What would it take for you to agree to do the following:
Appear on national TV, engage in apparent illegal, unethical and deceptive behavior, and present yourself as motivated by greed, spite and pettiness?
Have you ever watched any of the Million Dollar Listing franchise "reality TV" programs?* There are members of our profession who do exactly that every week in front of enthralled audiences, and I can only assume they are extremely well-paid and protected behind a legal screen of disclaimers and consents from everyone involved in their so-called deals.
But would money be enough? Sure, this is a marvelous branding opportunity, if you want to be known as a nightmare amalgam of every negative Realtor stereotype out there. Maybe just getting that kind of exposure is enough payback for the truly attention-starved. And maybe, in some strange way, it would actually lead to increased business, as the show's stars routinely claim. (I'm wondering what kind of clients would be attracted to agents of this type).
But I'd never make that bet. I'm pretty sure it would seriously damage my brand, just as I'm pretty sure that these shows seriously damage all of our brands.
Of course, none of this is real - it's just entertainment. We can look at these programs and understand what the producers at Bravo are doing to get ratings. The problem is that the audience doesn't have the context that we do - they can't distinguish the real from the fictional.
I've had some disturbing conversations with people who watch these shows, even casually, and I'm appalled by the extent that they accept what they see as representative of the way we do business. One gentleman recently told me he would never use a Realtor because he didn't want his agent wheeling and dealing on his property behind his back. Others note the greed and the back-stabbing, the scheming and disrespect for the client.
This stuff hurts us. Yet we sit meekly on the sidelines, mute and unwilling to protect our image, while others do violence to it in the name of entertainment. If we had a real national association, one interested and capable of standing up for our interests, this would be an excellent issue. And the least acceptable outcome would be a very visible disclaimer at the start and finish of each episode, in very large, readable type, that noted that what is portrayed isn't, in fact, the actual practice of real estate.
*Here's a disclaimer of my own: I do not watch these shows. However, a person in my household, who shall remain nameless, does, and hence, I am subjected to unavoidable exposure to them on more occasions than is good for my blood pressure.
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