Survey Results Released…”Survey-Says….Realtors Suck!”
NOTICE: This is a re-post from Active Rain, Jeff Corbett authored.
HREU Students and Future students…read this and share your comments!
Why did I post this? Simple, we must listen to what the home buying and selling public wants…and we must deliver. Its not about US (Realtors) its about them. There is a MASSIVE disconnect between what Realtors are able to (and choose to) provide and what ‘Consumers’ demand. Here is the bottom line, if we don’t listen…if we don’t change…if we don’t (more or less) SCRAP the current system…someone else will.
Survey-Says….Realtors Suck!
Survey Results-Consumers Hate Us!
The following post is simply one non-conformists opinion, albeit a relatively educated one…Its my hope that my words, cutting as they may come across, cause an epiphany for more than a few…
This entire post is based on The California Association of Realtors 2008 Home Seller Survey (released in July 2008, I just happened upon the PowerPoint presentation a few days ago) but the statistics are just as relevant today, if not more so…Granted this survey is but a snapshot of an industry, yet pictures are worth thousands of words…You can read the entire survey here. (All statistical references in this post are derived from the aforementioned survey).
Public perception of the real estate professional and the greater industry is amongst the lowest of any on record. Consumers are looking for an alternative to the ‘traditional’ Agent and they’re defining what this alternative is, yet relatively very few professional are heeding this demand and actually providing a tangible solution. This Survey demonstrates to me that 90% of Agents are not providing what the consumer wants…and it is ALL ABOUT THE CONSUMER.
Personally I know alot of fantastic real estate professionals. Genuinely great people, passionate, always striving to better themselves, their clients, the industry they serve and represent…they’re worth every penny they command…they dont suck…I’m just a sucker for a good title (no pun intended). I could fill this page dropping names like Jay Thompson, Kris Berg, Missy Caulk, Bill Gasset and 30 others nobody has heard of as examples of who I consider to be the vanguard of where this industry should look to as ministers of positive change. Unfortunately, they’re in the minority and a few good apples don’t ripen the bunch.
Agent Perception: I can Has Consumer!
Talk to most any real estate professional and they will tout their expertise, knowledge and marketing prowess as the main reason you should retain their services. Most will maintain that commission rates (should) mean very little to the consumer and they’re worth every penny.
Consumer Reality: You Suck!
According to the respondents:
Number One factor considered when choosing an Agent? Lowest Commission.
Last reason? Most knowledgeable. <– If this doesn’t snap you into reality, nothing will.
You’d best start putting your knowledge out there if you hope to attract a client…get a blogsite that rocks, start dropping neighborhood knowledge, get a killer IDX solution…substantiate your value!! The days of being a prude with your listings and expertise until you had an executed contract are over.
I can find out more than you know.
~70% of respondents polled on ‘Information from The Internet vs Information from Agent’ indicated that the Net provided information that was as useful, ‘different’ or more useful than an Agent. I can only surmise that ‘different’ means information an agent couldn’t or simply didn’t provide. In the Age of Information, lack thereof is akin to being useless.
The ~31% that said The Net provided less useful information than an Agent are part of a 50% declining trend over the past 5 years.
You’re still (a) very necessary (evil?).
~95% of respondent sellers still used an agent, which makes perfect sense. I often state that: While technology won’t replace a good real estate Agent, the Agent that properly utilizes technology will replace Agent that doesn’t.
Consider- 74% of 1st time respondent sellers considered not using an Agent, up 46% from 2007.
You can’t market your way out of a brown paper bag.
Of the reasons given for using an Agent only 7% said it was for ‘Better Marketing Exposure’. Ummm, isn’t this what an Agent’s core value proposition is supposed to be, to market property? Consumers clearly do not believe Agents can effectively market their property…yet online and offline marketing is the 1st and 3rd highest reason for choosing an Agent. This is a huge disconnect and opportunity at the same time.
84% of respondent sellers are searching online and 96% Agents polled use print advertising. Helllllooo!?! Can you say poor ROI, waste of money? Newspapers and other print media are going out of business because less and less people read them. Advertising in these dinosaurs is of almost no value going forward.
Only 57% of agents use multiple photos or a virtual tour as part of an online home listing. This just blows my mind. I’d guess that 50% of the 57% that actually use multiple photos look (kinda) like these:
Proper Feng Shui can do wonders for a small space.
Extra long chain for convenient access to light.
Sweet shower curtain stays with home!
Thanks to MLS Trash Can for the pictures. Descriptions by me.
Seriously, an agent who can’t manage to market a property with quality photographs should have their license suspended on principle alone.
You’re being perpetually judged.
