DentalPlace.ca was launched on November 1, 2014 – approximately 1 year ago. We didn’t account for the splash it would have in shaking up the professional dental industry! It was the talk of the town at last year’s Winter Clinic among dental professionals and real estate salespeople. Indeed, DentalPlace.ca and DMC LLP became instantly disliked by real estate salespeople, but loved by dentists. I think that will be our new slogan:
DMC LLP
Disliked by real estate salespeople.
Loved by dentists.
By providing an alternative, we disrupted a model that had gone undisturbed for decades. Some dentists had simply come to the conclusion that they SHOULD be paying 10% of the purchase price (plus HST) to a real estate salesperson to help them find a buyer. But why? Even in residential real estate, it’s not that much. Plus, with the advent of the internet, and us being in a seller’s marketplace, why would anyone NEED to pay that amount of money to any real estate salesperson to help them find a buyer? We thought we could offer a better model. So we did… for a fixed fee (based on the unique legal and marketing services you require), we would take care of preparing, marketing, and selling your practice. That was our “Transition Without Commission” message, which we spread throughout Ontario. We told dentists that we were there to help them get educated, get protected, and make/save the most money.
So, after 1 year, where are we at? Well, we’ve managed to list up to 8 practices (not bad for our first year) and we’ve sold or conditionally sold 6 of them (the remaining 2 are brand new). Here’s the best part: based on those 5 practices we’ve sold / conditionally sold, we’re saving dentists a whopping $465,000 in commissions! That’s something we are very proud of.
What about pricing? Well, of the practices we’ve marketed and sold / conditionally sold, the seller was able to achieve a selling price of over 130% of appraised. What I want to convey here though is this: the selling price depends on the market in light of all the surrounding circumstances.
Worth mentioning is that, over the course of the past year, we’ve heard all sorts of strange things happen from real estate salespeople – ranging from Letters of Intent not being accepted, no equipment inspections, no changes to the purchase price despite due diligence not being completed. And, obviously, they are discouraging dentists from using DMC LLP to educate, protect, and advance their interests. It’s quite funny, actually. But I digress…
So what’s on the horizon? More listings + better deals + more savings = happy dentists 😉
Happy Birthday DentalPlace.ca and Ontario sellers everywhere!
