Help-U-Sell officially began in 1976, when Don Taylor opened his first office based on one idea. That idea would end up changing the way the real estate industry does business.
Taylor was operating a real estate office in Southern California, but he was concerned that the real estate industry was unresponsive to the consumer’s wants and needs and also about the public’s image of a real estate agent.
Taylor was using a marketing system that generated a large number of buyer and seller leads. He found that the standard ads in the newspapers weren’t working.
"So I started to keep track of every ad that worked, and every ad that didn't work. I found a correlation among successful ads and I created the marketing system from there."
Taylor was still not happy with how conventional real estate methods failed to follow up on all the leads his marketing system generated. So he closed operations and talked to recent home buyers or sellers to see what they would change about their experience.
Sellers said they wanted to pay less and have a money back guarantee. Many wanted to show their own homes because they felt they knew their homes better than a real estate agent.
Buyers, on the other hand, wanted to know the facts about a home, such as does the dishwasher work, does the roof leak, or other things a real estate agent may not know. Buyers wanted to talk directly |
to sellers and wanted to get the best price and terms.
Taylor discovered that the public was confirming what he had already assumed. With this research and a unique marketing plan, he opened the first Help-U-Sell office in 1976 in Mission Viejo, California, implemented his ideas and systems that are still functioning successfully in the company today.
The overriding principle is that the consumer’s needs should drive the industry and not the other way around. His office was almost an immediate success, and Taylor sold his first franchise in 1979 - building the numbers to about 150 offices. He sold the company in 1986 to Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company.
In February 1996, Help-U-Sell was purchased by Realty Information Systems, Inc. The company was sold to American Pacific Financial Corporation and other investors in 1997.
The corporate management team now consists of Steve Ozonian as CEO and Chairman of the Board, who joined Help-U-Sell in the fall of 2005. Mr. Ozonian is highly respected in the industry and was the former president of Realtor.com, CEO of Prudential Real Estate & Relocation and served in senior positions for Coldwell Banker, Remax and Bank of America.
The Board of Directors include Patrick Stone, former Vice Chairman of the Board for Metrocities Mortgage and former President and Chief Operating Officer of Fidelity National Financial; Melissa Parker, former president of Donna Karan; and Bradley Crandall and Larry Polhill, owners of American Pacific Financial Corporation.
The executive team consists of Steve Ozonian, Bryan Drakulich, |
Chief Operations Officer, Shiraz Vartanian, Chief Information Officer, and Laura Buser, Chief Marketing Officer, with the corporate headquarters located in Irvine, CA.
Ozonian said, “We believe that there has always been an increasing desire from consumers to become more empowered in the real estate transaction. Creating value means improving on what already exists. The good news for Help-U-Sell is that what consumers want is a significant improvement in the relationship between the services being provided and the price paid for those services.”
In 2006, Help-U-Sell Real Estate began its global expansion with offices in South Africa, Namibia, and the Philippines. Today, Help-U-Sell has over 776 offices in 46 states and continues to grow.
Since 1976, the real estate industry has changed dramatically and Help-U-Sell has been the driving force behind those changes.
Help-U-Sell is the oldest and most successful “Set Fee, Full Service” real estate franchise company - giving buyers and sellers professional real estate services with the opportunity to save thousands of dollars in the process.
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