It has come to most everyone’s attention, Realtors and Consumers alike, that over the years the creation and evolution of new technology and major website advancements, and consolidations, eg. Zillow, Trulia, hot pads, Street Easy, (all owned by Zillow), Realtor.Com, Craigslist, Angie’s list and Home advisor (they just bought Angie’s List), as well as the major social media sites of Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin (my daughter, Kim, is the top sales executive there!) and many more less prominent sites have provided consumers a cornucopia of choices by which they can search and retrieve their real estate information without a Realtor. Even the Commercial segment of the real estate industry is now being serviced and dominated by Costar, LoopNet (owned by Costar), Property Shark and others, and we are regularly bombarded by T.V. commercials from the behemoths of the internet world, Zillow.Com and Realtor.Com who are battling it out for a majority position for the potential billions of dollars from the Real Estate industry through the Brokers and agents. Unfortunately, over the last 10 years, all the MLS’s (Multiple Listing Services) across the U.S. were remiss and slow to change and advance with the times. Unfortunately, they allowed these new companies to barge and jump in and compete, flourish and grow by leaps and bounds, by taking a consistently larger slice of the real estate market from them and their agents and become dominant players; offering advanced and greater reach to the public, global exposure, varied and simplified services and superior results to agents and consumers and out maneuvering the MLS’s and other service companies in the real estate market, by staying current and ahead of the curve, with cutting edge programming, creative and dynamic services, mega million dollar budgets and over the top marketing! They understood what the consumer needed and wanted, easy access to real estate information; and with that knowledge and their advanced programming and algorithms , were in a strong position in grabbing and gaining a much coveted and lucrative, profitable opportunity to take and have a leading role in the dissemination of real estate information to the public as well as those in the business.
However, in many, many instances their accuracy and methods of providing that information has and can be quite inaccurate and some have said to me, deceptive. Many times they take advantage of words and the consumer reacts way to quickly, when they observe a particular property on their site and immediately try to contact someone and inquire as to whether or not it is available (seems lately, that places are being snapped up and sold during the week, before the purchasers can view them at the open houses on the weekends!) Many times properties are posted that say, “Public listing, not available, off the market, even under contract, and the unassuming consumer, without carefully reading the noted information on the sites, and the large sums of copy, still make calls to me! I have, what one might call, “a love hate relationship” with one company, which will remain nameless, unless you call me and I will tell you! The reason I say this, is that, when my phones ring with a seller, investor, landlord, purchaser or tenant inquiry, I “absolutely love it.” But wait, hold on! Then I have to qualify the information for accuracy, by checking and/or making calls, as well as the consumer’s credentials in a “legal fashion.” Then more times than none, they are either looking at a property that is not available, under contract or sold! More important, some may not even be qualified to buy, as I realize this, as I go through the process. That is the “hate” part of the “love and hate relationship.” One must have “very thick skin” have or learn to have a passion for the business and be very fortunate, if you realize that you, “are doing what you love, and loving what you do.” However, if we hit enough home runs and close the deals, that it’s worth the effort and pain of going through the ordeal of who is hot and who is not! Remember, Babe Ruth struck out 1440 times, but hit 714 home runs, the most in baseball history, playing less games that all the other current and past “home run champs, without any drugs!!! So, the motto is, “one must keep getting up and continue swinging for the bleachers; and with the tenacity, effort, discipline, stick to it attitude, with the proper knowledge, transparency and honesty, the home runs will happen; it’s a numbers game, that’s all! Winners Never Quit and Quitters Never Win! So to verify other sites info, when possible, MLS is the number one source for accuracy, when it comes to what is available, under contract, sold and withdrawn and released (not sold, and most likely overpriced!). So our job is to educate the public as to what is real and what is Memorex (remember that commercial?). Using the MLS system provides us with all the information that is needed to provide the consumer with up to date and honest information about properties in their market. So the next time you see a commercial on TV, hear something about a property on the radio or observe or hear information on the net, your antennae should automatically go up and make sure you read and understand what it is that you are looking at or hearing. Consult with a realtor to verify what you are reading, seeing and hearing, as to the properties validity and availability, so you don’t waste your time and energy chasing duds, unavailable or sold properties! Seek out and interview those that are experts in the field and handle their businesses in a professional manner, before selling, investing, purchasing, renting or leasing any type of residential or commercial property, since ones’ home or investment properties are usually the most valuable assets that one owns today. There will always be a place in the real estate industry for those one to five percenters, that are professional, have expertise, have mastered their trade, are honest and transparent, similar to any field, where the “cream rises to the top.” Their earning potential will always provide those special individuals a higher than standard earnings, (a 6-7 figure income), because they are worth it!
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