Nashville Real Estate Forum

Look for our column, "Real Estate, a la Carte," in One Paper, which is free and may be found at stores, restaurants, and newsstands throughout Brentwood, Franklin, Nashville and Middle Tennessee.

Here is the first installment:

 Real Estate, a la Carte!

What is a Buyer’s Rebate?

Have you ever sent in a form to get a rebate on mouthwash, a camera, a toaster, or anything else that you had bought in a retail store?

How about a rebate when you buy real estate? Does that sound far-fetched? It is now possible to obtain a rebate when you buy a home from Real Estate, a la Carte!, a new firm serving Brentwood, Franklin, Nashville, and Middle Tennessee. You don’t have to cut off a box top, and you don’t have to wait “10 to 12 weeks to receive your rebate check in the mail.”

A “buyer’s rebate” for a real estate transaction with Real Estate, a la Carte! can be used to pay closing costs or to obtain goods and services, such as a home store gift card, a new kitchen countertop, or new carpets. It is a rebate because it comes from a commission, paid by a seller, that Real Estate, a la Carte! earns from representing a buyer. The real estate company, in turn, delivers 33% of that commission back to the buyer.

For instance, on the purchase of a $300,000 home, and if the seller is paying a 3% commission to the buyer’s agent, Real Estate, a la Carte! would pay $3,000 of the buyer’s costs at time of closing. If the Real Estate, a la Carte! Realtor has already negotiated with the seller to pay all of the buyer’s closing costs, then the buyer may opt for something else valued at $3,000, and for convenience, a store gift card is usually preferred.

While the rebate may be in the form of something actually paid for, giving a cash rebate is illegal. The Tennessee legislature recently enacted a law which specifically prohibits giving cash to anyone other than a licensed agent in connection with a transaction.

For more details on the Buyer’s Rebate program, call Gary Moore, principal broker of Real Estate, a la Carte!™ LLC, at 615-377-0794, or go to the firm’s web site, http://realcarte.com.