Sometimes it's easier for me to write on my outside blog than on Active Rain. There are so many different personalities and diverse groups on this site now that I find myself holding back at times. While politeness is always a good thing, guarded restraint definitely is not.
Hopefully, none of us set out to intentionally harm other members of the community. I certainly do not.
A couple of days ago, I shared some of my thoughts about affiliated business. A fair number of you had asked me to so. One of my favorite outside blogs even boasted that the post had been made. There's a problem, though, that you need to know about. I confess to having altered the draft of the post by watering it down and shortening it considerably because I feared my words might inflame, or offend, some of you. I cheated you and I cheated myself. It won't happen again.
With that being said, the broad and general tone of my post obviously offended someone who was kind enough to read it. It wasn't my intent. In an email, I was accused of seeking approval rather than promoting dialog. The word "egotistical" was used to describe not only myself, but the community at large. Blogging, it seems to me, is inherently egotistical; as is all marketing; as is all selling. It's the nature of the beast; it is what it is! At the age of forty six, I've come to the realization that I'm more heretic than saint and that personal vices are part of the deal.
With tens of thousands of potential readers on this site, a blogger can no longer worry about what others might think. Those days are gone. It's detrimental to the creative process to try to cater to the whims of so many. Do me one favor: if you don't like what I have to say, move along without attacking me personally. I don't need it, or desire it, and you don't either. Life is too damn short, and too damn precious, to have to contend with the toxins spewed by others.
The truth about affiliated business: I despise it because it encourages bigness in an industry that's best left localized. Think of me as the greatest advocate of the Community Choice in Real Estate Act. While I fully embrace the spirit of the proposed federal bill, I wish that it would offer protection to mortgage brokers, title companies, abstractors, and appraisers, and well as real estate brokers. The NAR deserves credit for its lobbying efforts; the trade associations for the related industries should be ashamed of themselves.
I fully understand the importance of economies of scale in any industry. But, selling real estate is more closely related to a professional endeavor than it is a manufacturing operation. To be accomplished successfully, it requires a significant degree of skill, judgment, experience, compassion, and the time honored personal touch. Efficiency and effectiveness are best attained through training individuals not by outsourcing to centralized processing centers. Call me provincial, I don't care.
At some level, I don't blame real estate brokers for trying to improve profitability by offering "bundled services" as an ostensible convenience to consumers. It's important, however, to contemplate the long-term implications of opening that particular door. It represents the sunset of the reign of local real estate brokerages. Keep in mind: federally chartered banks are perfect candidates for affiliated business and it's a simple matter of congressional funding that keeps you from having to compete with them. Big banks have the ability to decimate your business in the same way that Wal-mart has virtually eliminated local merchants. They have an existing relationship with every consumer and a "point of contact" opportunity unlike any other.
I'm bothered by bigness in real estate because it "dehumanizes" a process that should remain fundamentally humane. Purchasing a home is innately different than buying a flannel shirt or a hammer. I really don't care that I have to spend a couple of extra dollars for proper representation when making the most important purchase of my life. Yes, homeownership is that important and that unique. It transcends the ordinary to touch the heart and the soul of those who embrace it.
I often tell audiences that acting as a fiduciary in a real estate transaction is tantamount to being a clergy person. Matters that inherently involve fiduciary responsibilities are best left in neighborhoods and communities. I rue the thought of a consumer having to call a customer service representative in India to find out how their home purchase is coming along. Can you image? But, affiliated business will follow that trajectory if left to its own volition.
Support the spirit of the Community Choice in Real Estate Act by supporting locally and independently owned mortgage brokers and title companies. Make certain that your title company is using only local abstractors. Ultimately, it's your chosen profession, and consumers' interests, that you're protecting.
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