Leslie Appleton-Young is Vice President and Chief Economist for the California Association of REALTORS® (C.A.R.), a statewide trade organization with almost 160,000 members dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real estate.
Leslie directs the activities of the Association's Member Information Group and oversees the analysis of housing market and brokerage industry trends, member communications and membership development activities. She also is closely involved in the Association's strategic planning efforts and is a well-known speaker in
Before joining C.A.R. in 1984, Leslie was a consultant with Telesis Inc. in
Leslie earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the
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We are clearly in uncharted territory. With the subprime meltdown segueing into a financial meltdown segueing into a global financial crisis, this is clearly the seminal event in the history of our industry. In 2009, we will see the rules of real estate finance will be rewritten in Washington, DC. Housing will get back to its traditional position as a home to live in, and not a means to access cash for living expenses. We are at a watershed in terms of economics and finance in the way we look at and treat housing. Homeownership may not be appropriate for everybody right now – saving for a down payment is a reasonable prerequisite. As an industry we should tout the concept of responsible homeownership.
Our industry will continue to see office closures and company consolidations in the year ahead. We can no longer afford to invest in “bricks and mortar” to the extent that we have in the past. Agents will be sent home to work and electronic communications of all types will become ubiquitous. There are several companies in the forefront of “virtual offices”: Gino Blefari of Intero Real Estate Services is an incredible visionary. There is an NRT-owned Coldwell Banker office in the South Bay of Los Angeles that is also at the cutting edge in this area. We are in a survival mode where offices will have to downsize and cut costs wherever possible.
When we’re talking about the “youngsters,” they expect our industry to be transparent, accessible, fast and delivering on a strong value proposition. They expect to have control and to be part of a strong partnership. They want details, choices and to be involved. They are extremely cost-conscious. They want data on how much of an investment they will have to make, what the return will be. They are more quantitative than qualitative in their interface with us – and of course they expect immediate response!
We must be able to measure consumer satisfaction. C.A.R. has worked with Larry Romito and his company, Quality Service Certification® (QSC), but such programs are not yet an industry standard and they should be. Agents need to stay on top of how consumers perceive their service. Right now, we have great survey results from buyers and sellers where they have told us their agent could have done a better job of communicating with them. One thought is that we could coordinate a game plan, generate some specific scripts with standardized responses so agents could guarantee those expectations would be met. There are moves on the part of NAR to “raise the bar” as it concerns the professionalism of our members and this is a great and necessary direction.
A few things to look at: set the bar high and demand accountability; retire/fire non-productive agents and agents with bad attitudes; institute systems that increase efficiency and lower costs; reduce the office staff and office size.
Political advocacy has never been more important at all levels: local, state and federal. We will be seeing battles on transfer taxes, on the future of Fannie and Freddie, and much much more in 2009. Legislative and regulatory advocacy is critical! This is something that is most effective when done through organized real estate.
I see myself as an educator. I give anywhere from 60 to 70 speeches every year in my role here at C.A.R. In addition to giving a market analysis, a portion of my presentation also covers key survey results from the research we do, information on technology and where the industry is going. I try to inspire my audiences, to help them understand the keys to good communication so their customers know what is going on. That outreach is a crucial part of what I am doing to influence that positive change.
I have a long list of books our Strategic Planning committee has recommended over the years. Two of the books are by Peter Schwartz. “The Art of the Long View” came out in 1991 and “Inevitable Surprises” came out in 2003. The first book was significant in that it helped you look outside your own industry to see how other industries are being remade. “The Perfect Thing” by Steven Levy examined iPod and asked why Apple is the number one music site on the Internet – not RCA or
Continue your intense focus on two audiences: first, on consumers to see how well you’re meeting their needs. Second, focus on your office, on recruiting and retaining your very best agents – not just for production, but also for attitude, openness and mentoring of new agents. C.A.R. followed 100 new agents for five years and determined their number one key to success was mentoring. Brokers have more power than they realize and setting the tone with strong leadership is critical.
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