97% of respondents interviewed 3 or more Agents. 50% interviewed 6 or more Agents. Consumers are getting more and more finicky about who they hire. Agents better step up how they present themselves. Better have an impressive resume and a killer suit = a slick engaging blogsite & robust IDX solution.
Here’s a scary thought (depending on who you are):
Consumers are lurking on your blog, stalking your FaceBook page, following your Twitter stream, viewing your Flickr account, reading your answers on Trulia, Zillow & ActiveRain, evaluating your IDX, the quality of your multi-media marketing, processing how you engage comment threads and otherwise perpetually judging you under the cloak of anonymity.
How are you representing yourself in public and when you don’t think anyone is looking?
The silver lining in this post could be that ‘The Bar’ is so low in a consumers eyes, those Agents willing to set aside their perceptions and confront reality are in a great position to capture some huge marketshare. Take this information and use it to your advantage rather than deny its validity.
Many Agents are out there cleaning up despite this ‘depressing’ market…Find them, reach out to them, study their successes…I find the most successful people in life are more than willing to share their successes and help others get there too. Reciprocity is still live and well…
Popularity: 2% [?]
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I guess Jeff forgot to mention that Realtors also suck for not being creative or original. Couldn’t you just link to this post and have your own discussion about it? Did you really need to blockquote the entire thing? Just curious.
Hey,
I am guessing you already know this but….quotes tells google that its not my original content…and not to ding me for dup content.
And, we dont link off the blog because our readers wont click. We have tested it.
Tim
Tim, really sorry. Jeff just told you asked permission to repost this. I feel like a jerk now. I’ve had so many posts ripped from me that I’ve become very bitter, and I’ve known Jeff for a few years and was just trying to watch out for him. Hope you understand.
No worries!
Dont feel like a jerk….you were sticking up for a friend!
Tim
“… quotes tells google that its not my original content…”
Really? So if I’m reading this right, you’re saying that Google’s spiders pick up the html blockquote tag and ignore what’s in it? Or treat it some special way?
I don’t doubt you, I’ve just never heard mention of this. Do you have a link to anything that discusses this? Google has definitely indexed the content of the quote here, so I’m curious to know more about this “quotes tell Google this is not my original content”.
Hi Jay,
I am sure you know more about this stuff vs me. I am only going off what I was told.
And what I was told is that putting reposted content in quotes somehow makes it so google will
reindex the content and you wont get tagged for dup content.
Again, a SEO master….I am not.
Your thoughts?
Tim
No SEO master here either Tim, but I’ve never heard anything regarding Google treating something in quotes differently.
Personally, I think folks have WAY too much concern over duplicate content. What Google doesn’t want to see is entire sites (or the bulk of a site) duplicated. Most SEOs agree that Google isn’t going to “penalize” someone for a page here and there. There is duplicate content ALL over the net.
Now try to “cheat” the search engines by manipulating them and they’ll eventually slap you.
You may want to re-think that not linking off the blog thing. Even if readers don’t click through (im my experience, some do, some don’t – depends on how, why and how you link), the blogger you link to will know you did, they’ll come visit, and may just link back to you at some point. While you should always keep the visitor’s best interest in mind, outbound links ultimately produce inbound links, which produce better search placement, which brings more visitors.
Thanks for clarifying….I do appreciate it.
We pay attention to the clicks…and like I said before, very very few Realtors will click a link to read an article on an outside blog. They don’t trust where they would be routed to.
A vast majority of our readers use IE6 or 7.
What I do is always try to give a link to the original content….and ask for permission to repost. Like I did with Jeff.
Again, I sincerely appreciate your suggestions.
Tim
A Very Unprofessional Statement….when there are some Very Professional real
estate people out there….it looks easy but it is actually very difficult…
Yes, The whole setup has some major structural problems…and it is an UNFAIR system…
add in a bunch of foreclosure properties and it really doesn’t look good…
it looks trashy ~!!!
Basically, a Real Estate person is “two persons in one”:.. a fast talking salesman type mixed in with a dot your i’s detailed person.
CONCLUSION: There is never a PERFECT HOUSE and never a PERFECT RealEstate Person/Real Estate Company.
SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM: ????
I dont understand the controversy over this except for the provocative title and thats only because people could see that headline and not read more.
It was simply tongue in cheek and fully explained by the author. Aint no big thing—
I agree about agent photos. Agents should be Fined at least a $100 for taking a picture of a 1/2 bath with the toilet seat up! I can’t stand that! When I’m searching for listings for a client & see horrible photos, like a home facing east & the agent takes the exterior shot at 4pm, I’ll send an email to the agent & tell them to re-shoot!
I took the headline picture for my own blogsite, check it out!
PS Jay….great blog!
Why is it a problem that there is never a perfect house and never a perfect real estate salesperson/real estate company? Nearly everything in this life falls at least a little short of true perfection.
