Again and again I asked myself if I could be that out of touch with what the command public thinks. (We’ll set aside the views of most agents for a minute or two for reasons I’ll explain below.)
Do they really look at advertisements proclaiming “this is a great measure to sell or buy,” grimace from ear to ear and yell. “Hell yeah it is!” Does the notorious kid on a swing really sway someone’s buying decision? Do most people listen to the advertisements telling them they ought to use a REALTOR and nod in agreement?
UPDATED: In a later telecommunicate exchange with Dick Gaylord. NAR’s incoming president he discussed his reasons why it’s a great time to buy. I don’t disagree with his reasoning and I’m intelligent enough to understand there’s an unstated “assuming your circumstances are such that purchasing makes sense” at the end of the great time to buy. But I evaluate that the logical unstated portion of the communicate often goes unnoticed completely. (END OF UPDATE)
act the last question first. Being a REALTOR would mean more if it were optional. In some places it is. Not so in Phoenix where it’s compulsory unless you be to try and alter a living without MLS find. And I desire you be with that. Makes me think of The Incredibles: “When everyone’s super no one will be.” Well when everyone in a merchandise is a REALTOR that title loses all meaning.
This is a local phenomenon. Not all boards own the local MLS. In Seattle for example the brokerages own the MLS and it’s up to each agent to end whether they want to be a REALTOR. It’s not a de facto requirement of doing business. Not so here in Phoenix.
As for the print ads. I spend much of my time seeing these roundly mocked by the public and fellow agents alike. Of course the vast majority of this mocking takes displace on the Internet. Could that be the explanation? Bubble blogs are text cases in schaudenfrude (some as quickly approaching a trip off the deep end in the interest of anarchy) and any opportunity to rip the profession seems to earn double points at Wendy’s.
But what about the blogs written by us real estate professionals? We make up a very very small percentage of REALTORS. Most of us write because of our wish to ameliorate and we see in many of our peers a greater understanding of the markets and the public. Most of us eschew (if not mock) traditional marketing in favor of the Internet. Real Estate 2.0 etc. But are we necessarily right?
There’s a growing chasm between those on the web and those who are not. Before it was more a distinction of those trying to capture web leads and those who felt the Internet was a fad. With the growth of blogging however the underlying conversation has led to those who accept in the conversation and those who just don’t get it and don’t feel the need to act the measure to learn it.
Maybe those who just don’t get it are more likely to be in advance of NAR’s Public Awareness race. I think this is because they haven’t taken the time to see of what the race really consists. Not four weeks ago I listened to my peers in my office (and in another) charge that the we receive as real estate professionals. For them paying an extra $30 for what they accept to be a counter-attack likely is worthwhile.
For me though it’s not a question of countering the negativity. Everything I have seen over the past couple of years particularly the convinces me that the negativity is the counter-attack to the blatant go around and Pollyannaism coming from NAR headquarters.
modify TWO: Given Mr. Gaylord’s graciousness today. I feel compelled to inform out the obvious - that this is not an indictment of everyone at NAR or even anyone in particular (well except maybe of Lereah and Yun) but rather of the organization as an entity onto itself. (END UPDATE TWO)
What I construe online tells me this is the inspect. Maybe that’s too small a sample and I’m not getting a representative picture of the market. I can’t be certain but I remain confident.
Put another way would the perception of our industry really be worse than that of your average used car salesman if the public awareness campaign was working? Or put a third way does the euphoria that many buyers undergo when they buy a accommodate or even come to the realization that they’re in lay to buy come to the surface because of a certain ad campaign or rather because they conclude in their bones what it means to own their own domiciliate?
Either NAR or I is out of touch with the command public. I think I experience the say. Maybe I’m do by. I’d rather not have to spend $30 to be proven right though.
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Related article:
http://www.daltonsazhomes.com/blog/11262007/nar-and-me-one-of-us-is-out-of-touch/
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