PHOTO: Jim’s Real Estate

Jim’s Real Estate threw in a garden clean-up and building report for its first residential sale, as part of the new franchise’s effort to muscle into an already crowded and competitive market.

Franchisee Peter Raja paid the local Jim’s businesses for the tidy and building inspection in the run-up to the $480,000 sale last week of the two-bedroom unit in Melbourne’s Heidelberg West.

It didn’t break the bank. Mr Raja paid Jim’s Building Inspections $330 for the building report – about half of the normal price – and a similar discount from Jim’s Property Maintenance, both of which he’ll cover with his 2 per cent commission. It was easy to organise and also an obvious network to tap to publicise his new service, he said.

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