The comment about a “fast talking salesman . . mixed in with a ‘dot-you-i’s’ detailed person” could be taken as a major sign of distrust (perhaps it was not meant that way.) As an insider — a Realtor — I know many decent, hard-working professionals in our business who knock themselves out to do an outstanding and conscientious job. If we know a seller has lost their job and needs to sell fast, we try to price the home correctly, get the word out, present the property in the best ways possible and match the home with a promising buyer. We try to walk in the shoes of our clients and align ourselves with their goals.
Especially these days with the huge amount of extra work generated by short sales, the monetary return is tiny in comparison with the output of man hours, indicating a dedication to our profession whether or not it is financially rewarding. An 80-hour work week is not uncommon for many agents who really care whether or not they provide superior service, combined with tact, patience and perseverance.
Finding the right property for a buyer is not the end of the task. We usually handle over 40 documents per sale, attend several inspections, hammer out negotiations for repairs, defects, title issues, unexpected appliance failures, and interact with seven or eight people for each transaction. As wonderful as the Internet is, it cannot totally replace the human factor in a complex real estate transaction.
Many of the tasks performed by an agent do not even register in the consciousness of the casual observer who is judging and scoring our performance and value. This is one of the most demanding professions in the entire business world. Those who survive in a huge economic downturn in the housing market are some of the best businessmen and women one could hope to meet.
After being in the business for 16 years and being associated with Realtors, I have to agree Realtors do Suck!
The industry has to change and the standards of practice have to change. The part time housewives and the retired and bored have to either get educated and work full time or leave. This industry is far far from professional, loaded with lobbyists to protect the body Brokers(having as many bodies as possible in the office to cash flow off sign, business card and marketing materials….and getting that one or 2 family sale out of the body. We are only as good as our standards. And when it means more on the education level and less on who you coffee or golf with…..it won’t change. Consumer demand however, I see is what is going to make a difference. Boutique Brokers are popping up with sophisticated software, marketing materials, and Realtor requirements. Over time when xyz real estate service gets in the community, no longer will who your kid plays soccer withs parents will be the criteria for hiring a Realtor. What you know is going to matter more than who you know. I am glad to see articles like this, its the truth. Realtors do suck, and I dread working with most of them. The bar needs to be raised. Education requirements and costs should be high so only the serious apply or remain. I am hopeful not only for Michigan but nationally, especially after all this fallout, and Realtors are to blame too, change will come. It may take consumer demand and time, but it will come.
The statement that the most important factor that “Joe Public” considers before hiring a Real Estate agent is “commission” and the least important factor is “most knowledgeable” speaks volumes! If that is what the majority of the public uses to choose someone to sell one of, if not THE most valuable, asset that they possess… don’t they realize that they will GET an agent who “can’t market their way out of a paper bag, and a photographer that takes photos of half baths with the toilet seat up!! It SHOULD dawn on them, after all, isn’t that what they are complaining about? A professional REALTOR educates themselves BEYOND the scope of Real Estate and branches out into marketing and other areas. That education and expertise makes them more valuable and therefore well worth paying the extra 1 or 2% more commission over the agents “that suck!” It’s just common sense really… if you buy a shirt for $10 and it falls apart after 1 washing… is it really as good a buy as a shirt that you pay $25 for and it lasts for 10 years? You have to determine value for dollars spent…. just like anything else.
Wendy Herndon
The Serena Group
Keller Williams Realty of Manatee
Being a Broker and Owner of the company, I have seen all kinds and luckily several have come through my company….They do underhanded things with people they work with everyday….they use everyone in the office for their own personal gain, and they go out to clients and under handed tell some of the most bizar stories about their circumstances….I’ve seen agents look for people that have had a death in the family and they go out to pray with them!!!! They do not have the common sense to not call a clients customers and then talk about that agent to the fullest….thinking that will get them a listing….I am not surprised at anything I hear or see…..But if you look close at the agents that succeed in this business, they are usually the friendliest and down to earth people….One of the agents in our county that gets Top Agent of the Year and Sold Millions is one of those agents that helps people, very nice to deal with and I’ve worked in her area for the same number of years she has and she is a very dedicated good person…and great to work with…so if you cannot say anything good about another agent just Don’t say anything….I am now having the complete office look at the agents that come to our office to see their opinions….before I hire them…It use to be you hire any live body….but now I understand that does not work….if they cannot fit in my group there is no reason to hire them…..Beware when an agent cannot follow the company policy they need to be gone immediately….because they will disrupt an office…The Secret agents are another group to rid yourself of…if they do not work with each agent in the office and offer suggestions to other agents and try and help each other, they will tear down a good office…I love different personalities and think that is great in an office but they have to have the same deep core or it does not work….If you will notice those people that usually leave an office is because they have used every agent in the office and know it is time for them to leave….I have found this true in most cases….
