"Dirty Harry and Local Real Estate Experts" - Trulia Voices Q & A's

I've always been a big fan of Clint Eastwood. When I served onboard a submarine in the US Navy, we watched "The Outlaw Josey Wales " a gazillion times while out on patrol. There's just some very basic and wise counsel we can derive from the rich history of 'Clintisms' found in his archive of quality male-bonding films.

For instance:

From Pink Cadillac:   "I have strong feelings about gun control. If there's a gun around, I want to be the one controlling it."

From The Rookie:   "If you want a guarantee, buy a toaster."

From Dirty Harry:   "Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya punk?"

From Sudden Impact:   "Go ahead, make my day."

In the movie "Magnum Force " the Oscar-winning actor made the memorable quote, "A man's got to know his limitations ."

The other day, I was responding to a question I had received through Trulia's Voices . This is one of the better features of their platform where consumers accessing their site can pose questions relating to real estate. ActiveRain used to have something very similar that had dominant placement, but its been lost in the wake of other value-added features.

On Trulia, if you register for a specific geographic market area, they will automatically notify you whenever a question is submitted for that area.

Unfortunately, Trulia has the same kind of problems we experienced here on ActiveRain. Everyone's an expert. It doesn't matter if you're licensed in Alabama, and the consumer is submitting a question from Alaska, everyone with a question is fair game!

On Trulia, you can gain some notoriety for being one of the 'Top Real Estate Professionals on Trulia Voices .' All you have to do is answer the most questions. It doesn't matter if your advice/answers have any bearing on the question, or provide any substantive value to the consumer. Whoever has the most answers earns the Top Spot, period (And I thought we had problems with people gaming the point system here on ActiveRain!). Personally, I think there would be greater value in scoring/ranking their top members by using the rating they receive from the actual consumers who are posing the questions. To me, that would be the most realistic and meaningful measure of a real estate professionals worth.

Regardless, the bigger problem, as I see it, relates to so-called real estate professionals who are attempting to answer questions beyond their area of expertise. Now granted, there are aspects to our business that apply to virtually all markets. And some people are legitimately licensed to conduct business in more than one State. But that's usually the exception, and not the norm, in these kinds of forums.

For me, it's normally a dead give-away when the first part of their answer begins with "I don't know how they do it in your State, but here in XYZ we".....

If you're not licensed to do business in a particular State, or aren't familiar with their specific State laws or statutes, don't answer! There are few things worse than giving unqualified advice. You end up being like that guy on the Holiday Inn Express commercials:

"No, I've never performed open heart surgery, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night! "

And who in their right mind would open themselves up to the increased exposure for potential liability by giving an unqualified answer on the Internet where the digital record is such an enduring source of incrimination?

The other thing that really bothers me (and this is more of a personal pet peeve), are those whose actual answers are shorter and of less substance that the incessant volume of blatant self-promotional banter that they cram into the body of their weak, emaciated answers.

Do you really want to earn the consumers trust? Do you really want to provide them with information that is relevant, helpful, and practical? Do you want to establish your credentials as the local resident real estate expert? Do you want them to contact you if they want further assistance? Then answer only the questions you are clearly qualified to respond to, and make your answers complete/meaningful. Don't try to bait them into accessing your website, or contacting you by email for more details. Give them the good stuff, right up front, and in its entirety.

"Go Ahead, Make Their Day!"

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Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional providing knowledgeable empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com , SOUNDBITEBLOG , and Crabbing in the Hood , or e-mail:  kitsapagent@gmail.com