1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to real estate sales and, more specifically, to a method whereby participating registered licensed real estate brokers can acquire from participating registered real estate property owners the contract to broker a real estate property for a predetermined period of time based on placing within a specified period of time the lowest commission rate bid for said property that is equal to or less than the threshold commission rate posted by the seller.
The present invention provides real estate brokers with additional clientele by fostering real estate property owners to save thousand of dollars in commissions costs and still avail themselves of professional real estate services by submitting their property with a specified commission rate to a business entity maintaining a database whereupon participating registered licensed real estate brokers can view and bid for the broker contract based on review of the sellers posted highest commission rate that they are willing to pay for the sale of their real estate. The participating real estate brokers can bid between or among themselves under the competitive bidding process to bid less than or equal to the seller specified rate which can garnish further commission rate savings for the seller.
It should also be evident that within a competitive bidding process that all interested bidding parties are on equal footing whether they be a small shop or an interstate conglomerate since brokers are categorized by territory and preferential treatment is afforded to brokers within the available property territory.
The present invention's database administrator or other appropriate official provides means for real estate brokers to register with the database administrator or other appropriate official whereupon the database administrator or other appropriate official will perform a registration procedure that will involve verifying the brokers submitted information and conducting a background check. Once registered the brokers will be territorially classified and be charged a membership fee that may be renewed on a periodic basis. Once registered the brokers will be invited to review a description of the properties and sellers specified maximum commission rates for said properties within their territory and bid on acceptance of the posted commission rates. Since there can be more than one acceptance on a specific property, brokers will have the opportunity to bid a lower commission rate until the posted bid period is over.
Sellers of real estate will be encouraged to list their properties with the system of the present invention because they can save thousands of dollars in commission fees while availing themselves of the formidable marketing and experience of full service real estate brokers.
Sellers contact the business entity and agree to provide an Exclusive Right to Sell Listing Agreement for a predetermined period of time to anyone of the real estate brokers registered with the business entity within the specified territory or adjoining territories, if necessary, that have placed a winning commission rate bid equal to or less than the one stipulated by the real estate property seller. When a property owner indicates their willingness to use the Real Estate Commission Bid System to list their property, someone from the parent or state organization, preferably, a real estate sales agent licensed in the state where the property for sale exists should make a physical visit or visits and, if necessary, phone calls to confirm ownership, location and description of the property, etc. Also, at that time, any forms necessary to proceed with the bidding process should be signed. If the seller finds no brokers willing to provide their services for the seller posted real estate commission rate, the seller can submit the real estate again to the business entity at a higher commission rate. The business entity can limit the number of times that the property seller can submit a new maximum real estate commission rate.
A key component of the present invention comprises registering participating real estate brokers into territories which in the preferred embodiment is the five digit postal zip code whereupon properties registered for bidding within said territories or adjoining territories if necessary can be bid upon by the registered real estate brokers.
The real estate broker who owns or runs the administrative body or bodies in each state and the real estate brokers in each zip code who are allowed to participate in the bidding process are both required to participate in a broker registration procedure. As part of that procedure, the broker must indicate their state license number that authorizes them to be real estate brokers.
All real estate brokers who own or run the administrative body or bodies in each state along with the real estate brokers in each state who are allowed to participate in the bidding process are required to follow all state real estate laws with regard to listing and selling properties in the Real Estate Commission Bid System.
In the event that the administrative body or bodies in each state are to be sold in whole or in part, the parent organization must be given the first right of refusal to purchase all or part of the administrative body or bodies that are for sale in each state.
In the event that the administrative body or bodies in each state are to be sold in whole or in part, the real estate brokers and/or other individuals who are selling or running these entities must sign a non-compete agreement for a period of time to be determined solely by the parent organization.
The one time licensing fee to be paid to the parent organization by the administrative body or bodies to handle the bidding process in each state is strictly non-refundable. If the administrative body or bodies are sold, the new owner or owners must also pay a one time strictly non-refundable licensing fee to the parent organization at or shortly before the time that the entities change hands. The one time strictly non-refundable licensing fee to be charged is determined solely by the parent organization.
The parent organization reserves the right to establish a minimum number of real estate brokers in each zip code in the United States (in 1998 the U.S. Postal Service indicated that there were 42,017 zip codes) who are registered with the Real Estate Commission Bid System and are allowed to participate in the bidding process. In the absence of such a minimum, the parent organization and/or the administrative body or bodies in each state will group zip codes together to provide the property owner with an open and competitive marketplace to conduct the bidding process to list their property for sale. The rules and procedures to handle the grouping of zip codes in the event that a minimum number of real estate brokers are not available in each zip code are to be determined solely by the parent organization.
If the number of real estate brokers in a particular zip code who are registered with our organization and are allowed to participate in the bidding process becomes unmanageable for any reason, the parent organization and/or administrative body or bodies in each state reserve the right to limit broker participation. The rules and procedures to limit broker participation are to be determined solely by the parent organization.
