Valley's Assist 2 Sell franchise is nation's No. 1 for the past 18 months
By Beth W. Orenstein | Special to The Morning Call
August 12, 2007
In early July, George and Carol Krause sold their 3,350-square-foot home in South Whitehall for $350,000, $100 over asking price. It sold quickly, too, in 41/2 weeks.
Had the Krauses used a traditional broker, they typically would have paid a 6 percent commission on the sale price or $21,000.
However, on a friend's recommendation, they chose a discount broker, Assist 2 Sell, and opted for its flat-rate plan. Under the flat-rate option which Assist 2 Sell calls direct-to-buyer, they paid $3,495 to the agent at closing, a savings of more than $17,500.
Their agent was Dale Sadler, who opened his first Assist 2 Sell office in the Lehigh Valley in 1997, when the concept of discount brokerage was relatively new, especially in this area.
His original office was in a tiny building near his home in Allen Township. He since moved that office to a former greenhouse in East Allen Township and opened two more -- one in South Whitehall and one in Palmer.
Today, Sadler has 38 agents who work as independent contractors and is planning to open a fourth office in New Jersey.
For the past 18 months, Sadler's has been No. 1 in sales among the 615 Assist 2 Sell franchises in the United States and Canada. Recently, he even topped the company-owned office in Reno, Nev., where Assist 2 Sell was founded and is based.
''Dale was No. 1 for all of 2006 and is consistently at the top of Assist 2 Sell's Top 10 each month,'' says Erin Campbell, spokeswoman for Assist 2 Sell.
''Results for May 2007 just came out, and he ranked No. 1 again,'' Campbell adds. Office rankings are based on the number of sales for each individual office.
How is Sadler's discount franchise able to sell so many homes?
Campbell points out that Sadler's is one of the larger Assist 2 Sell offices. ''In general, offices have anywhere from two to 10 agents once they get established. The Assist 2 Sell system is designed to operate with smaller offices,'' she says.
Also, she says, Sadler's style is a good match for the Assist 2 Sell system for running the day-to-day operations and handling a high volume of business. All franchisees are taught the system at their weeklong training in Reno.
''Mary LaMeres-Pomin and Lyle Martin, the founders and co-CEOs of Assist 2 Sell, have known Dale for a very long time. He is a very good business man. Dale has succeeded because he uses the system he learned at training, and gives his clients good service,'' Campbell says.
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