Sad to say this is not new news! It’s been said for many years and the only way I see it is to stay educated at everything you possibly can, along with our duties to keep our public safe and informed on issues that affect thier ownership. Social media will move the information quicker obviously, therefore it’s vitally important to send good and informative information out to the public about what the good REALTORS are doing! (Sorry I couldn’t trademark the name I haven’t learned that on these types of responses). We can make our Profession one that is necessary maybe not to all… until they get burned one time from a transaction and a attorney gets involved and proves what they should have known as a Seller or Buyer. I know I strive daily to learn and share with other Real Estate professionals something important or do something good for the community in which we serve. Many good agents and Brokers out there doing the same. Keep up with the issues, learn more about the market, communicate more and share, we all know there is more than enough to go around and to make our business successful for all involved.
Support your local affiliates, be a MEMBER of your Association, attend ed classes and help one another the cream always rises to the top!
“GOOD REALTORS ARE HERE TO STAY, BAD REALTORS HAVE GONE AWAY”.
NOT ALL REALTORS SUCK! ……..
and should not be blamed for the current market situation. This has been an extremely volitile market and economy over the last few years. Consumers who want to place blame on Realtors for that are not taking responsiblity for their own actions. Consumers had a choice to buy the home they could afford to keep or to do “Creative Financing” as lenders put it to get into a home they couldn’t afford with adjustable rate programs. Consumers and lenders were banking on the borrowers future incomes to increase or possible refinances in the future for them to keep their homes. They took a gamble and they lost. Which we are all paying for now.
WHO IS TO BLAME? It took many professionals in the industry as well as consumer actions for the market to get into this situation. Yes, I won’t deny some Realtors where not educated enough on lending to understand what they were doing to their clients and some just didn’t care. The same goes for lenders. Appraisers are also responsible for valuating properties at much higher rates then they should ever have been appraised at, especially on refinances. This allowed consumers to use their homes equity as a piggy bank to purchase frivolous items they couldn’t afford to pay cash for, which is irresponsible and always a poor financial decision. Lenders are responsible for allowing consumers to buy homes who could not afford to be homeowners to begin with and they made a lot of money doing it. Consumers made money too as they watched their 401k increase in values as they were invested into theses lending institutions. Everyone is now paying for those mistakes financially in our current economy whether we had a hand to play in it or not. America has learned a valuable lesson and that is DON”T BUY WHAT YOU CAN”T AFFORD TO PAY FOR. Credit debt has consumed this country and allowed us to get into this situation. Now we all have to work together to get out of it. Placing blame will not do that, but accepting personal responsibility and making better choices will.
I own a Botique Brokerage in CO and I can proudly say “I AM PART OF THE SOLUTION AND NOT PART OF THE PROBLEM”. Personally, I didn’t like Realtors myself when I got into this business, but I knew I could do a better job to assist consumers in good decision making in buying and selling homes and that I could make a difference for the better in this industry. In the past I only hired experienced agents. With all their experience came the attitude and inability to change and educate themselves as to todays market trends and what is needed to help the consumer and to be a part of the solution. For the record most of those agents are now out of business
. I recently have adjusted my policy and now focus on New Agents. I have hired a few new select agents who are able to share the same ideology as myself, which is”What can I do today to better help my clients and to be a part of the solution to this market problem”. I have been helping homeowners out of Foreclosure for many years via Loan modifications far before these programs were advertised to the public and years before Obama came along. When the homeowner was/is unable to get a modification done that will work for them, we Short Sale the home. I have spent hundreds of hours working with lenders and homeowners to STOP Foreclosures and work towards stabalizing our economy. In fact I work many more hours on Short Sales where Lenders want to reduce commission agents recieve for doing far more work. I have experienced increase in RE fee’s in our state in some cases up to 200%, but have managed to be even more successful and I refuse to go away. I enjoy helping people and I love what I do.
It is unfortunate we all have to go through the financial pain of this market, but out of every bad thing that happens can come good things. I have seen many experienced agents going out of business and far less new agents coming into the industry. Gone are the part time agents as they can’t afford the increased fee’s and higher required hours to make money. Only the serious experienced agents remain in real estate, like the ones who know how to take a proper photo and market a property on the internet. We are in a process of clearing out the weak and the bad agents with the wrong attitudes and old school rules. I believe the consumer and the economy will become the true winners here in the end. “Good Realtors are here to stay, Bad Realtors have gone away”. Maybe now as real estate professionals we can earn some credibilty in the industry and be rated by consumers at least one level above a used car salesman
. Not to offend used car salesman, but that is how Realtors have been rated in the past and I am personally looking forward to the changes forth coming.