As many of you know I am a baseball junkie.  I can't get enough baseball.  I read an article somewhere on the internet where a computer program was fed statistics and computed that Derek Jeter was the worst fielding shortstop in the major leagues.  Sportswriters have voted him 3 gold gloves during the course of his career, yet the computer doesn't lie, or does it? 

I am not going to argue that Derek Jeter is the best shortstop in baseball, and I am sure that he has plenty of detractors, playing for the Yankees and all.  In fact, I am not sure that he is the best shortstop on his team, but he is the starting shortstop.  The thing that makes this entire argument ridiculous is that it doesn't factor in the plays that he makes that no one else does. 

I do think that he isn't the most gifted fielding shortstop that I have ever seen, I grew up watching Ozzie Smith make plays that as a baseball fan left me speechless.  I have also Derek Jeter make plays that I wonder if even Ozzie would have made.  The great play in the playoffs against the Oakland A's where he race in, picked up an errant throw and threw out Jeremy Giambi at home plate comes to mind.  That is instinct that a computer cannot factor into any equation, I don't know that the great Ozzie Smith would have made that play, (although if anyone else could have, it would have been him) yet according to the raw statistics, Derek Jeter simply isn't a very good fielder compared to his peers.

There are a number of other plays that he has made that made me wonder how he knew where the ball was going even before it was hit.  The other factor not accounted for, is that I have never seen him not play hard.  I can't say that about every player that I have ever watched. 

The point that I am trying to make early this morning, is that the human factor can never be removed from the equation, even in Real Estate.  There are some things that the Internet, and brilliant photography cannot replace, and that is the Realtor.  There are just some things that a good Realtor does, that aren't measurable by raw data.  The impression that one gets while showing a house that the couple may tell you that they are looking for one thing, when in reality, they really want something a little different.  They may not know that they want something other than what they have said, but once you, as a Realtor show it to them, they love it. 

A Realtor also has the human element of negotiating the best possible solution to allow people to realize their dream, and make the largest purchase that most people will make in their lifetime.  They also stay on top of the paperwork to allow as smooth a transaction as possible until the deal gets done.  A Realtor has the ability to think outside of the box to make sure the inevitable snags are ironed out and that the deal gets done.  There are too many more traits to list in a single blog that a Realtor does, that tools and equipment just can't do.

What I am saying is don't sell yourselves short.  Fancy computers and fancier software are only tools, they aren't the whole show.  They are like the baseball glove or bat, they aren't what makes a baseball player.  I am not saying that we shouldn't use these and other tools to the best of our abilities, just that we don't lose sight of what makes them work!  Have a great and prosperous weekend!