Help-U-Sell Saves on Brokerage Costs

In 2003, Jerry and Susan Kelley opened Arkansas’ only Help-U-Sell Real Estate franchise.

Through their office in Rogers, the Kelleys charge a set fee to sell a house — $2,950 if the owner shows the home to potential buyers, $4,150 if Help-U-Sell shows the home.

That’s a considerable savings compared to the $42,000 it could cost if other real estate brokers sell a $700,000 house (based on the usual 6 percent commission).

The Kelleys based their fee on 2.2 percent of the median house price when they started the Help-U-Sell franchise in 2003. The average house price in Northwest Arkansas was about $165,000 then. It is about $230,000 now, but the Kelleys haven’t raised their fees to home sellers.

“Because we’re saving people money, they don’t look at us like we’re trying to steal their equity,” Susan Kelley said.

The Kelleys have sold houses in Northwest Arkansas priced from $90,000 to $700,000.

“Traditional real estate puts an agent between the buyer and the seller,” Jerry Kelley said. “Our program puts the buyer and the seller together.”

If the seller is saving that much money, Jerry Kelley said, “They can adjust the price if they need to get out of town quickly, or they can pocket the difference.”

Help-U-Sell was founded in 1972 in California. The company, now based in Castle Rock, Colo., began franchising in 1976 and now has about 1,000 offices across the U.S. Entrepreneur magazine said it was the fastest growing real estate franchise in 2005.

Jerry Kelley said they sold about 15 houses per month last year through the Rogers office and they have between 38 and 60 homes listed at any given time. Their revenue totaled about $250,000 in 2005, with about 40 percent of that being spent to advertising homes for sale.

Help-U-Sell can also sell homes that are on the area’s Multiple Listing Service, but that ends up costing buyers more in commissions because there’s usually a 3 percent commission on the buyer’s end and 3 percent on the seller’s end. However, the Kelleys only take a commission of about 2 percent on a sale and rebate the other 1 percent back to the buyer.

Jerry Kelley said Help-U-Sell provides the same basic services as other real estate agencies. He is the principal broker and president of the Rogers office. Susan is the chief operating officer, chief financial officer and corporate pilot. Both are Realtors.

Jerry Kelly spent 11 years with Re/Max in Sacramento, Calif., before moving to Northwest Arkansas in 1994.

Help-U-Sell has four buyer’s agents who work from the Rogers office. About 60 percent of the office’s business is selling and 40 percent buying, Susan Kelley said.

For the set fee, the Kelleys do all the marketing, including placing advertisements twice a week in the area’s daily newspapers. In addition, the homes are also listed for sale on the international Help-U-Sell Web site: www.helpusell.com.

The Kelleys charge a flat fee of $1,000 if they are doing documentation only for someone who is selling their own house.