There's a label on my food! Should there be a label on my Realtor?

Marty:

The sad thing about food labels is, the oversight of the FDA is so minimal that the food labels are practically meaningless. They offer false security, which is what I fear your ideas would. But it's a good idea in theory.

When I was a relatively new agent I worked with a 15 year "veteran" for a while. I couldn't believe it one day when she looked up (from her crocheting) to ask me what PITI meant.

As a copywriter, I believe the "label" should be in the form of a solid website to show sellers how you market both yourself and your listings, and an informative agent bio to let people know who you really are.

The home is the product; we are the service.  I mean we don't have labels on doctors, lawyers, attorneys...other service providers.

At some point consumers need to be responsible for their choices in picking a service provider and brokerage owners, like myself, need to take the heat for the agents we allow to represent our company.  We don't need more regulation like this.

Cathy (#13) hit it pretty hard.  BTW, there are a LOT of REO agents that would do VERY well on the label, but give the crappiest customer service, don't work on their clients behalf and are less available that people working 60 hours a week elsewhere.  That wouldn't be right.

The low barrier of entry to get in the business creates a lot of these types of problems, it would be interesting to see the reality of these labels being put into place.

Hello Marty:

You're catching me at the end of a long day so please excuse me if I am (too) blunt.  Please, no more regulations to control our industry or cause us additional loss of compensation other than market dynamics.  This industry lives on the 85% of agents who enter the industry every year but don't make it.  The rest of us have to be better than them.

Marty - thanks for the response, and thank you for not getting defensive. I was terrified when I started real estate 6 years ago because I was afraid to display the big goose egg when I was going to be asked 'how many homes have you sold'. We all have to start with a big ZERO in our head and I would hate to suggest that if you haven't sold a home before, you shouldn't even try. So I vote no on real estate labels :)  There is a caveat to that though, I would like for my real estate agent to be a full-time agent. Great post, congrats on the feature.

Yes -- ORGANIC, but hopefully NOT GREEN LOLLLLLLLLLL!!!  There's some go-getters out there just starting out who will make sure they do a dogged k-9 quality follow up and win themselves a good start.  But on paper, they don't look very good.

Then there's agents who are good, but are too busy, and don't want to admit it.  They could end up giving you less than you deserve. 

I find that if I meet a need for the person, and we can communicate, its a good fit and we go with it.  No hard sell, even though my name's Sellers.

:)

A typical Contract between Buyer and Seller will be chock full of contingencies - everything from Inspections to Financing to Insurance  for the Buyer to back out, and Lender Approval of Short Sale or Similar Weasel Clauses for the Seller to walk. 

What about the Listing Agreement between Broker/Agent and the Seller?  Should there be  Contingencies  enabling the Seller to cancel the Agreement when the Real Estate Agent is found to be Defective?  Such as, Seller finds out that the Real Estate Agent is facing Disciplinary Action from their State Licensing Board.  Or Seller can't get Agent to return phone calls or emails within a reasonable time (as in Immediately).   Or when the listing in the MLS has no photographs and a one line description.

No Labels needed in a Listing Agreement - just Due Diligence and a Right to Cancel for Incompetency or Failure to Perform.

How many of us were new in real estate at one time? 

Every single one of us! And most of us think we turned out to be a pretty good agents I presume? I think that we are! And we did it without a "label"?  How did we get to be such good agents without a label all these years?

Today's new agents have so much support from mentors and their brokers than most of us got when we started in "the business" with Tommy Hopkins telling us to deliver pumpkins. Today's new agent has much more education from Day One than those of us that started 20 years ago, before computers and the internet.  I enjoy helping new agents get their foot in the door-I want to help the new agents succeed-"lead by example".  Some of my past mentors became dear friends and had been there for me during the good and the not so good years-and now sadly have passed on.

I can't tell you how many homes some of my mentors sold in their lifetime, but the memory of their support, loyalty, positive outlook & determined spirit, kindness and ethics will be with me forever. 

I think the label is a good concept, entertaining almost.  But I think it has already been said, we don't need any more regulations and the consumer needs to be responsible for their decisions.

Marty,

This one I don't like. I know people in this business who claim 30 years. It's actually 1 year 30 times.

Entertaining post but where do you draw the line since there are so many business professionals that deal with consumers. Just for the record, since we are health and fitness nuts, we would definitely have an "organic" label. Thanks for the post and I like your profile pic, very original.

Excellent post!

Getting a Real Estate license is too easy and that has led to ranking Realtors alongside used car salespeople.

Here's a couple of other questions seller's could be asking:

Do you own or rent?

How many of your own properties have you bought/sold?

Please describe your business background.

I did not know about carfax! Blogging gives us labels for the consumer with the click of a keyboard!

You asked:

"***Should a realtor come with a label? Should we be required to provide some basic (but important) information to the homeowner before they list their property?

I say NO.

If they ask then we should definitely provide any and all information, but a label ....NO

Disclose away, but labels no thanks. We have some many designations, certifications, statuses, achievements; I mean can the public understand or even care about the ones we have? A resume style sheet might be fine, but it will be interesting to see how many new employees for this new agegency will need to make sure all resumes are accurate, honest and up to date...

GREAT POST! I have written similar posts over the past 6 months.      Nashville short sales, Nashville MLS search, Nashville homes for sale, Franklin Tn homes for sale

This business is all about the relationships that we cultivate with our clients.  Our qualifications, training, and experience are all things that the consumer will ask when comparing agents.  I think that the premise of "labels" is maybe not the best solution, but those of us that do a great job, have plenty to say about our way of handling the business.  At some point, I agree that the consumer needs to take responsibility for their choices that are hopefully made by their research on the internet, which should be able to help them determine the great agents in their market!