How much difference can one day make? Let us consider
In the afternoon the Department of Justice responded to motions filed by NAR in its antitrust lawsuit by suggesting that NAR and its legal counsel “missed the mark.”
The day ended with the information that Zillow.com had joined the
February 6 was just another day in another week in what is turning out to be a major battle for the way the American public views the reputation and value proposition of the Realtor®. Every indication suggests that as the market continues its course in 2006, and some Americans find that they can no longer afford the homes they bought at the top of the curve with no money down and an ARM interest-only mortgage, things will get worse.
This situation did not start on February 6. In fact, its origins can be traced back several years. However, it has been getting increasingly worse. 2005 was by far the most contentious year in the history of the industry.
Throughout the year, the media maintained a stinging campaign aimed at destroying Realtor® credibility with suggestions that Realtors® were greedy anti-trust bandits who were taking advantage of a helpless consumer. Articles and coverage appeared with almost military precision in print and electronic medias across the country.
Bureaucracy picked up the battle cry. Units of the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice and the Department of Housing and Urban Development ranged far and wide, expanding their regulatory powers to the very limits of their enabling statutes. When that power came up short, they just showed up in state venues around the country and asserted their rights to be advocates supposedly protecting consumers against the Realtor®.
Even entities no less prestigious than the Brookings Institute and the Government Accounting Office suddenly found the time and resources to produce white papers that suggested Americans were being grossly overcharged for real estate services.
Politics joined the ranks. Representative Oxley’s efforts to have his bank constituents embedded into the real estate industry apparently included a strategy designed to suggest that Americans have a right to cheap real estate services. The strategy went on to lobby state regulators and legislatures to do whatever they could to lower the costs of real estate services. If recent information about commission levels is any indication , they may have been successful.
Was it a coincidence that within the same time frame, the Bush administration’s tax reform panel should come up with a recommendation that the decades old mortgage interest deduction be terminated? This recommendation would have a negative impact upon the lives and resources of millions of American families.
At the same time as these more public forces were beating on the Realtor®, less well known, but equally insidious third parties, were undermining the Realtor® on the Internet. Some were telling consumers that full service Realtors® were not necessary. Others suggested that only agents connected with their organization were appropriate. Still others were offering to rate Realtors® for consumers. A final group advocated the position that consumers should avoid agents altogether.
While all of this was going on, Realtors® were helping a record number of American families realize the American dream of home ownership. Perhaps they were too busy.
Perhaps they just didn’t notice. Perhaps they thought these forces would just go away. In any event, the record is remarkably devoid of effective Realtor® messages countering the negative forces.
So here we are. It is a new year. The real estate market is transitioning from the “hot” status we have enjoyed during the past few years. Commission rates are a world away from those used to support negative media. Inventories and days on market are up. But most importantly attacks on Realtors® continue to rise.
These are serious times, and they call for serious action.
There are several theories that have been put forward to explain the current circumstances, including Blanche Evan’s conspiracy theory that seems to gain credibility with each passing month. Ultimately only history will explain what really happened. In the meantime Realtors® must shake off the euphoria of the record markets in the last five years and address a new quite sobering reality - Realtors® are involved in a fight for their credibility and professional value.
Agents and brokers must now rise to the defense of their contribution to the American dream. And they must rise together. Those that created the very idea of being a Realtor® clearly intended that it should represent the “high ground” in real estate and that indeed should be the target moving forward.
Realtors® across the country must work together to present the American public with a balanced view of their value in the transaction and their contribution to the communities in which they live. There is a strong and indeed noble side to the Realtor® cause and it must be presented.
There is reason to suggest that this may be a battle that will be won at the local level, where Realtors® are known by name and reputation. It is at this level that Realtors® must come together. What can they do? The following presents a starting point that should be attainable in every local community:
• Learn to work and communicate with today’s consumer. After all, it is all about them.
• Practice ethically and demand that those around you do the same
• Promote stronger best practices and knowledge requirements within the profession
• Get involved in your community and make it better
• Stop laughing at Realtor® jokes and oppose presentations such as the current insulting T-Mobile television ad.
• Get involved with your local association, call and commit 10 hours this year.
• Demand that your local association have an effective plan to tell the Realtor story and promote Realtor value in your community.
• Understand the importance of the Realtor Political Action initiative and support it in a serious manner
• Understand that these efforts are a direct investment in your future.
• Do not leave these actions for someone else to handle.
• Do not let the opposition win because you forfeit the game.
