Readers voiced their opinions on a wide range of topics this week. Here are some of the Inman team’s favorite comments that made us think and shed a little light on your world.
Kurt Buehler · Commented on How long can aging agents dance on the bar?
We struggle with this issue consistently in our day to day communication with agents that are either part time or do not stay current with the changes to our industry.
The speed of change has accelerated over the last 10 years and to think we started in this business in 1986 when we all waited for the MLS books to come out like it was Christmas. We are a husband and wife team that when we onboard a new agent they are mentored and have to complete 10 transactions under a lead buyer’s agent. It has been fantastic not only for compliance but for their confidence.
They have their support there and feel comfortable that they are not going to mess up and the consumer has loved it. The role that our leaders play in is as they say in our company Recruit, Select, Train, Lead, and Motivate. Getting old has its perks and we love where the industry is going and look forward to the business paying our pensions.
Doug Campbell · Commented on Agent teams banned from using ‘real estate’ in names by another state
Too bad some brokers can’t compete with the Keller Williams model so they resort to legislation.
Rod Smith · Commented on Agent teams banned from using ‘real estate’ in names by another state
This is a common sense bill enacted by our state legislature with the full approval and support of the real estate commission. Teams are A-OK, but when they appear to be a separate entity – like their own brokerage – it creates a problem for the consumer. It’s all about transparency and providing correct information.
I find it interesting that “Cooley said he was advised by commissioners in the last year to display his brokerage’s name more prominently on ads alongside his team name.” This would appear to indicate that Mr. Cooley was promoting his team name much more prominently than his brokerage which is a violation of State Law.
Fortunately, our Real Estate Commission is not about “busting” people because they advised him to make changes and did not give a formal reprimand. However, the Real Estate Commission could not instruct him on the use of his name because the Bill from our Legislature had not been finalized.
In our state, as in many others, teams operate under a broker-in-charge who is responsible for every agent, whether they be an individual, a husband and wife team or a multi-agent team like Mr. Cooley’s or Ms. Bedell’s. The consumer needs to fully understand who they are working with and what their options are should a serious problem arise.
Incidentally, the South Carolina Association of Realtors has been working to get this bill passed for some time in order to increase professionalism in our State. One of the things they were looking for was in increase in required mandatory continuing education from 8 hours every 2 years to 16 every 2 years. Unfortunately, the legislature only gave 10 hours due to one Senator holding the bill hostage. He was evidently not concerned about teams being able to continue to appear as though they are brokerages.
Lilly Hughes · Commented on How long can aging agents dance on the bar?
An apprenticeship would be a good thing… depending on how the qualifications and quality of the leader. Better education, not more, would be helpful. Nothing I did in real estate school prepared me for the reality. Never was OJT more true than in real estate. Worst is you can make mistakes, not know it, and neither will anyone else until it blows up. Other than that some of the issues are the same as in other professions… the end justifies the means. That’s a character issue.
Evelyn Lewis-Wilson · Commented on 10 ways homebuyers can improve credit scores | Inman
This information is so critical, as we are losing so many first-time home buyers to student loan debt.
Brad Jenkins · Commented on What’s the missing secret to getting more referrals?
Most times I cringe at the thought of non-agents offering instruction in our field, this article however goes against that grain. It offers clear insight as to what it is like for the person on the receiving end of the industry’s ridiculous real estate scripts and as you nailed it, “old school tactics”. Further, it delineates the lack of approaching people from their perspective and only from what the agent wants, which is also highly prevalent in real estate methodology.
Our industry needs a “mindset” reboot, but the problem is, too many entities have too much to lose changing gears. That and quite frankly, the minions lack the ability of deeper insight into the profession, that and they are not in real estate long enough to experience that Utopia. Your article, unlike most third party real estate contributors masquerading as a sales pitch for their product, is very astute and appreciated, however one caveat is needed, your recommended approach of putting other’s needs first is actually a very old school philosophy as first introduced by Dale Carnegie, “How to Win Friends and Influence People” many years ago and should be required reading for all agents. What goes around comes around huh?
Mara Gillott · Commented on The No. 1 thing you are doing that is killing your email marketing
I agree to a point. One of the topics on FB groups that irritate me the most is the “knock or don’t knock” for “No soliciting” signs. “But it isn’t soliciting if you are inviting them to an open house” or “it isn’t soliciting if you are providing an item of value.”
Why are you doing it? To get them to come out? To try and sell a house. There it is. Sell = solicitate.
If it says “No Soliciting” it means “do not knock.” Period.
I love real estate, but our industry has a really bad habit of trying to bend rules because 1.) laziness 2.)ease 3.)someone (guru’s) tell them to 4.)They can’t accept that this industry takes time to be successful in and want to jump the process.
Find a better way.
While I agree that Door Knocking is more annoying and should be regarded as more of an issue, I don’t think it should cancel out the point here, that this is a big issue. Agents don’t know what they are doing and/or “don’t care” (as stated in the article) because truthfully… They don’t know how to be a marketer… which is the primary function as a real estate agent that is supposed to MARKET and sell homes. Right?
Our industry needs an overhaul. A major one.
Sharon Heyden · Commented on California Realtors file $136M copyright suit against tech firm
As a CAR member for the past 24 years, the free access to Real Estate Attorneys is why I stay with CAR. The idea that our forms are being constantly revised to stay up with our ever chaning real estate laws leaves a broker with a level of comfort. Being in the cloud allows forms to be changed on the fly. I can remember the countless number of outdated forms being tossed out before the forms went to the internet. Using an outdated form puts a brokerage at risk. CAR brings so much more value for its $184/annual fee.
Jonathan Wilhelm · Commented on California Realtors file $136M copyright suit against tech firm
But why won’t they license their forms out to the likes of Dotloop? They don’t want to make CAR members happy? I wish I could have the forms in my mobile app and CRM for my clients to fill out without having to jump through hoops with CAR and the companies it owns.