In the event that the property is not sold by the time the Exclusive Right To Sell Agreement expires, any extension of this agreement must be agreed upon by both the property owner and the real estate broker who was awarded the original Exclusive Right To Sell Agreement as a result of providing a successful bid. The commission rate established in the original Exclusive Right To Sell Agreement is the commission rate to be paid by the owner of the property in any subsequent Exclusive Right To Sell Agreements when the property is sold.
The parent organization always reserves the right, at any time, announced or unannounced, to examine any aspect of the Real Estate Commission Bid System operation of any administrative body or bodies in any state and any individual real estate brokers in any state who are registered with our organization and are allowed to participate in the bidding process. This can be accomplished by visits, phone calls or any other suitable methods that the parent organization sees fit. This includes contact by accountants, lawyers or any other appropriate officials or individuals associated with or hired by the parent organization. Any refusals to participate in these examinations by the administrative body or bodies in any state or by registered licensed real estate brokers in any state who are allowed to participate in the bidding process will be considered a very serious violation of the rules established by the parent organization. Appropriate disciplinary measures will be determined solely by the parent organization as it sees fit.
Depending upon individual state laws, procuring leads for real estate listings may be considered to be an activity that can only be handled by licensed real estate professionals. If state law interprets this to be so or not, the administrative body or bodies in each state will be required to have state licensed real estate brokers own or be in charge of the state operation. In order to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest, these real estate brokers will not be allowed to participate in the bidding process for real estate listings.
The administrative body or bodies in each state will be carefully selected and will be charged a one time non-refundable licensing fee paid to the parent organization to handle the bidding process in each state. This fee will be based upon the number of zip codes that exist in the state in which they are authorized to operate. If the administrative body or bodies is sold, the new owner or owners must be approved by the parent organization and the new owner or owners must also pay the one time non-refundable licensing fee to the parent organization based upon the number of zip codes that exist in the state in which they are authorized to operate.
The administrative body or bodies in each state will also be required to pay a monthly royalty fee to the parent organization. This fee will be based upon a percentage of the monthly fees received from each registered real estate broker in the state who are allowed to participate in the bidding process. The remainder of the monthly fees is paid to the administrative body. If more than one administrative body exists in a state, the remainder of the monthly fees is to be paid to the administrative bodies on a proportionate basis which is to be determined by the parent organization.
In order to bring a maximum number of property owners together, with real estate brokers in the appropriate territories or adjoining territories if necessary, and to complete the bidding process in a minimum of time (hopefully, within 24 hours), all bidding activities should be conducted on the Internet on a secure website if business and financial conditions permit. All decisions about whether the bidding process will be conducted on the Internet or not in each state will be made by the parent organization at their discretion.
All fees charged, proportionate payments to be made and other financial decisions are to be made by the parent organization and can be changed at any time by the parent organization upon suitable notice being given. The length of time for suitable notice to be given is to be made by the parent organization at their discretion.
The administrative body or bodies in each state and the registered real estate brokers in each state who are allowed to participate in the bidding process are required to follow all principles, procedures, methods and directives, etc. established by the parent organization. If there are any violations of the above, the parent organization reserves the right to administer penalties (financial or otherwise) including and up to expulsion from the organization without any return of fees paid to be part of the organization and any future right to collect any further fees. Before any penalties are administered, the parent organization will conduct a review of the circumstances concerning the violation or violations in any manner that it sees fit to confirm any wrong doing.
The business entity does not permit any sharing of the Exclusive Right To Sell Contract because two or more real estate brokers bid the exact same commission rate for the same property available for bidding in a given bidding sequence. There will be one winning real estate broker and one winning real estate bid in each bidding sequence. The business entity reserves the right to prepare methods and procedures to handle the situation if two or more brokers bid the exact same commission rate for the same property available for bidding in a given bidding sequence.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are other real estate system designed for processing real estate. Typical of these is U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,989 issued to Tornetta on Jul. 16, 1991.
Another patent was issued to Deming, Jr. et al. on Mar. 19, 1996 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,793. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,115 was issued to Fraser on Sep. 2, 1997 and still yet another was issued on May 19, 1998 to Janssen as U.S. Pat. No. 5,754,850.
Another patent was issued to Ferstenberg et al. on Feb. 16, 1999 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,071. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 5,924,082 was issued to Silverman et al. on Jul. 13, 1999. Another was issued to Weatherly et al. on Feb. 8, 2000 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,023,687 and still yet another was issued on Apr. 11, 2000 to Forrest et al. as U.S. Pat. No. 6,049,781.
Another patent was issued to Lauffer on Apr. 24, 2001 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,223,165. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 6,314,404 was issued to Good et al. on Nov. 6, 2001. Another was issued to Raveis, Jr. on Nov. 20, 2001 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,321,202 and still yet another was issued on Nov. 27, 2001 to Eldering as U.S. Pat. No. 6,324,519.