I actually wrote this to submit to the Inman contest to get a couple of free passes to Connect in NY. But, I determined that I wasn't going to be able to go even with free passes, so I decided not to submit the essay... but I figured I would toss out the essay for comment. And NO, I didn't assume that the essay would be good enough... I just couldn't take that chance. ;^ )
For many years, real estate agents were the guardians of information. We had it, and we didn’t want to allow consumers to uncover too much of it. We made the process mysterious and exotic, and tried to cultivate what was our greatest asset… listing information. We had a lock on listing information and by holding that information tightly, we could control consumers. (by "we" and "us", I mean "the industry")
If a buyer wanted to know what was available, they had to go through us. If a seller wanted to know what had been paid for other properties, they had to go through us. We were also the gatekeeper. The only way into the MLS was through a traditional agent. If a property was to be listed in the MLS, it was going to be through a traditional agent.
Now the opposite is where we can find our value proposition. Information is plentiful… interpretation is the valuable commodity. Knowing that there are 300 listings that may or may not meet the needs of the buyer is important, but knowing which 12 they should look at first is valuable. Knowing the price of every home that sold in the subdivision in the last three years is important, but knowing which houses are comparable, and HOW they compare is valuable. The MLS is within reach of those without a functional agent in many areas. Through unbundled or minimum service brokerages, even those that are basically FSBO are still able to get their home in the MLS. Being able to put a listing in the MLS for a seller is important, but knowing how to most effectively and efficiently market a property is valuable.
The value proposition of real estate agents is and will be shifting from that of a controller of information to an interpreter of information, and from being the gateway to the MLS to being a marketing consultant and resource. Access to information is easy, it is plentiful.
As I look at market reports, I see too many that are just an activity list. That doesn't mean anything... unless there is a frame of reference. Knowing that there were 25 properties sold in Lilburn in November doesn't say much... Were there more or less sold the previous year... or month?
As we move into the future, information will become even more plentiful. As that happens, there will be more of a need to interpret and vet that information. The future for real estate agents is to be the local expert and marketing expert. Oddly, this isn’t new. It is what the best agents have always done.
Unless otherwise noted, all content of this blog is the property of Lane Bailey, ©2012 Lane Bailey.
I'd love to hear from you...
Great post. I totally agree with you.
Being a recognized expert is such great marketing.
Very nice- thank-you
No matter your field of endeavor, you always want to be the expert in your field and area. Mere mortals can stare at the data all day long, but they need YOUR services to read the data and translate that into the best deal for them.
Its the old story of the retired maintenance man and the banging pipes in the factory.
When the new maintenance guy couldn't figure out where the banging was coming from, they called the retired guy. He walked in, listened. Picked up a wrench and walked into the plant, listened again and hit the pipe with the wrench. The banging stopped.
His former boss said "Send me an invoice". A couple of days later he gets an invoice for $1000.00.
The boss called the retired gentleman and asked, "$1000 is a bit much for hitting a pipe. Can you send me a breakdown of the charges?"
A couple of days later he gets an updated invoice:
Hitting pipe: $10.00
Knowing where to hit: $990.00
I agree with you Lane. We still are in the business of information. But like you said if you don't understand it in the most benifitial way then you have nothing. I have a person who uses me as an informational tool and gets most of his data from me, he said that he would buy a house on his own. Its been 8 month and we had a sit down he mentioned a few properties he like and for grins I told him to check out one I saw recently while looking for another client. We are planning to write because he was amazed I fugured out something in 15 minutes that took him almost 8 month.
We can save our clients a lot of time.
Nate - Thank you.
Robert - It can certainly be good!
Cindy - Thank you.
Mike - Despite disintermediation, there is still a need for people that know the way around.
David - We can. There are also those that are perfectly capable without us... as long as they know the difference. ;^ )
Great post man. I like the future as you see it.
If you embrace the new technology and lifestyles, you will gradually see the solutions. Hint, newspaper advertising is way down.
We are in the business of service, really.
Respectfully, that is where a lot of people in our profession miss the boat. We are in sales.
That is why we are paid, to sell someone's property for them. Yes, you could argue that selling is a service. However, the only time we've "earned" our money is if there is a successful transaction. We all know that we perform valuable services even if someone doesn't consumate a deal. Quality of service is what sets one agent apart from another, but if we lose sight of selling, we've lost our focus.
Lane, a good point and I agree with you. It's in the alalysis of information that we are specialists.
Lane - Good post! In the book "Freakanomics" the question was asked:
"What do Real Estate Agents have in common with the Klu Lux Klan?"
Answer: Information -When both controlled the distribution of information, they were thought of differently. Once everbody knew the "secrets", the allure, mystic, and gowth of the group was gone.
I appreciate you!
Bobby Wallace
Charleston Real Estate Investor's Association
http://www.charlestonrei.com
Lane - real estate today is like the stock market, people have the ability to utilize the tools, however, they don't necessarily know what the information means, or even where to get it.
Nick - you'll do just fine... Your wife will make sure of that.
James - We do need to look at the emerging technologies and see how we can leverage them to deliver a better client experience... and newspapers are "so last week..."
Mike - I consider myself more of a marketing consultant. I can't "sell" a house to somoene that doesn't want it, but I can find the right house for someone... and help them structure a deal to get it.
Evelyn - That's right... info is easy. Interpretation is what is valuable.
Bobby - Someone needs to tell the Freakonomics guys that the NAR was growing well after the "mystique" was gone... it was when the money was gone that our ranks started to shrink.
Mike - Exactly.
What data are you referring to? People are smart enough that they can read an MLS info sheet as well as anyone else. We have given everything we know now we will become order takers. We will write conract either listing or buying and we will do it for less and less because Lawyers will not write for that little money.
Charles - Gee... I guess we have different visions of business. You are correct that people are smart enough to read the data. But in my county there are 9,000 listings. I had a buyer give me specific criteria yesterday for a search... expecting to get 20 or 30 results. There were 400. I had already been in about 50 of them. I was familiar with the neighborhoods of almost that many more. It would take her months to build the knowledge base that I already have about the areas.