Not Just About Time, It’s About Experience
There’s a quote I really believe in:
"You're not paying me for 5 minutes of work. You're paying me for the 20 years of experience it took me to do it in 5 minutes."
Now, I haven’t been in real estate for 20 years — I’ve been doing this for just over three. But I work for Alan Bolton Property Consultants, a company with over 20 years of history in the Pattaya market. Every deal I work on is supported by the systems, reputation, and experience that our entire team brings to the table.
Recently, I had a frustrating exchange with a seller. The buyer happened to be the tenant already living in the unit, and the seller assumed that because of that, I hadn’t “done any work” to earn a commission. But that just isn’t true. Even when the buyer is already in the unit, the work still needs to be done — and often more of it. Negotiations still happen. Contracts need to be prepared. Timelines coordinated. Government paperwork handled. Just because it looks easy doesn’t mean it was.
At ABPC, our standard commission for sales is 5%, even when the buyer is a tenant. That rate reflects everything we do before, during, and after the sale — not just the final step. That said, we’re reasonable people. If we’re treated with respect, we’re always willing to listen, and in some cases, reduce our fees when the situation makes sense.
One thing that really stuck with me was the comment that “it only takes 30 seconds to print a contract.” That’s true. But are you really paying for the 30 seconds it took to hit print — or the years it took to build a reliable process to make sure it’s correct, compliant, and professional?
We didn’t write contracts by hand in the early days, but we’ve come a long way in how we manage each transaction. The systems we use today are built on years of refinement. Our job is to make complicated processes look simple — and that’s exactly what we did.
What I Do (and What We Do as a Team)
When someone pays commission, they’re paying for a team — not just one person. Here’s what we actually do behind the scenes:
| Task | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Build Long-Term Buyer Relationships | Helps secure trust, which leads to higher offers and smoother deals — even when the buyer was already renting the property. |
| Prepare All Sale Contracts | Includes bilingual formatting and adherence to Land Office requirements. |
| Handle Deposits Securely | Buyer funds pass through trusted channels, ensuring both compliance and peace of mind. |
| Manage Coordination with Buyer and Seller | Aligns timelines, confirms ownership, arranges final payments and signing logistics. |
| Offer Signing Authority Service | For sellers who cannot attend, we offer POA services at a fraction of typical legal costs. |
| Finalise Transfer at the Land Office | Including fee payments, cheque handling, and government paperwork. |
Why I Don’t Work By the Hour
In that email conversation, the seller offered to pay me for “five hours of work.” But here’s the thing: I don’t charge by the hour because this job can’t be done that way.
Some deals fall apart. Some take weeks of work with no return. I only get paid when the job is finished — and done right. That commission covers:
- The deals that didn’t go through.
- The nights spent answering buyer questions.
- The hours spent chasing paperwork.
- The experience and training that helped make this deal seamless.
If I charged per hour, I’d have to bill for all the work I do that doesn’t result in a sale. No seller would want that.
Final Thoughts
Experience is subjective — I get that. But at Alan Bolton Property Consultants, it’s backed by over two decades of results. We have a team that works together on every transaction, and that collective effort is what makes a successful sale happen.
If you only judge us by what you see in the final hour — the contract, the transfer, the handshake — you’ll miss what really matters: the experience that made it happen.
So no — you’re not paying me for 5 minutes. You’re paying for everything that came before it.
If you have questions or want to talk about selling, I’m always available.
Get in touch with us today.
— Jo Barbosa