My Rant - continued - Absentee Realtors and Listings

My Rant - continued - Absentee Realtors and Listings
by John Occhi, Hemet CA REALTOR®
Hemet CA Real Estate

Earlier I wrote a Blog Post on my ActiveRain Hemet Real Estate Blog about a breed of REALTOR that I dubbed the "Absentee REALTOR®".  In that article, I covered a few of my own deficiencies as well as describing in broad terms, the geographic layout of my market, the Hemet CA Real Estate market and how it relates to other nearby markets.

In the article, I focused my rant primarily on the Absentee Realtor who will take a buyer from their market and try and give them the same type of superior service they would offer in their market, but really not being able to do the neighboring area any justice.

I firmly and strongly believe that Real Estate all has one thing in common - no matter where in Riverside County or the Inland Empire - or heck, even California or any one of the other 50 states we call America.  This universal truth is so universal; it does not even have to be in the United States to be 100% accurate 100% of the time.  It is a universal worldwide phenomenon that it is so often overlooked - by professionals and the public at the same time.  Heck, I believe most people don't even consider it - it is so obvious.  Yet so many people ignore it - all the time.  OK, here it is - All Real Estate is Local.

What is so hard about that?  Would I pretend to be an expert in the SOHO district of New York City from Hemet CA?  After all, I have a cousin who lives there - doesn't that give me credibility?  NO, NO, NO!

So why can an agent who lives and works and plays 30 miles a way expect to inject themselves into my market - or any other market.  They are chasing the buck and they reek of commissionitis.  Who are they servicing other than their own needs?  Certainly not their clients!

Let me give you a good example of how unjust they can be, in pursuit of their own greed - yes GREED.  In Temecula, the Realtor Board belongs to one MLS - the IMRMLS and in Hemet, the Association of Realtors belongs to the SoCalMLS.  It's as different as an Apple computer and a Windows based PC - two different worlds.  OK, there is some very minor overlap if you spend a bit of time figuring out how to check out what is there - but it is not an integrated search and I have not found it to be very accurate.  (I myself belong to both - but I am the exception.  I belong to both so I can post my listings in that market and attract the buyers who come from there.)

Back to the Absentee Realtor and the MLS.  I find it amazing how many listings are entered into the IMRMLS and never make it to Tempo.  Therefore, the local Hemet Real Estate professionals rarely ever check the IMRMLS listings - and why should they, we have more than enough inventory that is generated locally to more than adequately service any buyer in today's market.

So, aside from the fact that the Absentee Realtors typically post their listings to the wrong MLS, how do they network with local REALTORS?  Isn't real estate a networking business.  One Realtor tells other Realtors about a listing they have and even 9invite them to a local Broker Open.  Local offices and the board will visit local listings on caravan day.  We do this for each other on a regular basis, don't we?  It doesn't matter if one agent is an independent and another is Century 21 and a 3^rd is Coldwell Banker - yes we have our differences and our own segment of the local market, but we know each other and do repeat business with one another.  We have a vested interest in the way business is conducted in our marketplace.  Don't you feel the same way about your area? 

So what really happens when an Absentee Realtor takes a listing.  They put it on the MLS and put a sign in the yard.  Yippee!  Who do they tell?  Not anyone working this market.  Do they drag their entire office to Hemet - 30 miles away to look at one listing - I think not (although I would bring groups of 10 to 12 Temecula Agents to Hemet when I had listings here - I would organize special Hemet Caravans for all of our office listings in the area - and I was very successful with it - but remember, I am the exception.)

Without digging into my statistics (and I have them, I'm just on a rant right now) I can tell you that homes listed in the SoCalMLS sell in less time than those on IMRMLS AND most importantly they are much less likely to end up as an EXPIRED LISTING.

So, let me work my magic in the Hemet-San Jacinto Valley and let me be a true expert so that I can justify my full commission to my clients, because I don't have to worry about anything else - just my local business and not the entire Riverside County or Southern California as I see so many agents do. 

What a Waste.

Now Have a Blessed Day,

John Occhi, Hemet CA REALTOR®
www.JohnOcchi.Com