you need to know in the massi memo because information is power. and the property man has got you covered. [ woman vocalizing ] buying or selling your home is one of the biggest financial transactions you'll ever make. and it's not cheap. but the internet changed nearly every industry imaginable, including home sales. >> in the olden days, if you wanted to have access to the available properties for sale, that was through the mls. the only people that had access to the mls was licensed agents. >> erin o'connor has been a real-estate agent for 12 years in the greater phoenix area. >> with the onslaught of the consumer websites like trulia and zillow and homes.com and realtor.com, consumers are getting more and more information online. >> so about a year ago, erin decided to try something radically different. >> i decided to reduce my listing commission to a flat rate and keep the buyer's agent commission the same. >> with the flat rate option, the seller pays one set amount and not a percentage commission. it's not a new concept. but it's a bold move because it disrupts the system. we're gonna go meet erin. and he's gonna let us tag along to meet his clients. hey, erin. what's up, buddy? >> hey, bob. good to see ya. >> so let's go meet your clients. >> jack and sharon. >> yes, sir. >> they are considering puttin' their house on the market. just wanted to visit with me about what they can expect. >> jack and his wife bought this 3,100-square-foot home about 12 years ago. but recently, they've been thinking about downsizing. >> every time i sold a home, i had this feeling of -- of i'm paying too much money because they don't seem to be doing anything. but the -- the way we have always done business for decades is so ingrained -- >> yeah. >> it's very difficult to change a habit. >> i had always felt it was weighted improperly. a listing agent does a tremendous amount -- less amount of work than a buyer's agent does. yet their paychecks are exactly the same. if one family has a $300,000 home for sale, then i will perform a set of services for that person identical to the same set of services that i would perform for jack in his $600,000 house. >> so if we look at the standard way of listing -- let's say you wanted to list it for 600,000. at 6 percent, that's a $36,000 commission, $18,000 to each agent. >> that's significant. >> so is it your intentions then to go by a flat rate? >> absolutely. if i can save 14 grand by going with erin, who's gonna do the same thing and is licensed the same way that the other people that want me to list with them -- >> then, why not? >> no, why not? >> real-estate commissions are negotiable. but that can be sometimes tough to do. six percent is what's most commonly charged, usually divided between the buyer's agent and the seller's agent. so you're doing exactly the same thing. but the consumer understands this is how much it's gonna cost if the house is sold. >> absolutely identical. >> and the buyer on the other side, the agent still gets their 3 percent. >> the buyer's agent deserves their full 3 percent. if i take your home and i do brilliant photography, i price it properly based on the market conditions in the area and we get it out on mls, the home is gonna sell. and it's actually gonna sell by the buyer's agents. >> well, sure because you're out showing homes all day long. >> absolutely. showing homes, dealing with lenders, dealing with title, dealing with escrow. >> erin says the easiest people to convince are customers who have used him in the past and paid the full commission. sandy and her husband bought and sold investment properties. and they often turn to erin as their realtor. >> through erin, we bought four houses, three of which were investments and one my daughter and son-in-law live in. >> how did you view the idea of commission, a commission-based contract? >> by the time you do 6 percent commission on the sale of a house, especially in california where we live, that's a chunk of money. >> right. >> for one piece of business. >> for one transaction. but in the past, that was the way, at least, you did the business. >> you had to. >> no choice. >> no alternative. >> when her husband passed away, she decided to sell some of the investments. >> my financial adviser really wanted me out of the real-estate business. >> mm-hmm. >> so i went to erin with that house. and he said, "oh, by the way, i'm doing this new thing." >> did you ever get a sense that you would -- sort of the services would not be as extensive as if it was on a commission? >> i wouldn't agree to an arrangement that did not add all of those things that you come to expect from your listing agent. >> bottom line is, you saved a lot of money. >> yes. >> and that's important. >> i came back with the second house. i saw no difference between the first house he sold at full commissions and the two flat rate. >> so how do your fellow colleagues view this? >> i have definitely had some professional blowback. i'm saying out loud what a tremendous amount of agents and brokers for years have always known. >> when we come back, i'm gonna take you inside the mansion behind me. it all started from a stick of gum. 