In a recent post in RealTown, Mike Bowler wrote a post about change in the real estate industry that ended up being more about his preference of educational choices then it was about real change in the industry.

Mike asks the question “Are we at the crossroads where, all companies should just expect agents to go to where the education is being provided versus trying to be all things to all people? ” – and then goes on to say “I think the day of independent contractors depending on the brokerage for any education is nearly gone. Most business models cannot provide all that is needed and should not pretend to say they do.”

He points at the 4000 registrants at the Virtual ReBarCamp saying “it’s obvious that we can learn more from our peers around the country than we can within the 4 walls of an office”. Unfortunately that statement is really a “non-sequitur” – a Latin phrase meaning “it does not follow”. 4000 registrants for a free online experience doesn’t indicate anything more than “if its free its for me” is a philosophy of the masses. And any educator can tell you that the number of people that register has never had anything to do with the quality of the presentations or what the participants actually learned from the process. In fact, since people all learn differently, it would be almost a sure bet that there were as many people that learned nothing from the experience as there were that gained anything from a single channel experience like that.

I think Mike’s perspective may be a little skewed by his passion for some of the new collegial educational opportunities, and I can’t blame him for that. Like him, I’m a big fan of ReBarCamps (not so much on the virtual ones) because they (the real ReBarCamps) are conversations when they are done best – and those conversations are great learning experiences because we never know where they can go , or what we can get from them. The virtual ReBarCamp presentations were, by nature, planned presentations with limited participation from the community, and were in some cases sales pitches for the presenters rather than real educational experiences or collegial education.

As a forward thinking real estate person in a troubled market, change is desired, but is often not what we anticipate. I think some things will stay the same -

• I believe companies that are large enough will provide training to new agents, and opportunities for experienced agents to increase their skill sets.
  • As in the past, smaller companies will rely on third party tools and educational products to help them bridge the gap for their agents.
• REALTORAssociations  will continue to provide educational opportunities for their members through webinars, educational opportunities at conferences and business metings and through 3rd party providers like SMMI , the REALTORS Institute, REBAC, etc.
• National Franchises will provide training for the agents in the offices of their franchisees through a variety of distance learning programs as they are today,
• The best agents will still seek additional education wherever they can find it , and remember that they should always be seeking new educational opportunities.

Unlike Mike, I believe that independent contractors will continue to rely on their brokerages (among others) to provide them with educational opportunities, and that the brokerages will step up to meet those challenges. Though the additional opportunities for agents will continue to morph and change and take advantage of the newest ways to communicate, brokerages, franchise organizations, REALTOR Associations, and other educational providers will continue to provide educational opportunities for our industry. And that is more about commerce than it is about change.-

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You may be familiar with the concept of the ReBarCamp – an “unconference” where the participants set the agenda after they arrive. The concept was borrowed from the IT industry, and has taken hold in the Internet space referred to as the RE.net. Recently we held on in Philadelphia, last Friday saw one in Boston, and today is ReBarCamp Chicago.

ReBarCamp Chicago is an important event for a number of reasons. The first and most obvious is that I will be there (otherwise I might not be writing about it). But seriously, the venue itself is pretty impressive. The event is being held at the Chicago offices of the National Association of REALTORS (though they are not the creators of the event, and the volunteer event is not a function of the association). For an organization of the stature of NAR to host such an event says volumes about the organization’s willingness to embrace change and technology while supporting the efforts of its members to spread knowledge in this peer based type of event.

Perhaps I am so impressed by NAR’s willingness to provide the venue for this event because they have so often been the target of criticism in the Re.net, often without justification on the part of their critics. Even with that history, the association has shown themselves to be more than willing to reach out, communicate, and try to involve their members in all levels of their operation. I am sometimes accused of being overly supportive of NAR, but I really can;t help it. They give me so many reasons to support them.

