THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

"The time has come the Walrus said, to talk of many things". If Lewis Carroll or his heirs don't sue for copyright infringement that's a dandy heading for a blog. As promised we'll address gold fish bowls, initials on cards and validation. Many years ago I noticed someone looking at fish in an aquarium, leaning in and tapping on the side of the glass to get the attention of the fish, and while I didn't say anything I thought, "wow!", needing to be noticed by a fish is pretty far down the self-esteem ladder. Does personal validation take place if the fish looks at the person and rejection if it simply swims away? We all need validation, but there are mature ways to achieve it. Real estate sales persons, (this gender equality is really silly), more so than most salespeople seem to need validation and seek it by putting pictures on their cards and appending a string of letters after their name. The letters are supposed to indicate a superior ability to show people a house because of satisfactory completion of some course or other, offered by someone anxious to relieve them of money in exchange for a certificate authorizing the use of the letters on business cards. We're sales people for heaven's sake, and if we're any good at it, it will show, and if not, letters on a card won't help. We even have letters now to show that we are sympathetic to "green" causes. What next? Best miles per gallon while showing property? Real estate salespeople have too much extra money, too much free time, and way too much need to validate themselves at some level above that of "salesperson".
Enough fun with that, but remember next time you're looking at the goldfish to keep your hands behind you. Someone may be watching.
Now some serious real estate stuff. Obviously we are a maverick business model, doing business at a modest flat fee and providing full service with no gimmicks and we are enjoying some success. The percentage people are hanging in there, one because it's hugely profitable and there are still a lot of uniformed people to prey on, and two, because the winds of change have not yet come to their attention. I'm not egocentric enough to mean us as the winds of change. We're simply a step along the way to wherever this business is going. Major national real estate sites are offering to allow homeowners free listing of their properties on those sites, and there is starting to be some direct activity from seller to buyer without the intervention or assistance of a real estate agent. This is good for the sites at the moment, it allows them to charge advertisers more for space, and seems to be allowing a service to consumers. For the future, I think I see the free service morphing into a fee for listing the homes. Still a good deal for consumers and a great deal, because of volume, for the sites. I note that some of the heaviest advertisers on real estate sites are mortgage lenders, probably positioning themselves to take care of the growing number of people who are not relying on the guidance of real estate agents in the sales transaction. Real estate agents are traditionally the best referral source for mortgage people, and if real estate agents aren't involved in a transaction what will be the mechanism for finding a suitable mortgage? I have talked before about our position in this business and how important I think we are to the process. Not very if you don't need us to find your buyer. We are a marketing engine and a sales force. If the growing influence of the internet reduces the need for those elements of the transaction then our importance shrinks commensurately. We have on our site a link to Nolo for those who want to go it alone, and if people are comfortable doing so they should. I think, speaking as a mortgage broker, that except for a very few people, almost everyone benefits from a face to face meeting for a mortgage loan. The programs are vast in number and no algorithm is going to insure that the match is a good one.
As a final note for this blog. Our contemporaries are valiantly resisting change to hold on as long as possible to the exorbitant fees they've become accustomed to receiving, meanwhile seeming to embrace changing technology. We are excited by change and are ramping up our internet exposure and involvement, gathering statistics like crazy to make sure our program is exposed to as many of you as possible, because one, we know it's the best deal out there, and two, we can probably find ways to improve it.
AS usual. Thanks for visiting.