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how can i share new plans virtually? how can i download an e-file? virtual tours? zip-file? really big files? in seconds, not minutes... just like that. like everything... the answer is simple. i'll do what i've always done... dream more, dream faster, and above all... now, i'll dream gig. now more businesses, in more places, can afford to dream gig. comcast, building america's largest gig-speed network. ♪ >> welcome back. i'm bob massi, the property man. and i'm standing in phoenix, arizona, at a property with a fascinating history. in 1891, a man named william wrigley jr. moved to chicago with $32 to his name. and he began selling soap and baking powder. his business did well -- even better after he started giving his customers sticks of gum. soon, the gum was a bigger draw than the soap. and wrigley's became a major brand. in the early 1920s, william wrigley bought the chicago cubs baseball team and then the arizona biltmore hotel. in chicago, he began expanding and renovating the cubs' stadium, which would become wrigley field. in arizona, he decided to build a winter cottage for his wife as an anniversary present. between 1929 and 1931, the wrigley mansion was constructed on a mountain overlooking the city of phoenix. >> the wrigley mansion is just a rare, unique beauty here in the phoenix valley. >> now tourists and locals alike come here for tours, meals and private events. ben sinon is now the mansion's general manager. >> and you show your guests -- very few homes in the area have been around quite as long. and very few homes have as much to see. >> this little winter cottage was the smallest of their five homes, coming in at only 17,000 square feet. i guess a lot of people were buying chewing gum at that time. >> as winter would set in in chicago, the wrigleys would travel out this way, spend about 6 weeks a year here. >> it was only meant as a stopping point for the wrigleys to spend a few weeks a year as they traveled between chicago and catalina island. so the home didn't need much -- only 24 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms and 11 fireplaces. >> mr. wrigley was a really humble guy. he really liked to always pay homage and -- and remember where the family fortune had come from. so in all of his mansions across the country, had one room that was lined with gum foil wrapper from -- from the gum factory. in this case, it was a telephone room. every member of the family learned how to operate the switchboard so they could make calls down to the hotel to speak with their guests. many a visitor who had come to the home throughout the '70s still said that at that point, you could still smell the spearmint coming off the walls. >> that's fantastic. >> you have what is called a cantilevered staircase. quite a architectural feat for the 1930s, a staircase that is designed with no under-support beams, only supported on one side from the wall. as we make our way up the cantilevered staircase, you really start to see the intricacy of the design work in the ceiling. one of the other highlights here in the main entryway is the original chandelier. a chandelier was meant to make a grand first impression as well. >> mr. wrigley bought catalina island and for 10 years also ran the catalina tile company. >> all the tile you see in the home lining the hallway we're walking down as well as on all of the fireplaces and in the bathrooms upstairs was all brought over from catalina. >> and it was not easy getting them to phoenix. >> the closest road was about 7 miles from here. so everything was brought over by ferry from catalina, by train from long beach and then brought by mule to the property. now we're here in the living room -- once was the wrigleys' formal living room. the ceiling here is quite a showcase. one of the really most popular things is this custom-built steinway piano. >> oh, wow. >> it's one of two in the world. the other's at the smithsonian in washington, d.c., and kept in storage. it's an automated playing piano. quite innovative technology for 1930 -- >> i would think so. >> when the piano was designed. [ piano playing ] definitely one of the highlight pieces of the tour -- >> of course. >> for out-of-towner visitors. this area, the living room and this veranda portion is utilized for weddings, corporate functions, and really is a showcase for spectacular sunset views, beautiful-to-watch storms and just great scenery of the phoenix valley. >> what -- what a great area to have, like, a wedding reception or just a cocktail party. it's magnificent. >> originally, the wrigleys actually had a few estate homes down here in now this residential community. >> mm-hmm. >> and one day, mr. wrigley was looking up this 500-foot knoll, saw the property and thought it would be a great place to put his wife's 50th-anniversary present. so he purchased all of the surrounding property in the area. >> [ laughs ] ♪ >> now we're moving into the library, one of the rooms in the house that's still originally intact. the home was built during prohibition. the wrigleys weren't big drinkers. but they were entertainers. and they liked to have people over. so they did build a little cubby hole in the library for all the scotch and whiskey to be kept out of sight but on hand if necessary. >> sort of like a secret room for booze. >> absolutely. >> william wrigley died in the home in 1932. and the family sold the estate in 1973. at one point a few decades later, the city of phoenix almost tore it down to build condos. but in the '90s, it made its way to another billionaire with a famous name, geordie hormel of hormel foods. >> he purchased the home in 1992. and his family still owns the home today. you see the bar is built around the original concrete columns that support the upper balcony. >> mm-hmm. >> and this was all outdoor up until about 1995, when this bar was built in. >> hormel and his wife restored the mansion and wanted to turn it into a destination and an event space that is open to the public. technically, though, believe it or not, it's a residential building in a residential neighborhood. it's classified as a "private club." >> geordie thought that everyone should be able to see it. so membership was made very attainable. we have a $15 annual membership that includes complimentary valet with every visit. >> so what if somebody wants to just come in to have dinner? how does it work? >> we do offer a $5 monthly trial membership. again, that's for you and any guests that you may have with you. just our way of keeping the hoa around us happy and following all the rules. >> geordie's steakhouse is still a popular destination for lunch and dinner. all this from some chewing gum. when we come back, i'll take you inside this exclusive hillside estate. you don't wanna miss it. [ woman vocalizing ] it's easy to think that all money managers are pretty much the same. but while some push high commission investment products, fisher investments avoids them. some advisers have hidden and layered fees. fisher investments never does. and while some advisers are happy to earn commissions from you whether you do well or not, fisher investments fees are structured so we do better when you do better. maybe that's why most of our clients come from other money managers. fisher investments. clearly better money management. wifiso if you can't live without it...t it. why aren't you using this guy? it makes your wifi awesomely fast. no... still nope. now we're talking! it gets you wifi here, here, and here. it even lets you take a time out. no! no! yes! yes, indeed. amazing speed, coverage and control. all with an xfi gateway. find your awesome, and change the way you wifi. ♪ >> welcome back. i'm bob massi, the property man. there are some luxury properties that just soak up the essence of their surroundings. and i found one here in lost canyon north of scottsdale, arizona. ♪ i said at the beginning of the show that there are some properties you need to see to believe. and this is one of them. so i asked realtor dave pattison to show me around this stunning hillside estate. >> welcome to lost canyon. i think you're gonna find this to be quite the special home. >> it is. it's beautiful. the home is tucked perfectly into the natural landscape of the mcdowell mountain range. >> it sits up on the top of the mountain, looks down over the valley. we're gonna cross over the creek and make our way up to the front. >> you talk about the creek, but the water runs underneath the house. >> that's correct. >> and this is a whole new definition of a play area. that's for sure. >> yeah. this used to be all rock. >> the current owner decided to build a playground and built one with possibly the best view of any playground around. he has a place to hit some golf balls, i see. >> yeah. you can chip it over and -- right by the front door. >> take care of business. this is great. >> come on in. >> looks like ben-hur's door. >> so you come in. and you hit the main living area. they've incorporated some of the natural stone from the site itself. >> it's beautiful. >> they built it right into the house. and then we make our way into another living area. so it's a split fireplace. so each side of the house has its own viewing of the fireplace. and it all looks out over the valley as well. >> yeah. the view... you never lose the view. ♪ you know what i always find interesting, dave, is the unique taste that people have, which, obviously for you, you have to find a special buyer. >> oh, yeah. but it makes 'em fun to sell. >> yeah. >> i mean, somebody that can appreciate the fine stone, the wood-beam ceilings. >> somehow, the house doesn't feel too big, although the large entertaining spaces seem to just keep going on and on. not content just sitting in front of one of the 10 fireplaces? well, you could take in a movie in style within the full home theater. >> the master suite is separate from the other bedrooms in the house, so it allows for a lot of