About Richard Montgomery

Richard Montgomery

Richard Montgomery

Richard Montgomery has experience in a wide variety of real estate related businesses. His involvement with methods to improve the real estate consumer experience over 30 years provide a unique perspective to his no-nonsense real estate advice.

Montgomery is the co-founder of PropBox, an AI-powered platform designed to help homeowners sell their properties without traditional agents or commissions.

As CEO of Corporate Relocation Services (CRS) from 1985 to 2010, Montgomery led a team of people to provide real estate consulting services to large corporations with national operations.

These companies regularly relocated employees to serve business purposes in different locations. In this role as consultants, the CRS team worked with thousands of employees, real estate agents, appraisers, mortgage lenders, inspectors and specialty contractors throughout the United States.
Founded a real estate company in 1989 that was organized and developed to deploy a totally innovative business model for real estate services that significantly improved the customer experience. This model transformed the traditional real estate model to be very much similar to the way most other businesses in other industries deliver their products and services to the market. It ultimately failed to break through the marketing clutter as this was before the modern internet, the iPhone, applications, and a startup culture.

Montgomery began his career as a real estate agent. He credits his early success to a strong mentor who taught him to treat buyers and sellers as he would treat his parents. Montgomery founded his company in 1970. It grew and prospered utilizing the identical methods in use today.  The company became one of the leading 25 companies in the Electronic Realty Associates(ERA) franchise system and a market leader in the local community. It was during these years in the field his observations of the real estate industry shaped his belief that reforms are necessary to improve consumer outcomes in real estate transactions.

Read his column here.

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Buyer-Agent Fees and Procuring Cause: What Really Changed? Nov 18, 2025

Dear Monty: An agent showed us a house we are interested in, but they want us to pay an additional fee above the typical split. We are aware of another agent who does not charge an extra fee, only the fee we would negotiate. We haven't signed any pap... Read More

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The Smart Seller's Play When Rates Are High Nov 11, 2025

Dear Monty: I recently signed with an agent. An individual I know (not through the agent) is asking about a land contract. Would I have to pay the agent a commission? Monty's Answer: Short answer: probably, but don't stop there. Once you sign a listi... Read More

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Zoning Change Sparks a Lesson in Civics Nov 04, 2025

Dear Monty: Our neighbor petitioned for a zoning change on property he's owned for years. The city has grown past our homes. He says a developer wants to build a small strip center and convenience store, and the village claims residents complain they... Read More

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Appraisal Comes in Low: Can We Get Our Earnest Money Back? Oct 28, 2025

Dear Monty: We made a $90,000 offer on a house listed for $97,500. We were pre-qualified for more than our offer. However, when the mortgage company had the house appraised, it came in $14,000 less than our offer. We paid $500 for the appraisal and p... Read More