Anyway, if you are near the association offices on Michigan Avenue today, i hope that you’ll try to stop in and participate in the ReBarCamp. It looks like there will be quite a group of Web 2.0 and social media participants here for this centrally located event. At last check, Teresa Boardman from St Paul Minnesota, Ginger Wilcox, Mike Simonsen, and Andy Kaufman from the San Francisco area, Sarah Cooper from West Virginia (of Real Estate Shows fame) and my friend Kim Wood, from Chester County Pennsylvania. In addition, you have some home grown Chicago celebs like Todd Carpenter (NAR’s Social Media Marketing Director), as well as Rich Rogala and Matt Dollinger, performance coaches at @Properties in Chicago. And of course there will be lots of new friends there that I haven’t even met yet.

I hope you’ll be one of them.

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If you follow me in the world of social media, you know that I am a Twitter person. I listen, I comment, and I enjoy watching the stream This morning someone wrote “If Realtors are really successful, why are so many homes on the market. Either you can sell or you can’t. ”

I don’t understand what he is talking about, or the correlation of inventory with the impact of using a REALTOR. The purpose of selling a home through a real estate professional was never about just selling the home. It was about selling the home for the best price with the best terms possible, in a smooth and secure manner minimizing the risk of potential litigation.

In a market where demand outpaces supply (commonly referred to as a seller’s market) the need for a real estate professional is often less obvious because consumers confuse getting it sold with getting it sold properly (as I defined it above). And because of that confusion, the value that the professional adds to the transaction seems to be obfuscated by the market activity. (I know its a big word – I usually eschew obfuscation, but Google the word if you need to)

In a market where the supply outpaces the demand (commonly referred to as a buyer’s market) the seller’s need for the services of a real estate professional becomes more obvious because it is more difficult to find the qualified buyer to purchase the home for any price, let alone the best price for the seller. But that same price pressure often leads the seller to the mistaken impression that the best strategy is to sell the property without professional assistance to allow them more room to negotiate. But that doesn’t make the need for a REALTOR any less urgent, or the impact on the transaction of the professional’s services any less crucial.

In fact, I would suggest that the absorption rate of even the slower market would be negatively impacted by the removal of the REALTOR’s services. Perhaps the best analogy is that of a room that is dimly lit by a few candles. The argument made by my twitter bud seems to be that the poor lighting in the room is due to the presence of the candles, when without their illumination, the room would have been in deeper if not total darkness.

I don’t know why REALTOR bashing is so popular, except that it is always easy to bash a class of people. Professional goups are faceless and do not respond to small slights like these, and these unsupported statements, fallacious as they are, create untrue impressions in those who read them. And when the market is tough, and people seek to blame someone, faceless groups become an easy target.

So if you are a REALTOR, and struggle against a slow market in your area, be proud of the positive impact you have on the ability of your buyers and sellers to make the moves they need to make in their lives. And if you are a consumer, struggling against that same market, hold your agent accountable to do what they can, and to (perhaps as importantly) explain to you what they are doing and why, but don;t blame them for the vagaries of the marketplace, anymore than you should give them credit for the better marketplaces we have experienced.

It seems that everyone is always trying to improve on the poor old “For Sale” sign.

I was reading a recent Blog at Sellsius which speaks about  Custom Fit Realtyin Wisconsin who  is using Matrix codes on its house for sale signs to reach mobile users. The company’s new technology allowing buyers to take a photo of a “For Sale” sign on a house, and then get taken to the property information through their smart-phone browser.

I’ve got to say I was underwhelmed. While this latest piece of technology is pretty neat, and one that I would want to try just because I like to play with toys. I don’t think it ie unique or even new. People have been inventing ways to disintermediate the salesperson as long as there have been sales signs. Without thinking deeply I can think of…

• “Talking” Houses – FM transmitters that play the property information for the potential buyer. This is actually more efficient since almost every auto today has an FM receiver, while not every phone is a smart-phone.
• Property Brochure Boxes – OK , so this is a little Lo-Tech, but come on, its doing the same thing isn’t it? And it has the advantage of being a little more durable and easier to share than the site on a cell phone.
• Marketing Voice Mail Boxes which use a code number on the sign to allow people to call for property information. Again, every mobile phone user can do this, while the smart-phone, though more common is not yet ubiquitous.
• Single Property websites posted on the property sign
• MLS number and Company Web site printed on Yard Sign Riders

