Who's Your Ideal? Maybe The More Things Change...

The real estate world would like to think that it is reinventing itself right now. There is an endless cycle of chatter, criticism, condemnation and chest-pounding. It's pretty clear to me that no one has more contempt for the real estate business more than some of the people who work in the business.

Some people believe that technology (much of it still to be invented) can and should replace the real estate agent. They argue that the brokerage model as we know it today is fundamentally broken. Quite an idea, isn't it?

There's universal agreement that there are too many poorly trained and supervised agents. The laments are universal: "it takes 1,500 hours of education to get a license to cut hair and only 100 hours to get a license to sell a house". But as soon as anyone asks "so, what next?" the arguments start: what's training, what's education? What's the role of the state vs. the associations vs. the brokerages? And who decides?

I recently put up a post called "Who's Your Ideal?" here on ActiveRain that asked some of these questions. I had expected that the brokers who responded would  give laundry lists of skills like technology acumen, prospecting, or proficiency with social media.  I was surprised at the answers because there was more emphasis on personal characteristics like integrity and ethics.  

Richard Weisser here "At some point, the personality and style either meshes or clashes with the potential client...Oddly enough, proficiency, competence and skill rank lower in the 'success' equation."

Bill Spear here "The ability (for the most part) to remove their own ego from the equation when dealing with clients and the other side of a deal. Big picture is paramount."

Chris Ann Cleland here "communicative, informed and knowledgeable about their local contract & market.....we have to realize that the commissions are secondary to putting the clients needs first"

Karen Fiddler here (1) Honesty (2) Diligence (3) Open Mindedness (4) Humility (5) Honesty (6) Intelligence (7) Follow Through (8) Poise (9) Honesty (10) Honesty

(I honestly love Karen Fiddler's comment).

Since real estate agents probably aren't going away anytime soon, the revolution must focus on the personal characteristics of agents...values and character and ethics. 

Sounds a lot like the original Code of Ethics, doesn't it? Maybe the more things change, the more they remain the same. 

More to come.....