[photopress:bow.jpg,thumb,alignright]Let’s hit this nail right on the head.
Truth is I’m not taking any bows for kudos and props on my blogging efforts to date, because I haven’t yet said what really needs to be said.
Zillow is “good enough” because agents aren’t.
Redfin is “good enough” because agents aren’t.
Inspectors and Disclosure Forms aren’t “good enough” because agents aren’t demanding better service from these areas for their clients. Don’t get me started on the lead based paint debacle…CYA is the order of the day.
Lead generators are needed because agents aren’t “good enough” to attract clients based on their own merits.
Agents aren’t “good enough” because all of the education is about how to cover your butt, thanks to the lawyers, and all of the education classes are about how to “get more leads” and not about how to “deserve” them or what to do with them after you’ve got them.
“Lower the price, lower the price, lower the price”…is NOT how you sell a house.
“Sign this huge pile of disclosures” so that if you get ripped off you can’t sue me, is not how you represent a buyer client.
If your clients think they are paying you too much, they are probably right.
Consumer: The answer isn’t to find someone who will charge you less, the answer is to find someone who will cover YOUR butt instead of their own.
Now I’ll take that freakin’ bow. Thank you Sellsius and Dustin and Bloodhound Blog and Uberator and Kate and…I don’t know, maybe Dave Letterman.
BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-rdb.sellsius°
Outstanding. Out-freaking-standing.
–Jim
Outstanding. Out-freaking-standing.
–Jim
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Other than you left out brokers in your rant… you’re spot on.
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Great post- very true…
You go girl! So right indeed!
But tell us how you really feel… 😉
A good open letter to the industry at large, and to its less ethical/responsible/serious members and educators.
BTW, there are some possibly related comments and points — about how the real estate service industry should evolve with the advent of increasingly available information — in an interview with Roger McNamee, managing director of Elevation Partners (which invested $100M in Move last year), at http://www.rismedia.com/index.php/article/articleview/15423/1/879/
Ardell, this really hits home with so much emphasis on the CYOB aspect of our business. I now am doing what I think is right instead of worrying about being sued.
OMG, bobb0,
If I am in any part responsible for what you have just said up there, then Sellsius
http://blog.sellsiusrealestate.com/?p=1664
may have been closer than I originally thought 🙂
I wish I could say that this situation was thrust upon us. But playing the role of the victim, now is….the real estate agent.
But the cold reality is, that, we allowed it to happed to us.
How does that speak to the public? What about those nice folks not yet in our business?
Somewhere we lost our focus and our vision.
How, pray tell, so we get it back?
Hi Alisa, nice to see ya!
Actually, as much as technology has been a Godsend, in many ways, technology, generally speaking is also the culprit, to some extent.
No victims…no villians, as they say. There are some very good reasons why the industry is “in the state it is in”, and none of it has to do with people not caring enough.
It is time to fix it, if possible, and I will post more on how we can do that this week…but “Never on a Sunday!”.
I think you nailed it right on the head. There is a lot of inefficiency in our industry which is why Zillow and other sites are making such a large impact on our industry.
RJ
4MySales.com Agent Tools
I think you nailed it right on the head. There is a lot of inefficiency in our industry which is why Zillow and other sites are making such a large impact on our industry.
RJ
4MySales.com Agent Tools
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In passing, I heard Hugh Grant in “About A Boy” saying, “That’s the problem with helping people…you have to MEAN it.” Apparently that totally ticked him off…to have to MEAN what he says.
Reminded me of the agents who tried to “train” me by saying “If you think you are in this business to help people…you are in the wrong business.”
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This is exactly right! A good agent helps you price your home properly the first time, so you don’t have to lower the price! (Of course, some sellers can be stubborn and lowering the price may be warranted, of course.) An agent who understands how to market and promote your home – in whatever price range – is important. There are so many creative and interesting (and not always expensive) ways to sell a home. Find an agent who understands those things including how to take good pictures (or who hires someone to take good photos!). Thanks for the post.