Where Are The Real Estate Agents

The Realty Freak just returned from the WOM vs. Advertising conference in NYC.  Sponsored by WOMMA the day long gathering attracted over 230 attendees who share a belief that as business owners and marketers we have a special relationship with our consumers and must go above and beyond the normal expectations of marketing ethics and honesty.

The Freak met some great people from some great companies like Spike Jones from Brains On Fire, Allison Gower from QTags and Andrew Walsh and David Chen from NextWorth.  All of them committed to the WOMMA cause.

Strangely absent where any other real estate brokers besides Endeavor Realty.  Why is this?  As WOMMA CEO Andy Sernovitz pointed out marketers have three choices when it comes to word of mouth, they need to choose to participate in it, they need to choose honesty in their communications and they need to choose to make it easy by working with products and services that are good enough to warrant word of mouth.  "Truth always rises to the surface" he said.  Clearly, the real estate industry does not understand or embrace WOM.

If the NAR understood WOM maybe they would not have been sued by the Department Of Justice.  If real estate brokers understood WOM maybe they would realize that an open exchange of information with consumers would benefit the industry as well as the public.  If real estate agents understood WOM maybe a home buyer could read a listing and know the real features of a property before they visited.

Comments

[Craig]

I'll be honest, I do not see a use for real estate agents. A friend of mine has been trying to sell his house for over 6 months. He started out with a real estate agent that was of little use. The real estate agent wanted to lower the price of the house to compensate for her lack of selling skills. Of course, that's my opinion. With the Internet being able to connect millions, I can't see why anyone would pay 3%, nevermind 6% commission to do nothing but put a sign in front of your house. Take www.forsalebyowner.com for example, you can pay a one-time fee of $699 that will get you icluded in the MLS, get a sign in front of your house, and a lock box on your door. You, as a seller can still pay the commission for a buying agent, plus offer a small bonus to the agent. You've pretty much eliminated the need for a real estate agent. So, point being, they better be doing something, because I think their industry is fading.

[Janine Bowen]

Yes - and why do we have car dealers when clearly people could buy and sell cars on their own! Bastards! And pharmacists and doctors! Why can't people just buy the drugs from the manufacturer! Before you are so quick to judge have you spoken to a variety of agents about what they offer? So often owners feel they know what the property is worth without a working knowledge of where the market is. I've turned down listings where the owner insisted. The truth is that all agents are not the same, some actually are able to inspire trust in their buyers. That said, if a property is overpriced they are not going to convince their buyer that it is worth the money to "make the sale". Our job is to know the market, competitively price and sell properties and to look out for the best interests of our buyers and sellers. You seem to think we are in the business of hawking properties to unsuspecting clients. I have out-of-town buyers who trust me to find them well-priced properties in our selling area. I have sellers who want their property sold at the highest price in the shortest time possible. Your one-dimensional approach to real estate as a sales job is misinformed. We are agents that represent the best interests of our clients, consultants, psychologists, friends and facilitators. Shame on the agent who placed the sign and disappeared - but maybe the house was overpriced to begin with. Maybe the agent told the owner about repairs, staging the house and the best ways to show it. Maybe the owners have unrealistic expectations about their homes value. What I do know is that when all brokers cooperate with Multiple Listing sellers benefit, buyers benefit and realtors benefit. I am, however, sorry that your experience has left you with a bad feeling for the real estate industry.

[johnsons]

good gracious!thanks for this informative information.keep it up,goahead.