Last weekend, local REALTORS® Lyle and Sandy Longridge opened an Assist-2-Sell® franchise office in New Westminster, British Columbia.  The new office provides full real estate brokerage services to the greater New Westminster and Burnaby areas but charges a lot less than "traditional" real estate companies.

The grand opening was attended by the Mayor of New Westminster, Wayne Wright; Chuck Puchmayr, Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for New Westminster; and City Councillor Calvin Donnelly. (pictured left)

"Local homeowners haven't had many options when it came time to sell their home: do it themselves or pay a lot of money to have it done for them," says Lyle, owner and managing broker of Assist-2-Sell Buyers and Sellers Options Realty.  "Sandy and I started this company because we want people in and around New Westminster and Burnaby to have a choice.  Now home sellers can have the best of both worlds: a REALTOR® who will take care of everything, but for a lot less money."

Assist-2-Sell's "Full-Service with $avings!"® program was developed more than 20 years ago and continues to save consumers a lot of money on the sale of their home.  Homeowners who work with a local Assist-2-Sell office have a team of qualified real estate professionals working for them; taking care of everything throughout the entire process of selling their home.  That includes pricing the home; advertising and marketing online and offline; showing the home to prospective buyers; working with other local brokers and agents; and managing all of the paperwork and the closing.

Says Sandy, "Don't let the name fool you.  This is not a do-it-yourself concept.  With Assist-2-Sell's marketing programs, sellers receive the full attention of professional REALTORS® at a fraction of what they might normally pay."

Once the process is complete, Assist-2-Sell is paid a low, flat fee-instead of a percentage of the sale price.  The Longridge's office in New Westminster charges $3,995 for homes up to $500,000, with moderate increases for homes that list for more.

Assist-2-Sell also offers full brokerage services to home buyers, including access to Assist-2-Sell's exclusive listings database.          

For information about selling or buying a home with Assist-2-Sell, call (604) 540-7253 or e-mail buyandsellhomes@assist2sell.com.  Assist-2-Sell Buyers and Sellers Options Realty is located at 626 12^th Street in New Westminster, and online at http://www.bcrealtyoptions.com/.   

Mary LaMeres-Pomin and Lyle Martin, co-founders and co-chief executives of Assist-2-Sell Inc., have once again been named by Inman News in its annual list of the "100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders." This is the fourth consecutive year that Inman News has recognized LaMeres-Pomin and Martin for their contributions to the residential real estate industry.          

"Given the current economic crisis, home sellers need Assist-2-Sell more than ever to help them overcome the challenges of the real estate market while allowing them to hold onto more of their hard-earned equity," say LaMeres-Pomin and Martin. "We're proud to have built a company that has sustained success for so many years while supporting consumers in their home buying and selling needs."

LaMeres-Pomin and Martin started Assist-2-Sell more than 20 years ago, helping to create the "discount real estate" concept. Today, there are more than 450 Assist-2-Sell franchise offices throughout the United States and Canada.

Assist-2-Sell, North America's Leading Discount Real Estate Company^SM, provides home sellers with full brokerage services for a low, flat fee, saving consumers nearly $1 billion in commissions.* Home buyers also have access to a full range of services, including Assist-2-Sell's exclusive listings databases. Entrepreneur Magazine has recognized Assist-2-Sell as a leading franchises and the Wall Street Journal's StartupJournal named Assist-2-Sell one of its 25 "Franchise Top Performers." Assist-2-Sell has also been included in Inc. Magazine's "Inc. 5000," a list of the fastest growing private companies in America. On the Net: http://www.assist2sell.com/ and http://www.a2stalk.com/.

*Savings based on statistics since January 1, 2000, for all Assist-2-Sell® offices in North America, compared to paying six percent commission.  Six percent used for comparison purposes only.  Commissions may be negotiable and are not fixed by law.