually pay for a home, that might be the case for you as well!

Cheers,
Ben Thomas