All of these marketing support systems have one thing in common however. You need to have located the property, and be sitting in front of it to utilize them. So the marketing system that worked here is obviously the Yard sign – the original real estate technology to advertise a property for sale. (In all fairness, they might have located the property through print advertising, but if they had called the office or seen the property on a website, they would have already had the information these systems provide)

 We need to remember that the purpose of a real estate brokerage is to make money, and that under the most common current business model, that means that our sales associates need to interface with consumers at the earliest possible point in the sales curve. So why would we want to provide them with yet another method of avoiding contact with a sales associate , who should  be able to provide them with better information than a website , pre-recorded message or property flyer?

Image via CrunchBase

A Couple of days ago, a press release was sent out that said , in part

NEW YORK, Nov. 12, 2008 – ForSaleByOwner.com today announced that it has become the nation’s first “by owner” real estate website to enable home sellers to advertise their home on Realtor.com without appearing on a local Multiple Listing Service (MLS). This new direct access to Realtor.com follows the May 2008 settlement between the U.S. Department of Justice and the National Association of Realtors.

“The DOJ-NAR settlement benefited consumers by giving them access to Realtor.com without the expensive cost of a commission fee,” said Greg Healy, Vice President of Operations at ForSaleByOwner.com. “We’re proud to be the first to offer this new consumer-friendly access to Realtor.com. In today’s challenging housing market, sellers need cost-saving ways to sell their homes.”

“Our typical home seller saves nearly $13,000 in commission and this new access to Realtor.com will help even more people sell their home without using the services of a real estate agent,” added Healy.

Realtor.com is a popular real estate website that attracts nearly five million monthly visits. The new Realtor.com Showcase Listing service from ForSaleByOwner.com will allow sellers to have their homes marketed on Realtor.com, and interested buyers will be able to directly contact these sellers.

The press release generated a ton of interest in real estate circles. Agents were stunned, and the connection between the National Association of REALTORS and REALTOR.COM (the official Web site of the National Association of REALTORS® operated by Move Inc) generated astonished and angry reactions from real estate professional all over the country.

In fact, the press release was inaccurate, self-serving, and misleading. It referenced the NAR/DOJ settlement earlier this year as if that was the source of the relationship between the company and REALTOR.COM, indicating that unrepresented sellers would now be able to list their properties through the company and have the properties exposed on REALTOR.COM. The truth was forthcoming shortly when the following information was provided by NAR, but the RE.Net being what it is the truth has to battle back against the first onslaught of inaccurate information.

Here are the clarifications NAR and REALTOR.com published to set the record straight 

1) The settlement agreement between NAR and the U.S. Department of Justice made no provision to allow unlisted properties, such as “for-sale-by-owner,” to be posted on REALTOR.com.

2) ForSaleByOwner.com does not in any way enable home sellers to advertise their home on REALTOR.com without broker representation; every property on REALTOR.com must be listed by a licensed real estate broker.

3) REALTOR.com has not authorized ForSaleByOwner.com to resell REALTOR.com’s Showcase Listings Enhancement package.

4) There is no relationship between ForSaleByOwner.com and REALTOR.com.

5) There are no unrepresented homes on REALTOR.com. Every property on REALTOR.com must be listed by a licensed real estate broker, and unrepresented properties would not qualify to be submitted to a REALTOR®-owned and operated MLS.

REALTOR.com® has asked ForSaleByOwner.com to issue a retraction. ForSaleByOwner.com did not discuss in advance the statements in its press release with REALTOR.com® nor did it request or receive permission to use the REALTOR.com® name in its press release.

I would be more upset about the misrepresentations made by Forsalebyowner.com if I did not have a low personal opinion about their marketing strategies to start with. However I guess that if they position themselves as some sort of consumer advocates, the truth isn’t as important to them as it is to the rest of the real estate practitioners around the country.