privacy. >> let's go see the office. >> bob, this is my favorite room in the house for sure. >> oh, this is beautiful. >> as you can see, he's quite an avid gun collector, old antique pistols, rifles. >> i love rooms like this, where you can really feel the character of the homeowner without ever even meeting him. the wine cellar is not just a functional place to store wine -- it is a work of art. >> you enter in through the rock tunnel -- >> it's like a catacomb. you know, you start walk in these little tunnels here. >> eight hundred bottles -- >> oh, it's beautiful. >> nice and cool in the summer in here. the current owner, when he wants to tinker, he goes down to his basement of the home. >> oh, yeah. >> how 'bout that? all diamond plated, collectibles. you wanna work on your cars and lift your engines out, you can do that in here. get a look at this motorcycle here. it's a replica. >> another indication that this guy has certain passions in life. every guy in the country's gonna envy this right now. but that looks like terminator over here. >> yeah. he built that himself here at the property. you can tinker all day long down here. >> yeah. you really could tinker all day long. it's like his tool shed, man. he's in his garage. and he's putzin' around all day. >> no doubt. >> good for him. >> this home is very special because you can be outdoors all year round. we are a short and flip-flop type kind of lifestyle here in arizona. so you can be out on the covered patios or just splash around in the pool. >> the glass pool is what's called negative edge. it gives the feeling of never ending and overlooks the entire valley. >> the outside west-facing home is really a treasure. the elevation allows for just uncompromising views of the valley. you get incredible sunsets. >> this casita is a separate structure perched above the main property. as if you need an even more peaceful place to take in the views, it's the highest point on the property and a priceless place to enjoy a morning cup of coffee. >> we have misters on the patios that cools it, that makes it livable even in the hot summer heat here. >> the estate sprawls 14 acres, which include a mile of hiking trails just within the property itself. it really offers the best of arizona desert living, unbelievable privacy surrounded by nature but close to every amenity available. up next, we're digging into the property man mailbag yet again so i can answer your property questions in the massi memo. stick around. [ woman vocalizing ] building a website in under an hour is easy with gocentral... ...from godaddy! in fact, 68% of people who have built their... ...website using gocentral, did it in under an hour, and you can too. build a better website - in under an hour. with gocentral from godaddy. ♪ >> welcome back. i'm bob massi. and it's time for the massi memo. i'd like to take a minute to answer some of the many questions i get from viewers. now, due to the volume of mail we receive, i can't answer every letter or e-mail individually. but i do try to read them all. so jim and lori write... look, you're in a tough spot. why? because the lender is going to be loyal to their appraiser. and they're always conservative. and appraisers today are paranoid about not doing exactly the value they believe is true. as a matter of fact, many times now when an appraisal takes place, you're not even allowed to be in the home. you can't even talk to the appraiser. but here's what you can do. first of all, go hire an appraiser. have them critique the particular appraiser and his work. point out the deficiencies. give that information to the bank to see if, in fact, you could prove that the values that were given were inappropriate, that they should've done the comps in the area. that's very important. number two, there are divisions with the state where you could file a complaint against a realtor and against an appraiser to challenge it and say, "look, this is something that was not done properly." the problem with that is it takes a long time. so in your situation, unfortunately, you and i who wanna buy a home or refinance a home, so often, we are 100 percent dependent on the appraiser and their findings. that's all the time we have for today. be sure to send me your property stories, questions, or pictures of your property bloopers. send them to [email protected]. and don't forget to check us out on facebook and twitter. there's also plenty more information on videos on our website, foxnews.com/propertyman. i'll see you next week. [ woman vocalizing ] >> lou: good evening, everybody. you remember the senate seat that was so important just a day ago? it seems that the nation survived the upset and election of the first democratic senator to serve alabama in 25 years and now the swamp moves on and quickly. will the republican leadership deliver on tax reform that is important to the prospects of the midterm elections and will the gop succeed in stopping the dem's effort to stop down the government or will they aid them in the effort? and how about robert mueller and th t