Dave Ramsey Preferred Real Estate Agents are real estate professionals endorsed by financial guru Dave Ramsey’s ELP program and recognized by him for their ethical practices and financial principles. These real estate agents can gain access to clients who share these principles, which can be invaluable in building their business by offering clients professionals who share similar values as themselves.
Though the ELP program offers certain advantages to real estate agents, home buyers and sellers could potentially find it harmful. This is due to it not offering discounts on realtor commission like other leading agent matching services do; furthermore, ELP requires real estate agents to pay higher referral fees which makes negotiating lower listing rates difficult for their clients more challenging.
The ELP program, established by financial guru Dave Ramsey to assist his followers in finding local providers of various services such as insurance agents, real estate agents, and tax advisors, was first made available as an agent networking service by Ramsey Solutions (parent company of ELP program). For this service to work effectively, an agent must fulfill certain qualifications before agreeing to Ramsey Solutions’ terms of service, which includes agreeing to pay Ramsey Solutions 28% referral fees per transaction facilitated through ELP membership.
Real estate agents who sign on with ELP must comply with its Terms of Service as well as take various courses and complete tasks designed to ensure they understand Ramsey’s financial principles and maintain professional standards, something that may be more difficult for newer agents to accomplish.
Real estate professionals may experience positive experiences with the ELP program; however, others report that it does not attract qualified leads effectively. Some agents claim it only draws in “desperate” homebuyers or sellers that have not made up their minds to purchase or sell yet; there have also been claims that it fails to properly vet leads or match borrowers with qualified real estate agents.
Apart from its reduced realtor commission discounts, alternative home buyer and seller matching services like UpNest or Clever Real Estate provide home buyers and sellers with access to a broad selection of agents as well as savings built directly into the service fee structure.
Another significant advantage of employing an alternative to the ELP realtor program is being connected with a full-service agent. Top real estate agents will guide you through every stage of buying or selling property – from property valuation to negotiations between buyer and seller.
Clever Real Estate provides you with an intelligent system to match you with a top local agent who will save up to 3% on realtor commission and ensure a smooth transaction.