Heart House Board Member and Austin realtor gives 25% of her commission to charity - every time

Austin realtor gives 25% of her commission to charity - every time
Written by http://givingcityaustin.wordpress.com/

So let me get this straight: Give Realty gives 25% of its commission to charity? In my name?

Yeah, I think that’s how it works. I get this realtor, Laurie Loew of Give Realty, to help me find a house. She makes a commission when I buy it - from what I remember commission is 6% of the house’s selling price. So if I buy the house for $200,000, for example, Laurie and the other realtor who worked with the seller split a commission of $12,000 total or $6000 each.
But then… while the other realtor pockets all most of the $6000 (their broker/office usually gets a portion), Laurie pockets $4500 and gives the remaining $1500 to the charity of my choice. I get to make the donation. I write the check. I get the tax deduction.

So what’s the catch?

I met Laurie at Jo’s yesterday to ask her about that. The thing is, there isn’t a catch. She just wants to do this. She just wants to help the community. What makes this so odd, mostly, is that no one else is doing this. She’s done the research and cannot find a realtor anywhere in the country who is giving away so much of their commission - and in their clients’ names. I mean, I think about moving once in a while, but this makes me want to go house hunting immediately. It’s kind of unbelievable.

Lots of people want to help the community, but how many can take 25% of their income and give it away, and not even in their own name?

But still you’re wondering… what’s the catch? Let me break this down for you:

…she’s independently wealthy? Laurie used to be wealthy-ish, but she got a divorce, gave up on the stuff aquisition, and started to feel good about her life. So now she’s trading wealth for health and happiness. Go figure.

….she’s taking a cut somewhere else? Nope. She’s met with accountants, lawyers, entrepreneurs, lots of people to make sure she’s doing this in a straight-up, totally kosher way.

…she’s doing this as a marketing gimmick? She’s not, actually. But think about it… even if she is… so what? She gives 25% of her commission to charity. Nice gimmick.

….she’s a little nuts? I know why you’re thinking this. You’re thinking this because you think realtors in general are greedy or lazy or a little bit of both, so she must be a kinda crazy. But a.) realtors can be cool people and b.) Laurie’s not crazy. She’s extremely sane, in fact. And she’s definitely not greedy or lazy. She worked her butt off for years to become one of the best realtors in Austin before starting Give Realty on her own.

The thing is, there is no catch. She’s just a super-nice lady, and in fact, she has two other super-nice people working with her, Robin LeTourneau and Joe Menefe. I hope you’ll hire them or refer them to someone you know who’s looking to buy or sell their home. Because it might be fun writing a big old check to the nonprofit of your choice.

Learn more about Give Realty here: http://www.giverealtyaustin.com/

(Since August 2008, Give Realty Austin has already given away $7,400 to local nonprofits. And within the next month, Laurie thinks they’ll be at $10,000. What an incredible impact one realtor can have!)