Debra Schmidt

Help-U-Sell is America's premier provider of professional licensed real estate services, empowering consumers with access to information and choice, while offering a set-fee alternative to paying the traditional broker commission. Help-U-Sell is the largest fee-for-service real estate franchise with nearly 1,000 offices in 46 states and 12 offices in South Africa. As a result of the company's strong leadership and forward-thinking standards of saving the consumer money, Help-U-Sell has grown over 900% since 1999 and continues to attract new affiliates at record numbers. Created 30 years ago, the Help-U-Sell model was the pioneer for providing an alternative to the dated 6% commission structure, something that had virtually gone uncontested for years in a market overrun by a monopoly of traditional brokerage firms. What distinguishes Help-U-Sell from the competition is that the company never insists on fees based on a percentage of the sales price, allowing consumers to save thousands of dollars compared to what they would have spent on a traditional broker's fee. Help-U-Sell forged a revolution in the real estate industry by proactively challenging the 6% commission structure. Help-U-Sell is a full-service set-fee organization and the company's licensed professionals manage the entire home sale process from start to finish, including handling all negotiations, providing referrals, showing the seller's home, and providing expert advice and representation. Help-U-Sell's model breaks down the services that a traditional broker provides, such as advertising costs, staging a house for sale and holding open houses, in turn allowing consumers to save an average 3-4% compared to what they would have spent on the traditional 6% broker fee. With no extraneous fees or inflated commissions, consumers are given full transparency knowing from the initial stages of the transaction what they will be left with after the sale. Being the first company to recognize the consumer's desire to save more money, as well as their greater participation in the buying and selling process, Help-U-Sell's model, a modern alternative in the cluttered residential real estate market, has essentially revitalized the future of the industry. The strength of the Help-U-Sell's leadership has allowed the company to expand at an explosive rate, as most of Help-U-Sell's senior management team have held top positions at major traditional real estate companies and have broad real estate backgrounds. Help-U-Sell brokers and agents are professionals, who are members of the National Association of Realtors and committed to following the organization's time tested Code of Ethics. Together, Help-U-Sell's agents, brokers and franchise owners share a unified brand vision: valuing innovation, teamwork and integrity.