Belt Auction

Can real estate agents earn extra money on the side through design consultations?

Does the structure of a typical real estate brokerage allow real estate agents the opportunity to integrate design consultation in their sales? (IE: the possibility of selling the apartment staged and keeping the full profit as long as said agent spent his or her own money to furnish the unit.) Will home loans provide additional funding towards home furnishings, or would that just need to be covered in the overall approval? ?

Public Comments

1. I've never heard of this and expect that some (maybe most) buyers would want to set the place up themselves, but if you can find people willing to pay for this extra service I don't think there is anything wrong with it. There is no conflict of interest and its just like you had a 2nd job combined into the 1st.
2. There's no law against it but it sounds like a very risky path for a real estate agent to take. We've bought and sold 4 homes over so we've dealt with numerous real estate agents. I expect the REA to be TOTALLY focused on finding a home that was right for us. I wouldn't like it at all if he/she started talking about 'design consultation' because MY focus would be totally on finding the right home. And it would also bother me that the REA was trying to make money on the side instead of focusing on a home that met our needs--I want an REA who does REA only. To have fingers in another pie compromises the REAs ethics and integrity. Another thing is that homebuyers are trying to pull their funds together just to pay for the home they haven't found yet. Ie., they don't know what the final cost of the home will be yet, and they may have to scrape for it. This is not the time to talk about paying $1,000s extra costs for decorating. Then, too, it's a longshot that the buyers will want to purchase the furniture that was used to stage the home anyway because by then it will be 'used' furniture, and you'd at best be taking a loss on it. They will have different tastes than you anyway--there are too many choices out there. Another thing is that they will probably want to purchase reasonably high quality furniture for themselves. That means that the REA would have to stage the home with more expensive furniture if she wanted buyers to purchase it, and that means the REA would take a greater loss if the furniture didn't sell. No, it just isn't a good idea. The REA could, perhaps, also mention that she did decorating, and if a homebuyer wanted to consult with her later as a decorator? That might work. But mixing the two simply isn't a good idea. I myself would never use an REA who tried to do design consultation at the same time. Whatever, good luck to you!